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Miguel Mackinlay (1894–1959) arrived in Western Australia as a child in 1906 and trained as an artist. He sailed for London in 1914 and was caught up fighting and sketching in the Great War. Dorothy Erickson concludes her three-part series on the painter who settled in England after the war and never returned to Australia.
Few of us spend enough time cataloguing, photographing and managing our collections – subjects we will address in future issues. The Art Gallery of SA’s collection of “fire marks” put out by insurance companies has been in storage for over 70 years, but now they have been photographed, and catalogued by the Gallery’s indefatigable honorary numismatist, Peter Lane.
Melbournian medical practitioner, ornithological art historian and collector Dr Mark Cabouret is well placed to set out some thoughts about the psychological aspects of collecting and distinguishes between ‘healthy’ and ‘unhealthy’ collecting. We hope this will stimulate some more contributions on the subject from other readers who have reflected on their or others’ collecting habits.
The passing of Emeritus Professor Ken Cavill on 25 August 2017 at the age of 95 should not go unnoticed. Many newer members will not be familiar with Ken, who was the foremost researcher in the field of Australian silver and gold of the early 20th century, which he also collected. His articles appear in Australiana from 1984 to 2013, and in other publications. He served as Treasurer of the Australiana Society from 1987–91, then President 1991–94.
... Tamie Fraser was one of the first to realise the same could be done here to reflect our own culture and history. In 1978, she encouraged the establishment of The Australiana Fund (not to be confused with the Australiana Society, established in the same year), with the aim of lending appropriate examples of Australian historical and contemporary artworks to the four official residences – Government House (Yarralumla) and The Lodge in Canberra, Kirribilli House and Admiralty House in Sydney.
The first study into our furniture history appears to be by John Earnshaw, a retired engineer. The name ‘W. Beatton’ stamped on an old cedar chiffonier aroused his curiosity. Earnshaw investigated further and produced a slim book, Early Sydney Cabinetmakers, in 1971 which resulted in devotees, students, historians, dealers and makers striving for more information. Over the years we have gone from newspaper reports, magazine articles, individual summaries and reference books to what attracts me in recent times: books that draw the reader to the real social, educational, creative and hard life of the cabinet maker. Denis Lake’s The Men who made the Celebrated Chairs (2016) is one, now joined by Robert La Nauze’s Made To Order – a superb book guaranteed to satisfy everyone interested in all aspects in our colonial furniture making.
