This horse-drawn, two-wheeled cart with a tank, is known as a Furphy Farm Water Cart that was made in Shepparton, northern Victoria, c. 1942. John Furphy (1842-1920) was born in Moonee Ponds, in 1842 to Irish immigrant parents and subsequently raised in the Yarra Valley before the family moved to Kyneton in central Victoria, where he completed an apprenticeship with the firm Hutcheson and Walker. Murphy began operations of his own at a site on Piper Street in Kyneton in 1864. He relocated for a business opportunity and founded the first blacksmiths and wheelwrights shop in the newly surveyed town of Shepparton in 1873. Furphy invented many farming tools and machines including a patented grain-stripper, and won awards at the 1888-89 Melbourne International Exhibition. His most famous invention is the Furphy Farm Water Cart, designed in the 1880s, at a time when water for most households and farms was carted on wagons in wooden barrels. The Furphy’s water cart is a single item that combines a water metal tank and a cart. The design of the cart was simple yet effective, and became popular very quickly and established itself as a vital piece of farming equipment. The water cart has had a number of words cast into its ends over many years. References to the foundry’s location in Shepparton, as well as advertising of other products also manufactured by J. Furphy & Sons were present on the ends. However, the most significant set of words to feature on the tank, was a poem encouraging continual improvement: ‘Good Better Best, Never Let it Rest, Until your Good is Better, And your Better Best’. During The Great War (1914-1918), the water cart was used by the Australian militarily at a large AIF (Australian Imperial Force) camp in Broadmeadows (Melbourne) where thousands of men were camped for months, before being transported aboard. Furphy Water Carts provided water to the troops, and were usually placed near the camp latrines, which was one of the few places the troops could share gossip and tall tales away from the prying eyes and ears of their officers. The water cart drivers were also notorious sources of information, despite most of their news being hearsay, or totally unreliable. By the time the men of the AIF were in engaged in combat on the Gallipoli Peninsula and the Western Front, the carts used for water supply had no markings and became simply referred to as Furphys. This owed as much to the coining of the term ‘Furphy’, Australian slang for suspect information or rumour. After a number of decades as principally a soldier’s word, 'Furphy' entered the broader Australian vernacular and was used mainly by the political class until recently when the term was taken up by a Australian brewer as a beer brand. This Furphy Water Cart was purchased by Friends of Flagstaff Hill in 2014. The support of local individuals, organisations and businesses enabled its restoration and later its installation alongside the existing late-19th century water pipe stand and 1940s hand pump The Furphy Farm Water Cart is of historical significance as it represents a famous Australian time-saving and energy-saving invention of the 1880s, replacing the labour intensive activity of collecting and dispensing water from barrels and casks on the back of carts. The water cart’s connection with manufacturing companies J. Furphy & Sons and Furphy Foundry are significant for being early Australian businesses that are still in operation today. Furphy carts are of military significance for the role they played during The Great War (1914-1918) in Australian army camps, and theatres of war in Europe and the Middle East, to supply the AIF troops with fresh water. A wooden framed, two-wheeled, horse-drawn cart, fitted with a horizontally mounted, cylindrical metal tank. The tank is made of rolled, sheet steel with a riveted seam, and cast iron ends with cast iron ends. The spoked metal wheels have fitted flat iron tyres and metal hubs. A metal pipe is joined to the outlet. The tank is silver coloured, the ends, wheels and trims are crimson, and the script lettering on tank sides is black. There are inscriptions on the tank, ends, and hubs. The water tank was made in 1942 in Shepparton, Australia, by J. Furphy & Sons and has a capacity of 180 gallons (848 litres). Hub perimeter, embossed “J. FURPHY & SONS” “KEEP THE / BOLTS TIGHT” Hub centre embossed [indecipherable] Tank, each side, painted “J. FURPHY & SONS / Makers / SHEPPARTON” Tank ends, embossed – “FURPHY’S FARM WATER CART” “BORN ABOUT 1880 – STILL ‘GOING STRONG’ 1942” “j. FURPHY & SONS / MAKERS / SHEPPARTON - VIC “ “S - - - - - L MANUFACTURERS” [SPECIAL] “SPIKE ROLLERS” “SINGLE TREES” “PLOUGH WHEELS” “IRON CASTINGS” “LAND GRADERS” “STEEL DELVERS” “CAST IRON PIG” “CHAIN YOKES” “GOOD – BETTER – BEST / NEVER LET IT REST / TILL YOUR GOOD IS BETTER / AND YOUR BETTER – BEST” Image [Stork carrying a baby] above shorthand, transcribed "Produce and populate or perish" Image [Furphy Pig Feeder] beside ‘Cast Iron Pig’ Shorthand, transcribed “"Water is the gift of God but beer and whiskey are concoctions of the Devil, come and have a drink of water"warrnambool, flagstaff hill maritime museum, water cart, furphy cart, furphy tank, furphy farm water cart, furphy, john furphy, john furphy & sons, furphy foundry, kyneton, shepparton, mobile water tank, jinker, hutchinson & walker, blacksmith, farm equipment, implement maker, tool maker, horse drawn, stork and baby, good, better, best, barrel, tank, first world war, wwi, eastern front, gallipoli, j furphy & sons

Karl Duldig carved this marble sculpture of a mask in the Vienna Kunstgewerbeschule (School of Applied Arts) in 1921. His teacher, Anton Hanak, the Professor of Sculpture at the School, encouraged him to carve directly into the stone. It was an accomplished work for the 19 year-old student and was selected by Hanak to represent the students of the School at the Deutschen Gewerbeschau (German Applied Art exhibition) in Munich in 1922, an early accolade for the young artist. The sculpture and another Kneeling Nude were reproduced in the journal Deustche Kunst and Dekoration in 1923-24 in an article on the Hanak-Klasse. In 2011 Mask was exhibited in the National Gallery of Victoria exhibition Vienna: Art and Design. The sculpture is one of ten substantial sculptures in marble and stone, and a larger group terracotta sculptures and masks, portrait busts and small stone sculptures created by Karl Duldig in Vienna that are held in the Museum collection. These art works are complemented by an archive of contemporary documents including letters, photographs, documents and ephemera. In 1938 Duldig’s Viennese sculptures were sent to Paris in 1938 for a proposed exhibition, and were hidden in Paris by Slawa Duldig’s sister Rella, throughout the Second World War, and arrived in Australia post-war over 5 decades. Karl Duldig was a student of the Kunstgewerbeschule from 1921 until 1925, and then attended the Akademie Der Bildenden Künste (Academy of Fine Arts) from 1929 until 1933. He was accepted into the Professor