When Brisbane’s Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary was established in 1927 by Claude Reid as a safe refuge for sick, injured, and orphaned koalas, it was the first such sanctuary of its kind, beginning with just two called Jack and Jill, since then it has grown from these original koalas to over 70 species of Australian native wildlife.
Lone Pine Picnic Park and Native Fauna Zoo 1927
Lone Pine Picnic Park and Native Fauna Zoo, c.1927 / 5858 / Image courtesy: John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, Brisbane
Lone Pine 1938
Ray Olson, photographer / Lone Pine, 1938 / IE9680956 / Image courtesy: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales and Courtesy ACP Magazines Ltd.
The Sanctuary located at Fig Tree Pocket is named after a huge Hoop Pine — Queensland’s tallest native tree — that was planted by the Clarkson family in 1867, their cotton farm was where Lone Pine is today. Early settlers moved to Fig Tree Pocket from the 1860s, first for its timber then for farming and it is believed that the suburb just 9km south-west of central Brisbane, was named after a remarkably large fig tree (illustrated), with the area bounded on three sides by the river, thus creating a land ‘pocket’ (illustrated).
An early settler standing next to the Moreton Bay Fig which it is believed Fig Tree Pocket was named, 1866 / 5648 / Image courtesy: John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, Brisbane
Views towards Fig Tree Pocket 1890
View from Oxley towards Fig Tree Pocket, c.1890 / 191808 / Image courtesy: John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, BrisbaneView from Oxley towards Fig Tree Pocket, c.1890 / 191807 / Image courtesy: John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, Brisbane
View towards the Sanctuary featuring the Hoop Pine (Lone Pine) 1931
Looking up stream from Corinda towards Lone Pine and its same sake, the lone Hoop Pine located across the river, 1931 / 189936 / Image courtesy: John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, Brisbane
Lone Pine was originally an 11-acre (4.6 hectare) site, now 18-hectares in total it has developed into a major Brisbane tourist destination, and as the Sanctuary is accessible from the Brisbane River, it has also become a tradition for over 70 years to make a day trip with Mirimar Cruises. (illustrated).
The ‘Mirimar’ on the Brisbane River 1940
The ‘Mirimar’ on the Brisbane River, c.1940 / Image courtesy: Trove, National Library Australia
Charles H. Lancaster (1886-1959) painted The homestead, Lone Pine (illustrated) in 1945 depicting the original homestead, its simple form silhouetted against a dark mass of trees. Lancaster’s work focused on the landscape of Brisbane and its outer suburbs, the depictions of which, according to contemporary opinion, manifested a ‘quiet toned mellow serenity’.1 Lancaster was not the only artist to travel to Lone Pine for inspiration, many took the opportunity to go on an excursion to the Sanctuary and surrounds, such as Daphne Mayo some ten years earlier (illustrated).
Charles H. Lancaster ‘The homestead, Lone Pine’ 1945
Daphne Mayo modelling a kangaroo at Lone Pine Sanctuary 1935 / UQ:687212 / Image courtesy: Fryer Library, University of Queensland, BrisbaneDaphne Mayo modelling a kangaroo at Lone Pine Sanctuary, 1935 / UQ:418323 / Image courtesy: Fryer Library, University of Queensland, Brisbane
Charles Lancaster
Lancaster was born in Melbourne and studied at the National Gallery School under Frederick McCubbin. When he moved to Queensland he exhibited with the Queensland Art Society from 1914 and was a key figure, serving almost continuously on the committee from 1915 to 1952. Lancaster was also appointed a Trustee of the Queensland (National) Art Gallery from 1939, serving until 1959.
Charles Lancaster on a painting excursion near Marburg, Queensland 1959 / 165360 / Image courtesy: John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, Brisbane
Curatorial extracts, research and supplementary material compiled by Elliott Murray, Senior Digital Marketing Officer, QAGOMA
Featured image: Arthur McLeod, photographer, active 1910-1954 / Elsie holding three koalas in her arms, Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary / 99183894258902061 / Image courtesy: John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, Brisbane
Meee‑ow — we’ve tried to round up our affectionate and furry four-legged friends, these cute house cats are obviously valued for their companionship — from snuggling to being a source of entertainment, to even manipulating us with their unique language and their contented purrs. It’s an interesting fact that meowing is a vocalisation just for us, cats don’t actually meow at each other so they use this as a bond between humans and animals.