Josef Mullner’s “Meisterschule” at the Academy of Fine Arts from 1929 until 1933. His teacher at the Kunstgwerebeschule was Austria’s foremost contemporary sculptor Anton Hanak, and he was a formative influence on Duldig’s work. Hanak had been a member of Viennese Secession, and worked with Josef Hoffman on architectural commissions prior to the First World War. Hanak shared both his love of the expressive quality of materials and a humanist vision with his students. Various writers have written about Duldig’s interest in masks. His interest may have been stimulated by his classical education, the Greek and Roman antiquities in the Kunsthistoriches Museum in Vienna, or the ethnological collections in Vienna’s Museum of Ethnology (now known as the Weltmuseum). The mask was a motif explored by expressionist and cubist artists whose work was exhibited at the Vienna Secession. Duldig would have been familiar with the psychological investigations of the neurologist and founder of psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud, who established his practice in Vienna. In the Duldig Studio library, Duldig’s keen interest in the arts of a myriad of visual cultures is apparent. Of particular note are two well-thumbed copies Rudolf Utzinger’s, Masken, published by Ernst Wasmuth in Berlin in 1923, depicting masks from around the world. It is likely that a multitude of influences were at play. Slawa Duldig also worked with this motif, and also carved a smaller mask in Salzburg marble as well as a remarkable mask in clay, and these are held in the collection. Ann Carew 2016The Mask has national and international aesthetic significance. It is one of the earliest works by Karl Duldig in the Studio collection, and is a subject that he would continue to explore throughout his working life. The sculpture demonstrates a high degree of technical skill and mastery at an early age. It is evidence of Duldig’s engagement with the art of his peers during this period – the mask is a motif that inspired contemporary expressionist and cubist artists. It also demonstrates his interests in portraiture, human psychology, and the creation of identity and transformation of personalities. The Mask also provides an important link to the studio practice in the Vienna Kunstgwerbeschule, the teaching of Anton Hanak, and the program of international art exhibitions in Europe during the period. It is also of historical significance: the story of its survival and eventual recovery provides a counterpoint to the story of the Nazis’ confiscation of art during the Second World War. Ann Carew 2016Carving in Salzburg Marble. Holes for eyes and mouth cut through the block. Highly polished finish at front contrasting with rough finish at back and stylised curled hair. Marble base separate (75 x 275 x 198, wt 9000) and added later by artist. Karl Duldig 1921 incised on back

" Designed by architect Norman Day, the school was built in an innovative postmodern style. Day’s vision was for the school’s students to feel as comfortable and familiar at school as in their own homes. He based the design on the local suburban typology. The buildings consisted of individual self-contained classrooms, each with a front door, back door and garden. Each class retained the same homeroom for the duration of their schooling. Norman Day won the inaugural Lustig & Moar Architectural Prize in 1988 for his Mowbray College design, and the Australian Library Promotion Council/RAIA Library Design Award for the school’s library building. The school officially opened on 7 February 1983 with an enrolment of 93 students from Prep to Year 7. Mark Fergus was a Prep student in the school’s inaugural year. He later remembered: It was good then because everyone knew each other. Our first few weeks at school we had classes in the Guide Hall because the Mill wasn’t finished. The rest of the school where the Labs and Coppin Court are now was only a big paddock. Another Prep student, Brooke Harrison, recalled: The only recreation we had was the rough playground which consisted of monkey bars, old tractor tyres and a sandpit and high bars. Accidents were a frequent occurrence in those days! It was a friendly atmosphere, you know everyone and their business ... During some classes we used to do horticultural work and planted trees out the front of the school. In 2003, Mowbray College celebrated two decades of educating students in Melton. By that stage, the school had expanded to two campuses with over 1,450 students and 120 staff. It was estimated that over the twenty years since its establishment, 13,000 students passed through the gates. By the mid-2000s, the school offered an International Baccalaureate program and operated across three campuses: the original campus, named Patterson after the first principal, and the Brookside and Town Centre campuses, both located in Caroline Springs. Unfortunately, in 2012 Mowbray College found itself in an unmanageable situation. The community had lost faith in the school’s financial security and as a result some parents withheld their school fees, fearing the school would collapse. It had been in financial difficulty since the mid-2000s and by 2012 was $28 million in debt. 84 In June 2012, all three campuses closed and within four months, each of the campuses of the former Mowbray College had been purchased by other education institutes. Heathdale Christian College bought the original Mowbray campus and established its own campus there and Grace Children’s Services bought the Brookside campus. The Town Centre campus was purchased by Intaj Khan from the Western Institute of Technology but remained vacant after some failed attempts at re-establishing a school. In 2017 the Australian International Academy established an Islamic school on the site".The Express article about a grant for Mowbray Collegeeducation

Edison Records was one of the early record labels that pioneered sound recording and reproduction, and was an important player in the early recording industry. The first phonograph cylinders were manufactured in 1888, followed by Edison's foundation of the Edison Phonograph Company in the same year. The recorded wax cylinders, later replaced by Blue Amberol cylinders, and vertical-cut Diamond Discs, were manufactured by Edison's National Phonograph Company from 1896 on, reorganized as Thomas A. Edison, Inc. in 1911. Until 1910 the recordings did not carry the names of the artists. The company began to lag behind its rivals in the 1920s, both technically and in the popularity of its artists, and halted production of recordings in 1929. Thomas A. Edison invented the phonograph, the first device for recording and playing back sound, in 1877. After patenting the invention and benefiting from the publicity and acclaim it received, Edison and his laboratory turned their attention to the commercial development of electric lighting, playing no further role in the development of the phonograph for nearly a decade. Start of the Recording Industry: In 1887, Edison turned his attention back to improving the phonograph and the phonograph cylinder. The following year, the Edison company introduced the ”Perfected Phonograph”. Edison introduced wax cylinders approximately 4+1⁄4 inches (11 cm) long and 2+1⁄4 inches (5.7 cm) in external diameter, which became the industry standard. They had a maximum playing time of about 3 minutes at 120 RPM, but around the turn of the century the standard speed was increased to (first 144) and then 160 RPM to improve clarity and volume, reducing the maximum to about 2 minutes and 15 seconds. Several experimental wax cylinder recordings of music and speech made in 1888 still exist. The wax entertainment cylinder made its commercial debut in 1889 at first, the only customers were entrepreneurs who installed nickel-in-the-slot phonographs in amusement arcades, saloons and other public places. At that time, a phonograph cost the equivalent of several months' wages for the average worker and was driven by an electric motor powered by hazardous, high-maintenance wet cell batteries. After more affordable spring-motor-driven phonographs designed for home use were introduced in 1895, the industry of producing recorded entertainment cylinders for sale to the general public began in earnest. Blank records were an important part of the business early on. Most phonographs had or could be fitted with attachments for the users to make their own recordings. One important early use, in line with the original term for a phonograph as a "talking machine", was in business for recording dictation. Attachments were added to facilitate starting, stopping, and skipping back the recording for dictation and playback by stenographers. The business phonograph eventually evolved into a separate device from the home entertainment phonograph. Edison's brand of business phonograph was called the Ediphone. The collection of three phonograph cylinders are an example of early recorded music use for domestic entertainment. They are significant as they represent the beginnings of the modern recording industry.Cardboard tube-shaped gramophone cylinder box with lid. The printed label on the outside of the box advertises the maker and patent details. The Catalogue Number and Title are either printed or hand written on the cylinder’s lid. This cylinder contained Record no. 49, “B & H Jack” and was made at the Edison Laboratory USA. C. 1905On lid “Edison Record No. 49”, written in pencil “B & H Jack” (it looks like this) On cylinder “EDISON GOLD MOULDED RECORDS ECHO ALL OVER THE WORLD” Patents listed for 1904 & 1905warrnambool, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, gramophone record, gramophone cylinder, edison cylinder, edison record, home entertainment, music recording, edison laboratory orange nj, usa, national phonograph company of australia ltd sydney, thomas a. edison

Edison Records was one of the early record labels that pioneered sound recording and reproduction, and was an important player in the early recording industry. The first phonograph cylinders were manufactured in 1888, followed by Edison's foundation of the Edison Phonograph Company in the same year. The recorded wax cylinders, later replaced by Blue Amberol cylinders, and vertical-cut Diamond Discs, were manufactured by Edison's National Phonograph Company from 1896 on, reorganized as Thomas A. Edison, Inc. in 1911. Until 1910 the recordings did not carry the names of the artists. The company began to lag behind its rivals in the 1920s, both technically and in the popularity of its artists, and halted production of recordings in 1929. Thomas A. Edison invented the phonograph, the first device for recording and playing back sound, in 1877. After patenting the invention and benefiting from the publicity and acclaim it received, Edison and his laboratory turned their attention to the commercial development of electric lighting, playing no further role in the development of the phonograph for nearly a decade. Start of the Recording Industry: In 1887, Edison turned his attention back to improving the phonograph and the phonograph cylinder. The following year, the Edison company introduced the ”Perfected Phonograph”. Edison introduced wax cylinders approximately 4+1⁄4 inches (11 cm) long and 2+1⁄4 inches (5.7 cm) in external diameter, which became the industry standard. They had a maximum playing time of about 3 minutes at 120 RPM, but around the turn of the century the standard speed was increased to (first 144) and then 160 RPM to improve clarity and volume, reducing the maximum to about 2 minutes and 15 seconds. Several experimental wax cylinder recordings of music and speech made in 1888 still exist. The wax entertainment cylinder made its commercial debut in 1889 at first, the only customers were entrepreneurs who installed nickel-in-the-slot phonographs in amusement arcades, saloons and other public places. At that time, a phonograph cost the equivalent of several months' wages for the average worker and was driven by an electric motor powered by hazardous, high-maintenance wet cell batteries. After more affordable spring-motor-driven phonographs designed for home use were introduced in 1895, the industry of producing recorded entertainment cylinders for sale to the general public began in earnest. Blank records were an important part of the business early on. Most phonographs had or could be fitted with attachments for the users to make their own recordings. One important early use, in line with the original term for a phonograph as a "talking machine", was in business for recording dictation. Attachments were added to facilitate starting, stopping, and skipping back the recording for dictation and playback by stenographers. The business phonograph eventually evolved into a separate device from the home entertainment phonograph. Edison's brand of business phonograph was called the Ediphone. The collection of three phonograph cylinders are an example of early recorded music use for domestic entertainment. They are significant as they represent the beginnings of the modern recording industry.Cardboard tube-shaped gramophone cylinder box with lid. The printed label on the outside of the box advertises the maker and patent details. The Catalogue Number and Title are either printed or hand written on the cylinder’s lid. This cylinder contained Record no. 13619, the recording “Poor old England” published by Castling and Godfrey, sung by Billy Williams. Made by National Phonograph Company USA. C.1907On lid “Edison Record” and “This record should turn at 160 revolutions per minute, no faster” Written on lid in blue pen “Trumpet”, “EDISON AMBEROL RECORD / FOUR MINUTE”warrnambool, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, gramophone record, gramophone cylinder, edison cylinder, edison record, home entertainment, music recording, edison laboratory orange nj, usa, national phonograph company of australia ltd sydney, thomas a. edison