As we know, the cat shares the title with the dog as the world’s most popular companion animals, however as the saying goes… “dogs have owners, cats have staff”… so the perennial question is “do cats love us or just tolerate us”, either way, their owners loved them enough to capture them with their own unique personalities for us to enjoy today.
Visit both the Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art to see how many cats and their wild counterparts you can find… and keep an eye out for their lifelong partner, the dog. The exhibition ‘Michael Zavros: The Favourite’ which includes The kitten and Acropolis now closes 2 October 2023.
Watch | Find the cat from the ‘Acropolis now’ mural
Harriet Jane Neville-Rolfe ‘Breakfast, Alpha’ 1884
Harriet Jane Neville-Rolfe, England/Australia 1850-1928 / Breakfast, Alpha (and detail) 1884 / Watercolour over pencil on wove paper / 25.3 x 35.4cm / Gift of the artist’s son in her memory 1964 / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art
From the QAGOMA Collection
Chinese Style ‘Mandarin pocket’ 1800-1900
Chinese Style / Mandarin pocket c.1800-1900 / Silk embroidered with a cat and butterfly / 8.3 x 8.5cm / Bequest of Dr Ernest Singer 1975 / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art
Ludwig Heinrich Jungnickel, Germany 1881-1965 / Sleeping cat c.1920s / Charcoal and watercolour wash on wove paper / 35.7 x 47.4 cm / Purchased 1976 / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art
As we celebrate National Wattle Day on the first day of September each year, we delve into two works that include the wattle — with over 1,000 species of acacia Australia-wide, it’s the nation’s largest family of flowering plants. While the flowering times of wattle vary greatly depending on the region, Australia’s national flower — the Golden Wattle (Acacia pycnantha) — displays our national colours, green and gold, with flowers from the beginning of Septembersignalling the start of Spring.
The wattle has become a popular symbol of Australia and Australians and can be depicted as a unifying symbol for land and people. The wattle flower is also synonymous — as is the poppy —to acknowledge those Australian service men and women that have sacrificed and continue to sacrifice their lives.
Mavis Ngallametta ‘Mo’Yakal (White and yellow wattles in flower)’ 2008
Referring to the painting Mo’Yakal 2008 (illustrated), Mavis Ngallametta said ‘White and yellow wattle flowers are all around starting in the Easter month of April with white ones and then finishing with the yellow ones around June.
An elder of the Putch clan and a cultural leader of the Wik and Kugu people of Aurukun (Cape York Peninsula, Far North Queensland), Ngallametta was one of the most well-regarded senior community-based artists in Australia, depicting her community’s riotous scenes of post-wet season abundance, a climatic phenomenon well known to people who live their lives just feet above the swamp line. Many of Ngallametta’s works were bold and celebratory — with brightly coloured flowers.
Video: Delve into ‘Mo’Yakal (White and yellow wattles in flower)’
Explore the work of Mavis Ngallametta with Katina Davidson, Curator of Indigenous Australian Art, QAGOMA
eX de Medici ‘Cure for Pain’ 2010–11
Currently on display in the exhibition ‘eX de Medici: Beautiful Wickedness’ at the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) until 2 October 2023 is Cure for Pain2010–11 which when you look closely features a sprig of wattle.
In 2009 eX de Medici was appointed Official War Artist with the Australian War Memorial who commissioned her to capture the activities of Australian peacekeepers deployed with the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI). Cure for Pain 2010–11, made after her commission concluded, features helmets and flowers from a range of countries, and conflicts from the colonial period to the present. The helmets — or ‘brain buckets’ — are scattered across a field of poppies that, historically, represent war dead and reference the use of opium as a battlefield drug. A memorial of sorts, the painting denounces our predisposition for violence and the futility of armed conflict.