Edison Records was one of the early record labels that pioneered sound recording and reproduction, and was an important player in the early recording industry. The first phonograph cylinders were manufactured in 1888, followed by Edison's foundation of the Edison Phonograph Company in the same year. The recorded wax cylinders, later replaced by Blue Amberol cylinders, and vertical-cut Diamond Discs, were manufactured by Edison's National Phonograph Company from 1896 on, reorganized as Thomas A. Edison, Inc. in 1911. Until 1910 the recordings did not carry the names of the artists. The company began to lag behind its rivals in the 1920s, both technically and in the popularity of its artists, and halted production of recordings in 1929. Thomas A. Edison invented the phonograph, the first device for recording and playing back sound, in 1877. After patenting the invention and benefiting from the publicity and acclaim it received, Edison and his laboratory turned their attention to the commercial development of electric lighting, playing no further role in the development of the phonograph for nearly a decade. Start of the Recording Industry: In 1887, Edison turned his attention back to improving the phonograph and the phonograph cylinder. The following year, the Edison company introduced the ”Perfected Phonograph”. Edison introduced wax cylinders approximately 4+1⁄4 inches (11 cm) long and 2+1⁄4 inches (5.7 cm) in external diameter, which became the industry standard. They had a maximum playing time of about 3 minutes at 120 RPM, but around the turn of the century the standard speed was increased to (first 144) and then 160 RPM to improve clarity and volume, reducing the maximum to about 2 minutes and 15 seconds. Several experimental wax cylinder recordings of music and speech made in 1888 still exist. The wax entertainment cylinder made its commercial debut in 1889 at first, the only customers were entrepreneurs who installed nickel-in-the-slot phonographs in amusement arcades, saloons and other public places. At that time, a phonograph cost the equivalent of several months' wages for the average worker and was driven by an electric motor powered by hazardous, high-maintenance wet cell batteries. After more affordable spring-motor-driven phonographs designed for home use were introduced in 1895, the industry of producing recorded entertainment cylinders for sale to the general public began in earnest. Blank records were an important part of the business early on. Most phonographs had or could be fitted with attachments for the users to make their own recordings. One important early use, in line with the original term for a phonograph as a "talking machine", was in business for recording dictation. Attachments were added to facilitate starting, stopping, and skipping back the recording for dictation and playback by stenographers. The business phonograph eventually evolved into a separate device from the home entertainment phonograph. Edison's brand of business phonograph was called the Ediphone. The collection of three phonograph cylinders are an example of early recorded music use for domestic entertainment. They are significant as they represent the beginnings of the modern recording industry.Cardboard tube-shaped gramophone cylinder box with lid. The printed label on the outside of the box advertises the maker and patent details. The Catalogue Number and Title are either printed or hand written on the cylinder’s lid. This cylinder was made by Edison 1908 and contains Record number 53 by Sandy McNab. c. 1908On label “Edison Record No. 53, Sandy McNab" and "Form no. 1130, April 1908. Patented December 6 1904, No. 2109, and December 6 1904 No. 2110. “This record is sold by the National Phonograph Company of Australia Ltd, at Sydney Australia.” Trade Mark Thomas A. Edison warrnambool, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, gramophone record, gramophone cylinder, edison cylinder, edison record, home entertainment, music recording, edison laboratory orange nj, usa, national phonograph company of australia ltd sydney, thomas a. edison

In November 2024, a small group of cheerful volunteers from the Forests Commission Retired Personnel Association (FCRPA) toiled over nine days to dust-off, photograph and record nearly 300 artifacts in DEECA's Altona Museum. It followed a similar project at the FCRPA's Beechworth Museum in February 2024. The Altona project was generously supported by DEECA / FFMVic to engage professional photographer Mark Jesser from Wodonga whose boundless energy and good humour helped to create these amazing images. Special thanks go to the FFMVic Chief Fire Officer, Chris Hardman, as well as Andrew Stanios and Kat Jensen for making it happen. FFMVic crews and the ever-patient staff from Altona took a strong interest and also helped to shift some of the heavy items like pumps and the Bedford tanker which was very welcome. The Forests Commission and its successors continuously encouraged bushfire research and innovation. In 1946 a large parcel of industrial land was purchased at North Altona as a fire cache and workshop. The Altona workshop became a hotbed of new technological thingumajigs… a marvellous blend of Aladdin’s Cave of Wonders coupled with Wallace and Gromit’s madcap contraptions… an exhilarating place where lots of gizmos were invented and tested… mostly with astounding results... but nearly always with some head-scratching frustrations… and thankfully not too much explosive mayhem. In fact, a lot of Australia’s pioneering equipment development was led by staff from Altona, often in collaboration with other State forestry and fire authorities. The CSIRO also contributed significantly. The US Forest Service, the US Bureau of Land Management and US State agencies such as the California Department of Forestry and Fire (CalFire) as well as the Canadian Forest Service faced similar challenges and proved strong and willing partners in sharing knowledge, ideas, equipment and expertise over many decades. The collection at Altona started in the 1970s by fire equipment wizard Barry (Rocky) Marsden. As obsolete equipment was returned to the Fire Protection Workshop for auction, Rocky began the process of selecting some which would be interesting to retain and display. The items at Altona represent just a small sample of the amazing story of Victoria's forestry and bushfire heritage. The largest item was undoubtedly the Bedford tanker which took two days and nearly 1000 photos which were later stitched together with photoshop. The oldest item is probably the Ericsson wall telephone from 1904. There are also many unique items, but the CSIRO incendiary machine and ping-pong incendiary machine developed at Altona probably had the most significant impact on fire management in Australia. There are plenty of gaps in the collection, but some items are in regional DEECA offices. It’s hoped to merge the FCRPA's Beechworth collection to Altona one day and rename the site to honour Rocky Marsden. There may be some additions to the Altona museum over time, but space is limited. The museum is available to visit by appointment. Peter McHugh - January 2025 forests commission victoria (fcv)

This photograph was taken close to the time of the wreck of the "Edinburgh Castle". The “Edinburgh Castle”, three-masted iron barque, was built in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1863 by J.G. Lawrie. She was 53.7 meters long and weighed 627 tons. She was owned by shipping company T Skinner and Co and registered at Liverpool, England. She sailed from 1863 to 1885 along the trade route between Scotland, China, and Singapore. In 1887 the Master, Captain J.B. Darling, sailed the “Edinburgh Castle” for its new owners Gifford & Nicholson from London to Warrnambool. Her cargo was 4,900 casks of cement for the construction of the new Warrnambool Breakwater. Over the three month journey, the ship met with rough weather and even a hurricane. On January 15th 1888 the “Edinburgh Castle” approached Lady Bay where a welcoming crowd gathered. The Port’s relief Harbour Master, Pilot Carless took over to complete the docking. As he tried to guide her, the Lighthouse Keeper signalled that the ship was too close to shore. The pilot continued on his course, causing her to ‘miss stays’ (make an incorrect tack). The crew dropped anchors and tried to lighten the load by throwing some of the casks of cement overboard but this was to no avail, and she drifted sideways in calm waters, lodging in the sand. A distress signal was sent to the coastal steamer “Julia Percy”, which spent several hours trying to pull the stranded ship away, but it would not budge. Those involved hoped to re-float the ship but efforts to save the vessel were useless. The captain and some crew stayed on board. When the weather became rough the rocket crew brought its lifesaving gear to the shore, ready to launch a line to the ship. The three men on board sent those onshore a message in a bottle to assure the on-lookers that they were quite comfortable to stay aboard. After a night of bad weather, the crew were glad to accept the rocket crew’s help and were in turn safely hauled to shore in a breeches buoy. The ship broke up quickly. Very little of the cargo could be saved. A week later all that could be seen of her was the bow and some of the stern. The beach was littered with wreckage, including cement cask fragments, for weeks. Ironically, on the morning after the ship ran aground, the very same “Edinburgh Castle” was offered for sale at an auction in Melbourne, billed as “a sound ship with all the fittings and in the best order.” The sale was completed before they heard the news that the ship was totally wrecked! Over the decades the shifting sands concealed the wreck of “Edinburgh Castle”. However, in October 1985 two local divers, Peter Ronald and Colin Goodall discovered her near the Hopkins River mouth. Peter said in his book ‘Exploring Shipwrecks of Western Victoria’, “In the midst of this sand-cloud I could clearly see row after row of neatly stacked barrels”. He remarked, “I am privileged to have had at least a glimpse of one of Warrnambool's most significant wrecks.” Some 15 – 17 ships are believed to have sunk in Lady Bay, but only two have been discovered on the seafloor; the “Edinburgh Castle” and the “La Bella”. Both wrecks are popular diving sites and are preserved as significant historical marine and marine archaeological sites. The sailing ship “Edinburgh Castle” is of local and state and national significance. It is one of the only two shipwrecks discovered in Lady Bay, Warrnambool, out of the 15-17 shipwrecks in the bay. The “Edinburgh Castle” is significant for being one of the largest vessels lost in the bay. The significance of the wreck of the “Edinburgh Castle” was recognised by being listed on the Victorian Heritage Database VHR S209. She was declared an Historic Shipwreck on 17th January 1989 under the Commonwealth Historic Shipwrecks Act (1976). The “Edinburgh Castle” wreck is also significant for the connection of its cargo with the building of the Warrnambool Breakwater, also listed on the Victorian Heritage Database VHR H2024. The “Edinburgh Castle” is included as one of the shipwrecks in Heritage Victoria’s Historic Shipwreck Trail on Victoria’s West Coast. Black and white photograph of the iron barque 'Edinburgh Castle' on breaking waves, land in the background. The ship was stranded and wrecked in Lady Bay, Warrnambool, on January 15th 1888. Figures are standing on deck. The masts are free from sails.flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, great ocean road, edinburgh castle barque 1863, edinburgh castle shipwreck 1888, shipwreck 15-05-1888, glasgow ship, jg lawrie, t skinner and co, liverpool ship register, captain j.b. darling, gifford & nicholson, cement casks, cement barrels, warrnambool breakwater construction, breaches buoy, rocket crew, rocket launcher, lifesaving equipment, warrnambool harbour, lady bay warrnambool, ship pilot carless, lady bay shipwreck, peter ronald, colin goodall, lady bay diving site, marine archaeology, victorian heritage register, vhr s209

This photograph was taken close to the time of the wreck of the "Edinburgh Castle". The “Edinburgh Castle”, three-masted iron barque, was built in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1863 by J.G. Lawrie. She was 53.7 meters long and weighed 627 tons. She was owned by shipping company T Skinner and Co and registered at Liverpool, England. She sailed from 1863 to 1885 along the trade route between Scotland, China, and Singapore. In 1887 the Master, Captain J.B. Darling, sailed the “Edinburgh Castle” for its new owners Gifford & Nicholson from London to Warrnambool. Her cargo was 4,900 casks of cement for the construction of the new Warrnambool Breakwater. Over the three month journey, the ship met with rough weather and even a hurricane. On January 15th 1888 the “Edinburgh Castle” approached Lady Bay where a welcoming crowd gathered. The Port’s relief Harbour Master, Pilot Carless took over to complete the docking. As he tried to guide her, the Lighthouse Keeper signalled that the ship was too close to shore. The pilot continued on his course, causing her to ‘miss stays’ (make an incorrect tack). The crew dropped anchors and tried to lighten the load by throwing some of the casks of cement overboard but this was to no avail, and she drifted sideways in calm waters, lodging in the sand. A distress signal was sent to the coastal steamer “Julia Percy”, which spent several hours trying to pull the stranded ship away, but it would not budge. Those involved hoped to re-float the ship but efforts to save the vessel were useless. The captain and some crew stayed on board. When the weather became rough the rocket crew brought its lifesaving gear to the shore, ready to launch a line to the ship. The three men on board sent those onshore a message in a bottle to assure the on-lookers that they were quite comfortable to stay aboard. After a night of bad weather, the crew were glad to accept the rocket crew’s help and were in turn safely hauled to shore in a breeches buoy. The ship broke up quickly. Very little of the cargo could be saved. A week later all that could be seen of her was the bow and