Artists & Artworks: Explore more works by Mavis Ngallametta in the QAGOMA Collection
Curatorial extracts, research and supplementary material compiled by Elliott Murray, Senior Digital Marketing Officer, QAGOMA
Acknowledgment of Country
The Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA) acknowledges the traditional custodians of the land upon which the Gallery stands in Brisbane. We pay respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander elders past and present and, in the spirit of reconciliation, acknowledge the immense creative contribution Indigenous people make to the art and culture of this country. It is customary in many Indigenous communities not to mention the name of the deceased. All such mentions and photographs on the QAGOMA Blog are with permission, however, care and discretion should be exercised.
Throughout the 1920s and 30s Queensland artists painted outdoors, their subject matter ranged widely from the beach, the bush, to the city. Vida Lahey was no exception, however during the early 30s Lahey was absorbed by sites around Brisbane and in 1931 painted Sultry noon focusing on the architecture of Brisbane’s Central Railway Station and the buildings in the distance located at the corner of Ann and Edward Streets up to the Turbot Street intersection. Here we go back nearly 100 years to reconstruct the painting.
Why paint a railway station? Vida Lahey (26 August 1882-1968) and fellow Brisbane artist Daphne Mayo (1895–1982) had a long friendship and working relationship. Mayo, an outstanding sculptor worked on the Brisbane City Hall Tympanum — the City Hall built between 1920-30 was opened 8 April that year, however Mayo’s sculpture wasn’t completed and unveiled until eight months after the building was officially opened — followed directly by the Queensland Women’s War Memorial commission at Anzac Square — unveiled 1932. Mayo was working at Anzac Square during the time Lahey painted the Central Railway Station — the Memorial was just opposite in Ann Street — so it is not inconceivable that this subject was chosen during one of her visits to Mayo.
Sultry noon [Central Station] 1931 (illustrated) captures the effects of light and shadow, the formal curves and lines of the station platform are echoed by the shelter roof and rail lines. In the middle distance to the left, the station clock tower leads the eye over and up to the developing city skyline, emphasising the height of the City Hall clock tower — completed the year before and then the tallest structure in the city — while the cloud formations above continue the downward curve.
Lahey sometimes painted works in series as she did with the building of the Grey Street bridge. Sultry noon [Central Station] 1931 is paired with a later painting Central Station 7.00 am c.1935 [Museum of Brisbane] (illustrated), both are studies in tonal values — the earlier work using a range of low key colours from mid-tone hues to black, the latter a range of light value colours from white to mid-tone hues.
Vida Lahey‘Sultry noon [Central Station, Brisbane]’ 1931
View of the Central Railway Station platforms captured in Sultry noon [Central Station, Brisbane] c.1904 / Postcard produced by the Centre for the Government of Queensland / Image courtesy: John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, BrisbaneSiegfried Monz, Australia 1907-96 / Central Station railway viewed from above at Turbot Street 1935 / 99183993643302061 / Image courtesy: John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, Brisbane
During the Depression in the 1930s, an integrated plan of public works and a system of tolls was conceived and undertaken to both meet some of the financial difficulties and to provide work for the unemployed throughout Queensland. This building boom helped shape the look of Brisbane, many of the building projects still standing continue to give the capital its identity.
Central Railway Station
The Central Railway Station was the second inner-city station after Roma Street which had served as Brisbane’s main terminus from 1875. The new centrally-located station on the corner of Ann and Edward Streets opened in 1889 with a timber and galvanised iron building (illustrated) as part of the connection from Roma Street Railway Station through to Central and on to the North Coast line connecting regional Queensland with Brisbane.
Central Railway Station under construction
Central Railway Station under construction c.1900 / Item ID436318 / Image courtesy: Queensland State Archives
Central Railway Station vaulted roof platform construction
Central Railway Station vaulted roof platform construction 1901 / 150532 / Image courtesy: John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, Brisbane
The building that Lahey painted was completed in 1901, the Ann Street facade remains intact today (illustrated) while the vaulted roof over the platforms highlighted in Sultry noon was added not long after.