some of the stern. The beach was littered with wreckage, including cement cask fragments, for weeks. Ironically, on the morning after the ship ran aground, the very same “Edinburgh Castle” was offered for sale at an auction in Melbourne, billed as “a sound ship with all the fittings and in the best order.” The sale was completed before they heard the news that the ship was totally wrecked! Over the decades the shifting sands concealed the wreck of “Edinburgh Castle”. However, in October 1985 two local divers, Peter Ronald and Colin Goodall discovered her near the Hopkins River mouth. Peter said in his book ‘Exploring Shipwrecks of Western Victoria’, “In the midst of this sand-cloud I could clearly see row after row of neatly stacked barrels”. He remarked, “I am privileged to have had at least a glimpse of one of Warrnambool's most significant wrecks.” Some 15 – 17 ships are believed to have sunk in Lady Bay, but only two have been discovered on the seafloor; the “Edinburgh Castle” and the “La Bella”. Both wrecks are popular diving sites and are preserved as significant historical marine and marine archaeological sites. The sailing ship “Edinburgh Castle” is of local and state and national significance. It is one of the only two shipwrecks discovered in Lady Bay, Warrnambool, out of the 15-17 shipwrecks in the bay. The “Edinburgh Castle” is significant for being one of the largest vessels lost in the bay. The significance of the wreck of the “Edinburgh Castle” was recognised by being listed on the Victorian Heritage Database VHR S209. She was declared an Historic Shipwreck on 17th January 1989 under the Commonwealth Historic Shipwrecks Act (1976). The “Edinburgh Castle” wreck is also significant for the connection of its cargo with the building of the Warrnambool Breakwater, also listed on the Victorian Heritage Database VHR H2024. The “Edinburgh Castle” is included as one of the shipwrecks in Heritage Victoria’s Historic Shipwreck Trail on Victoria’s West Coast. Black and white photograph of the iron barque 'Edinburgh Castle' stranded and wrecked at Lady Bay, Warrnambool, on January 15th 1888. The photograph shows wreckage along the shore and two standing figures looking on.flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, great ocean road, edinburgh castle barque 1863, edinburgh castle shipwreck 1888, shipwreck 15-05-1888, glasgow ship, jg lawrie, t skinner and co, liverpool ship register, captain j.b. darling, gifford & nicholson, cement casks, cement barrels, warrnambool breakwater construction, breaches buoy, rocket crew, rocket launcher, lifesaving equipment, warrnambool harbour, lady bay warrnambool, ship pilot carless, lady bay shipwreck, peter ronald, colin goodall, lady bay diving site, marine archaeology, victorian heritage register, vhr s209

The subject item is a saw blade sharpening clamp that attaches to a bench allowing the operator to sharpen the teeth on a saw with a file while keeping the saw blade in an upright position. Henry Disston (1819–1878) began his career as an American saw maker in Philadelphia. He emigrated from England in 1833 and started making saws and squares in 1840. In 1850, he founded the company that would become the largest saw maker in the world the ”Keystone Saw Works” on the Delaware River. Some five years later, Disston built a furnace possibly the first melting plant for steel in America and began producing the first crucible saw steel ever made in the United States. While his competitors were buying good steel from Britain, he was making his own, to his specification, for his own needs. Disston subsequently constructed a special rolling mill exclusively for saw blades. Over the following decade, the Disston company continued to grow, even while dedicating itself to the Union Army's war effort. In 1865, when his son Hamilton Disston rejoined the business after serving in the Civil War, Disston changed the company's name to Henry Disston & Son. Henry Disston and his sons set the standards for American saw makers, both in terms of producing high-quality saws and developing innovative manufacturing techniques. Disston also started making files in 1865. In September 1872, Henry Disston and two other men dug a part of the foundation for what was to become the largest saw manufacturing facility in the world: Disston Saw Works. This was in the Tacony section of Philadelphia. Having previously moved his expanding business from near Second and Market Streets to Front and Laurel Streets, Disston sought to establish his business away from this cramped area. It took over 25 years to move the entire facility to Tacony. This Philadelphia neighborhood seems to have been the only company town in the United States established within an existing city. At its peak of operations, Disston Saw Works employed 8,000 people and the factory covered 300 acres. The company, known as Henry Disston and Sons, Inc by the early 20th century, cast the first crucible steel in the nation from an electric furnace in 1906. The firm's Armour plate building near Princeton Avenue and Milnor Street contributed tremendously to the World War II effort. But the company's innovation and industriousness would not last forever. In 1955, with mounting cash-flow problems and waning interest on the family's part to run the firm, Henry Disston and Sons were sold to the H.K. Porter Company of Pittsburgh. Porter's Disston Division was sold in 1978 and became the Henry Disston Division of Sandvik Saw of Sweden. This division was then sold in 1984 to R.A.F. Industries of Philadelphia and became known as Disston Precision Incorporated, a maker of specialized flat steel products. In 2013, R.A.F. Industries sold Disston Precision Inc. in a private sale. Although the company has ceased making Disston handsaws, the Disston brand name still exists in this firm. A significant American company that pioneered the making of high-quality steel and saws along with other tools and accessories. The subject item is significant as it was made at a time when the company was in its hay day. Adjustable Ball & Socket Saw Sharpening vice, cast iron, with clamp to attach to a workbench. Made by Henry Disston & Co. No 1 painted greyflagstaff hill, warrnambool, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, saw clamp, henry disston & sons, saw sharpening, tool accessories, wood saws