The final section of the North Coast line was completed in 1924 finally linking Brisbane with Cairns. At the time it was a 52-hour journey and even though the golden age of trains ended in the 1920s, the Queensland railway network hugging the east coast over 1,681-kilometres was the main link to the vast state’s coastal towns and ports that led inland to mining and pastoral centres.
In 1931 when Lahey painted Sultry noon, Central Station was renovated with the expansion of the subway from Ann Street to the recently opened Shrine of Remembrance and Anzac Square opposite (illustrated). The vaulted roof over the station was removed and replaced with awnings over each platform in 1963 (illustrated) and between 1968 and 1984 the station was redeveloped with office towers and hotel over the platforms (illustrated). Today the station is still a major transport hub.
Anzac Square under construction looking toward Central Railway Station 1930
Anzac Square in late construction phase c.1930. The Square contains the Shrine of Remembrance and the ‘Eternal Flame of Remembrance’ held in a continuously lit bronze urn, dedicated on Tuesday, 11 November 1930 / DID26765 / Image courtesy: Queensland State Archives
Daphne Mayo working on the Queensland Women’s War Memorial panel
Daphne Mayo working on the Queensland Women’s War Memorial panel, Anzac Square, Brisbane, c.1932 / Daphne Mayo Collection, UQFL119 / Courtesy: The University of Queensland, Brisbane
Central Railway Station 1930 / Item ID ITM3579790 / Image courtesy: Queensland State ArchivesCentral Railway Station 1930 / Item ID ITM3579735 / Image courtesy: Queensland State Archives
Central Railway Station’s vaulted roof
Alfred Elliott, Australia 1870-1954 / Central Railway Station 1922 / Image courtesy: City of Brisbane Collection, Museum of Brisbane
Central Railway Station’s vaulted roof replaced with platform awnings
Central Railway Station 1969 / BCC-B54-30052 / Image courtesy: Brisbane City Council
Central Railway Station redeveloped with office towers and hotel
Central Railway Station 1985 / Series ID S189 / Image courtesy: Queensland State Archives
The buildings in ‘Sultry noon [Central Station]’
Both versions of the Central Railway Station reference the city skyline of Brisbane in the early 1930s — highlighted in degrees of detail can be seen from left to right — the Central Railway Station Clock Tower, the Brisbane Fire Brigade Station Bell Tower, the People’s Palace Tower, the recently opened City Hall featuring its Clock Tower, and The Canberra Hotel.
View overlooking Central Station Railway 1931
View the city skyline of Brisbane looking toward Central Station Railway, with the Canberra Hotel, Peoples Palace, and Brisbane Fire Brigade Station in the foreground c.1931 / Image courtesy: John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, Brisbane
Brisbane Fire Brigade Station
The Brisbane Fire Brigade (established in 1882) relocated to the purpose-built station (1890) situated on the north-east corner of Ann and Edward Streets — from the opposite corner — until 1908 before the Brigade moved to new headquarters further north to the corner of Ann and Wharf Streets. The building was demolished in 1950 for the construction of the new Government Offices adjoining to Anzac Square.
Brisbane Fire Brigade Station c.1899 / 99183513704502061 / Image courtesy: John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, BrisbaneView along Edward Street with the Brisbane Fire Brigade Station (left) and The Peoples Palace (right) at the intersection of Ann Street c.1927 / 99183512275602061 / Image courtesy: John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, Brisbane
The People’s Palace
The People’s Palace (1910–11) with its distinctive tower was situated on the south-east corner of Ann and Edward Streets, opposite The Canberra Hotel. It became popular with travellers to Brisbane due to its convenient location, diagonally opposite to the Central Railway Station, and in 1913 extensions were undertaken which involved adding an extra two storeys. The hotel provided inexpensive accommodation with 130 rooms for the working class and was situated across the road from the Temperance Hall before The Canberra Hotel was built.