This bottle was made in Scotland and recovered decades later from a shipwreck along the coast of Victoria. It may have been amongst the ship's cargo, its provisions or amongst a passenger's personal luggage. It is now part of the John Chance collection. Stoneware bottles similar to this one were in common use during the mid-to-late 19th century. They were used to store and transport. The bottles were handmade using either a potter's wheel or in moulds such as a plaster mould, which gave the bottles uniformity in size and shape. The bottle would then be fired and glazed in a hot kiln. Makers often identified their bottles with the impression of a small symbol or adding a colour to the mouth. The manufacturer usually stamped their bottles with their name and logo, and sometimes a message that the bottle remained their property and should be returned to them. The bottles could then be cleaned and refilled. The Barrowfield pottery was founded in 1866 by Henry Kennedy, an Irish native, in the Camlachie district east of Glasgow, close to the Campbellfield and Mount Blue potteries. It is believed that Kennedy started with just one kiln but by 1871 was employing forty men and six boys and such was the success of the enterprise that by 1880, no less than eight kilns were in operation and a year later one hundred and the pottery was employing eighteen people. Stoneware bottle production was a mainstay of the pottery and over “1500 dozen” were being turned out daily along with other wares, including 30-gallon ironstone containers. With so many kilns in operation, six hundred saggars were required every week but, unlike some potteries, these were made on the premises from Garnkirk and Glenboig fire clays. Pottery production reaches a high scale which presented a high risk of fire and Barrowfield was no exception. In April 1884 heat from a kiln set fire to the roof resulting in significant structural damage, the loss of unfinished wares alone amounting to £10,000 a very substantial sum in 1884.  The pottery recovered from this reverse but then Henry Kennedy died in July 1890. The terms of his will indicated that he and his sons John and Joseph were partners and this was reflected in a change of title in the 1891-92 Post Office Directory to Henry Kennedy & Sons. Despite the growth of the business there was still space enough, however, to allow china, earthenware and glass retailers Daniel and John McDougall to commence production of their Nautilus wares there in 1894, the success of which allowed them to soon move to permanent quarters at the empty Saracen Pottery, Possil. In around 1900 John Kennedy left to resurrect the liquidated Cleland Pottery and although Barrowfield remained listed as Henry Kennedy & Sons, brother Joseph was in control. In 1911 Henry Kennedy & Sons Ltd was formed, with two of the four directors being the Kennedy brothers. The pottery’s growth to this point was reflected in the eighteen kilns the largest pottery kilns then recorded in Scotland.   However, the disruption of the First World War and the combined effects of subsequent economic depression, US prohibition, hygiene regulations and competition from alternative materials posed severe challenges for stoneware potteries in the post-war years as they competed with each other for diminishing markets. Competitors such as Eagle and Caledonian Potteries fell by the wayside and finally, Barrowfield closed in 1929. This stoneware bottle is historically significant for its manufacture and use in the late 19th to the early 20th century. The bottle is also significant as it was recovered by John Chance, a diver, from a wreck on the coast of Victoria in the 1960s-70s. Items that come from several wrecks along Victoria's coast have since been donated to the Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village’s museum collection by his family, illustrating this item’s level of historical value. Stoneware was produced at Barrowfield pottery for the domestic and export markets, with South America being a large market. Barrowfield stoneware can be found throughout the world. Its longevity and abundant production makes the subject item a significant addition to the Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum collection.Bottle, salt glazed stoneware, beige, some discolouration above base. Chip on base and on neck. Inscriptions stamped near base.Makers lozenge stamped, H Kennedy Barrowfield Pottery GLASGOW at base.flagstaff hill, warrnambool, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, john chance, h kennedy pottery, stoneware, ironstone, pottery, barrowfield glasgow

Frances Burke: Designer of Modern Textiles Australia’s most influential and celebrated textile designer of the mid-20th century, Frances Burke (1904-1994), employed Australian native flora, garden flowers, marine subjects, Indigenous culture and increasingly, abstract motifs in her stunning modern fabrics. A confident, determined designer and businesswoman; Burke made the shift from fine art to design in 1937. While she began by designing dress fabrics for Melbourne’s fashionable Georges Department store, printing them on linen using lino blocks, she was an early adopter of the screen-printing process and during the war years began printing on cotton. Burke’s furnishing fabrics took their place in influential modern buildings Australia-wide through collaborations with leading architects and interior designers. They included Robin Boyd’s 1949 House of Tomorrow, Roy Grounds’ Quamby flats, Guilford Bell’s Royal Hayman Island Resort for Ansett Airlines, and Yuncken, Freeman Brothers, Griffiths and Simpson’s Canberra Civic Centre Theatre. In the post-war period, Burke made regular trips to the United States and Europe, on her return advising homeowners and manufacturers on the latest trends in products, colours and home design in lectures and interviews. At New Design her fabric showroom and interior design consultancy Burke introduced furniture by emerging designers Clement Meadmore and Grant Featherston in the early 1950s and presented local and imported homewares, mostly from the United States. She was enthusiastic about the convenient and comfortable lifestyle experienced by ordinary American women. Her fabrics and advice were regularly featured in Australian Home Beautiful, Australian House and Garden and the newspapers of the day. Some of Burke’s designs had remarkable longevity. Tiger Stripe (1938) for example, continued to be produced in a wide range of colours until 1970 and Crete (1946) remained a popular choice for interiors into the 1960s. Drawing from a rich variety of sources including Indigenous culture in Goanna (c.1954) and Pacific Island tapa cloth designs in Bird and Tree (1940), Burke also looked to Japan in designs such as Plum Blossom (1948) and Zen (1965). She loved exploring the potential of native flora, seen in designs including Waratah (1955) and Flannel Flower (1955), while garden flowers were the source for many other designs including Belladonna (1940), Periwinkle (n.d.) and Rose (1947). Burke’s clever interplay of a single striking printed colour with lively gestural lines revealing the white base fabric, gave her designs a vibrancy that characterised the optimistic post-war era. This can be seen in Burke’s fabrics for Hayman Island including Angel Fish and Seapiece (both 1949) which expressed the freshness and excitement of the luxurious new tropical resort and led to further commissions. Burke’s three decades in business (1937-1970) were an unparalleled success in the story of Australian design. Her fabrics have been collected by the NGA, the Powerhouse Museum, NGV, RMIT Design Archives and Sydney Living Museums in addition to Ararat Gallery TAMA. Written by Nanette Carter and Robyn Oswald-Jacobs.