The People’s Palace with the Canberra Hotel opposite 1932 / 99183505803202061 / Image courtesy: John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, Brisbane
The Canberra Hotel
The Canberra Hotel (1927-29) was a seven-storey temperance hotel on the south-west corner of Ann and Edward Streets, located directly opposite the People’s Palace. The hotel opened on the site of the old Temperance Hall and became a popular destination for people travelling from regional Queensland to Brisbane, often referred to as the ‘city hotel for country people’. In 1934, it was decided to add three more storeys to the building. The hotel was advertised as ‘Australia’s largest, most modern, best equipped and most successful hotel with over 400 bedrooms, larger than any licensed hotel in Australia. Beside reading lamps, private telephones, and radio in the bedrooms, every bedroom had an outer room with hot and cold running water’. The Hotel was demolished in 1987 after welcoming more than eight million guests to Brisbane.
The Canberra Hotel c.1930 / 47475 / Image courtesy: John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, BrisbaneWilliam Bustard, England/Australia 1894-1973 / Sketch of The Canberra Hotel 1934 / Watercolour on paper / 196954 / Image courtesy: John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, Brisbane / The Canberra Hotel open in 1929 and was demolished in 1987 after welcoming more than eight million guests to Brisbane.
Brisbane City Hall
The construction of the Brisbane City Hall was the second most expensive activity in Australia after the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Built between 1920 and 1930, the three-storey building’s clock tower, standing at 87.47 metres houses five bells — four bells weighing over three tonnes that chime every 15 minutes and a 4.3 tonne striking bell that marks the hour. Once the tallest building in Brisbane, its four clock faces on each side of the tower were at the time the largest in Australia at 4.8 metres in diameter. A major feature of the building’s entrance, the tympanum’s relief ‘The progress of civilisation in the State of Queensland’ — the sculptured pediment above the portico and entrance — was carved by Brisbane sculptor Daphne Mayo (illustrated). Covering two acres, the Brisbane City Hall remains the largest city hall in Australia.
Brisbane City Hall c.1930 / 99183507343402061 / Image courtesy: John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, Brisbane
Other landmarks in ‘Sultry noon’
Overlooking the Central Railway Station c.1926 / Series ID S57 / Image courtesy: Queensland State ArchivesThe Trades Hall building (left) and Brisbane Gymnasium (opposite) 1933 / ID PR1009387 / Image courtesy: Queensland State Archives
Among the buildings at the intersection of Upper Edward and Turbot Streets the original Trades Hall building (1891) in Turbot Street can be identified (illustrated). By the 1920s the trade union required larger premises and a new site was chosen not far north on the same street at the intersection of Upper Edward Street. The building recorded in Sultry noon was demolished in 1967.
Opposite the old Trades Hall building in Turbot Street was the Brisbane Gymnasium (illustrated), above the high rock cutting to the west of King Edward Park and Jacob’s Ladder — the steep set of steps that provided a pathway from Upper Edward Street to Wickham Terrace. The Gymnasium was housed in the building from the late 1880s until the late 1920s when it closed, then demolished in 1938 when a government proposal in the 1930s involved the redevelopment of Wickham Park fronting Turbot Street with an ambitious project of three new public buildings: a Dental Hospital, new premises for the National Art Gallery and Public Library. The Dental Hospital (1941) was built but not the Art Gallery and Library (illustrated).
The buildings to the right (illustrated) on the rise closest to Central Station in 1931 were occupied by the Queensland Railways Auditor and Accountant Offices, and the Drawing and Survey offices, including the Telegraph Engineers offices, and from 1936 the buildings tenant was the Queensland Railways Institute, the railway social club and history group.
Curatorial extracts, research and supplementary material compiled by Elliott Murray, Senior Digital Marketing Officer, QAGOMA
Proposal for Wickham Park Dental Hospital, Art Gallery and Public Library, 1938
Proposal for Wickham Park Dental Hospital, Art Gallery and Public Library, Turbot Street 1938 / Image courtesy: Queensland State Archives
Brisbane Dental Hospital, 1940
Building the Brisbane Dental Hospital, 1940 / Negative number: 54384 / Image courtesy: John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, Brisbane
‘Sultry noon [Central Station, Brisbane]‘ is on display in the Queensland Art Gallery’s Australian Art Collection, Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Galleries (10-13).
Artists & Artworks: Explore more works by Vida Lahey in the QAGOMA Collection
Curatorial extracts, research and supplementary material compiled by Elliott Murray, Senior Digital Marketing Officer, QAGOMA
In an array of breeds, shapes and sizes, from wild dogs, to the valuable working dog, and the unconditional love of the house dog, QAGOMA has it all — we’re overrun by our four-legged furry friends — so we’ve selected just a few artworks on display — we’ll let you find even more when you next visit us, plus we’ve added some of our Collection favourites currently in storage as we just couldn’t leave them out, as they say… life’s better with a dog in your life. We also haven’t forgotten our feline friends, keep an eye out for our blog on cats coming up.
The Master of Frankfurt ‘Virgin and Child with Saint James the Pilgrim, Saint Catherine and the Donor with Saint Peter‘ c.1496
The Master of Frankfurt, The Netherlands 1460 d.c.1520-c.33 / Virgin and Child with Saint James the Pilgrim, Saint Catherine and the Donor with Saint Peter (and detail) c.1496 / Oil on oak panel / 69 x 55.2cm / Purchased 1980 with funds from Utah Foundation through the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art
Anthonie Waterloo ‘Two travellers resting in a wood’1640-90
Anthonie Waterloo, The Netherlands c.1610-90 / Two travellers resting in a wood (from ‘Six large upright landscapes’ series) 1640-90 / Etching on paper / 31.1 x 25.7cm / Purchased 1996 with a special allocation from the Queensland Government. Celebrating the Queensland Art Gallery’s Centenary 1895-1995 / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art
Unknown ‘Netsuke: (dog with ball)’ 19th century
Unknown, Japan / Netsuke: (dog with ball) 19th century / Carved ivory / 3.8 x 2.8 x 2cm / Bequest of Karl and Gertrude Langer 1985 / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art
Teniers the Younger ‘An archery match’ mid-late 19th century
Teniers the Younger, after David, Flanders 1610-90 / An archery match mid-late 19th century / Oil on oak panel / 36.1 x 53.2cm / Bequest of The Hon. Thomas Lodge Murray-Prior MLC 1892 / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art
Richard Daintree ‘(Gold miners’ bark hut)’c.1870
Richard Daintree, England/Australia 1832-78 / (Gold miners’ bark hut) (no. 17 from ‘Images of Queensland’ series) c.1870 / Autotype on paper / 9.8 x 16.5cm (comp.) / Purchased 2009 with funds raised through the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation 30th Anniversary Appeal / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art
Utagawa Hiroshige III ‘View of trading companies at Yokohama’1871
Utagawa Hiroshige III 1843-94 / View of trading companies at Yokohama (and detail) 1871 / Woodblock print, ink and colour on paper / Triptych: 37 x 24.8cm (each panel, approx.), 111 x 74..4cm (overall, approx.) / Purchased 2022 with funds from the Henry and Amanda Bartlett Trust through the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art Foundation / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art
Harriet Jane Neville-Rolfe ‘Saw-pit, Lanark’ 1884
Harriet Jane Neville-Rolfe, England/Australia 1850 – 1928 / Saw-pit, Lanark (and detail) 1884 / Watercolour over pencil on wove paper / 25.5 x 17.8cm / Gift of the artist’s son in her memory 1964 / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art
Hugh Ramsay ‘Jessie with the dog’1904
Hugh Ramsay, Australia 1877-1906 / Jessie with the dog 1904 / Oil on canvas / 174.5 x 95.6cm / Gift of Mrs M.T. Tompson through Colonel W.H.J.G. Tompson 1943 / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art
Flavelle, Roberts & Sankey 1892–1949, Retailer / Bracelet c.1910 / Australian gold with nine linked shells each set with a pearl, with similar detachable pendant / Original fitted case marked ‘Flavelle Roberts & Sankey Ltd. Brisbane, Rockhampton & London’ / Purchased 2011 with funds from the Estate of Kathleen Elizabeth Mowle through the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art
This charming gold and pearl bracelet on display at the Queensland Art Gallery, is a lovely example of work by the Brisbane firm Flavelle, Roberts & Sankey, and represents the local jeweller’s skill as well as providing a glimpse of Queensland’s history.
The gold bracelet is the most significant piece of Queensland jewellery to come to the Gallery’s notice. The delicacy and refinement of the bracelet suggests that it may have been a special commission, consisting of nine shells fashioned from Australian gold, each set with a small natural pearl, linked together with a larger detachable shell and pearl at the centre.
A newspaper advertisement in 1902 stated that Flavelle, Roberts & Sankey cut and polished gemstones and dealt in Queensland sapphires, opals and pearls; the pearls in this bracelet were probably harvested in north Queensland. Pearling was the largest industry in far north Queensland in the 1890s — in 1896, for instance, Thursday Island was home to 300 Japanese pearlers, a Japanese consul was based in Townsville, and pearling was the only industry ever exempted from the White Australia policy.
The cast shell forms in this bracelet have a connection with Queensland: according to Dr John Healy, Curator Mollusca at the Queensland Museum, the shells are most likely from a Turbo snail (either Turbo brunneus or Turbo intercoastalis), as both have spirally grooved shells and a wide distribution, which takes in Queensland coastal waters.
Flavelle, Roberts & Sankey Ltd
Queensland Country Life (Qld.: 1900 – 1954), 22 September 1900, page 29 / Image courtesy: Trove, National Library Australia
Flavelle Bros. & Co was originally established in Brisbane in 1863. James Nash, the discoverer of the Gympie goldfields in 1868, brought the first consignment of 621 ounces of gold to Brisbane for Mr Flavelle to test and weigh. The resultant financial stimulus to the colonial economy put Queensland on the map. The firm later became Flavelle Bros. and Roberts before establishing itself as Flavelle, Roberts & Sankey in 1892, and opening a Rockhampton branch in December 1894. It moved to larger premises in the main street, East Street, within two years, and was still operating there more than 30 years later. Although largely a retail business, their silversmithing, watchmaking and optical work suggests that they were more than able to make jewellery as well as sell it, in Brisbane if not Rockhampton.
Franco-British Exhibition, London
Queen Alexandra visiting the Flavelle Roberts & Shankey’s exhibit at the Franco-British Exhibition / Extract from The Daily Chronicle, 27 May 1908 / Photograph courtesy: https://www.facebook.com/VintageQueenslandBrisbane Courier (Qld.: 1864 – 1933), 8 October 1908, page 2 / Image courtesy: Trove, National Library Australia
Indeed, by 1908, they described themselves as ‘manufacturing jewellers’. That year, for the Queensland Court of the Franco–British Exhibition in London, a promotional adjunct to their display of Queensland gemstones, titled ‘From Outer Darkness’, included reports of their exhibit at the ‘Melbourne Exhibition of Women’s Work’ in the previous year. This attracted the attention of Queen Alexandra. As a further mark of esteem, in 1909 the firm was appointed as gem merchant to Australia’s Governor General, the Earl of Dudley.
From the very beginning of the business, they had imported the finest English porcelains, and in later years, established a local reputation for Royal Worcester porcelain decorated with floral studies, after designs by Marian Ellis Rowan. Over the decades, Flavelle, Roberts & Sankey was a worthy competitor to rival businesses like Hardy Bros. and Wallace Bishop, but eventually closed in 1949.
The Antipodean No. 3 (1897) page 28 / Image courtesy: Trove, National Library Australia
The bracelet is on display in the Queensland Art Gallery’s Australian Art Collection, Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Galleries (10-13).
Curatorial extracts, research and supplementary material compiled by Elliott Murray, Senior Digital Marketing Officer, QAGOMA
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We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land on which the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art stands and recognise the creative contribution First Australians make to the art and culture of this country.