Frances Burke: Designer of Modern Textiles Australia’s most influential and celebrated textile designer of the mid-20th century, Frances Burke (1904-1994), employed Australian native flora, garden flowers, marine subjects, Indigenous culture and increasingly, abstract motifs in her stunning modern fabrics. A confident, determined designer and businesswoman; Burke made the shift from fine art to design in 1937. While she began by designing dress fabrics for Melbourne’s fashionable Georges Department store, printing them on linen using lino blocks, she was an early adopter of the screen-printing process and during the war years began printing on cotton. Burke’s furnishing fabrics took their place in influential modern buildings Australia-wide through collaborations with leading architects and interior designers. They included Robin Boyd’s 1949 House of Tomorrow, Roy Grounds’ Quamby flats, Guilford Bell’s Royal Hayman Island Resort for Ansett Airlines, and Yuncken, Freeman Brothers, Griffiths and Simpson’s Canberra Civic Centre Theatre. In the post-war period, Burke made regular trips to the United States and Europe, on her return advising homeowners and manufacturers on the latest trends in products, colours and home design in lectures and interviews. At New Design her fabric showroom and interior design consultancy Burke introduced furniture by emerging designers Clement Meadmore and Grant Featherston in the early 1950s and presented local and imported homewares, mostly from the United States. She was enthusiastic about the convenient and comfortable lifestyle experienced by ordinary American women. Her fabrics and advice were regularly featured in Australian Home Beautiful, Australian House and Garden and the newspapers of the day. Some of Burke’s designs had remarkable longevity. Tiger Stripe (1938) for example, continued to be produced in a wide range of colours until 1970 and Crete (1946) remained a popular choice for interiors into the 1960s. Drawing from a rich variety of sources including Indigenous culture in Goanna (c.1954) and Pacific Island tapa cloth designs in Bird and Tree (1940), Burke also looked to Japan in designs such as Plum Blossom (1948) and Zen (1965). She loved exploring the potential of native flora, seen in designs including Waratah (1955) and Flannel Flower (1955), while garden flowers were the source for many other designs including Belladonna (1940), Periwinkle (n.d.) and Rose (1947). Burke’s clever interplay of a single striking printed colour with lively gestural lines revealing the white base fabric, gave her designs a vibrancy that characterised the optimistic post-war era. This can be seen in Burke’s fabrics for Hayman Island including Angel Fish and Seapiece (both 1949) which expressed the freshness and excitement of the luxurious new tropical resort and led to further commissions. Burke’s three decades in business (1937-1970) were an unparalleled success in the story of Australian design. Her fabrics have been collected by the NGA, the Powerhouse Museum, NGV, RMIT Design Archives and Sydney Living Museums in addition to Ararat Gallery TAMA. Written by Nanette Carter and Robyn Oswald-Jacobs.

Frances Burke: Designer of Modern Textiles Australia’s most influential and celebrated textile designer of the mid-20th century, Frances Burke (1904-1994), employed Australian native flora, garden flowers, marine subjects, Indigenous culture and increasingly, abstract motifs in her stunning modern fabrics. A confident, determined designer and businesswoman; Burke made the shift from fine art to design in 1937. While she began by designing dress fabrics for Melbourne’s fashionable Georges Department store, printing them on linen using lino blocks, she was an early adopter of the screen-printing process and during the war years began printing on cotton. Burke’s furnishing fabrics took their place in influential modern buildings Australia-wide through collaborations with leading architects and interior designers. They included Robin Boyd’s 1949 House of Tomorrow, Roy Grounds’ Quamby flats, Guilford Bell’s Royal Hayman Island Resort for Ansett Airlines, and Yuncken, Freeman Brothers, Griffiths and Simpson’s Canberra Civic Centre Theatre. In the post-war period, Burke made regular trips to the United States and Europe, on her return advising homeowners and manufacturers on the latest trends in products, colours and home design in lectures and interviews. At New Design her fabric showroom and interior design consultancy Burke introduced furniture by emerging designers Clement Meadmore and Grant Featherston in the early 1950s and presented local and imported homewares, mostly from the United States. She was enthusiastic about the convenient and comfortable lifestyle experienced by ordinary American women. Her fabrics and advice were regularly featured in Australian Home Beautiful, Australian House and Garden and the newspapers of the day. Some of Burke’s designs had remarkable longevity. Tiger Stripe (1938) for example, continued to be produced in a wide range of colours until 1970 and Crete (1946) remained a popular choice for interiors into the 1960s. Drawing from a rich variety of sources including Indigenous culture in Goanna (c.1954) and Pacific Island tapa cloth designs in Bird and Tree (1940), Burke also looked to Japan in designs such as Plum Blossom (1948) and Zen (1965). She loved exploring the potential of native flora, seen in designs including Waratah (1955) and Flannel Flower (1955), while garden flowers were the source for many other designs including Belladonna (1940), Periwinkle (n.d.) and Rose (1947). Burke’s clever interplay of a single striking printed colour with lively gestural lines revealing the white base fabric, gave her designs a vibrancy that characterised the optimistic post-war era. This can be seen in Burke’s fabrics for Hayman Island including Angel Fish and Seapiece (both 1949) which expressed the freshness and excitement of the luxurious new tropical resort and led to further commissions. Burke’s three decades in business (1937-1970) were an unparalleled success in the story of Australian design. Her fabrics have been collected by the NGA, the Powerhouse Museum, NGV, RMIT Design Archives and Sydney Living Museums in addition to Ararat Gallery TAMA. Written by Nanette Carter and Robyn Oswald-Jacobs.

Frances Burke: Designer of Modern Textiles Australia’s most influential and celebrated textile designer of the mid-20th century, Frances Burke (1904-1994), employed Australian native flora, garden flowers, marine subjects, Indigenous culture and increasingly, abstract motifs in her stunning modern fabrics. A confident, determined designer and businesswoman; Burke made the shift from fine art to design in 1937. While she began by designing dress fabrics for Melbourne’s fashionable Georges Department store, printing them on linen using lino blocks, she was an early adopter of the screen-printing process and during the war years began printing on cotton. Burke’s furnishing fabrics took their place in influential modern buildings Australia-wide through collaborations with leading architects and interior designers. They included Robin Boyd’s 1949 House of Tomorrow, Roy Grounds’ Quamby flats, Guilford Bell’s Royal Hayman Island Resort for Ansett Airlines, and Yuncken, Freeman Brothers, Griffiths and Simpson’s Canberra Civic Centre Theatre. In the post-war period, Burke made regular trips to the United States and Europe, on her return advising homeowners and manufacturers on the latest trends in products, colours and home design in lectures and interviews. At New Design her fabric showroom and interior design consultancy Burke introduced furniture by emerging designers Clement Meadmore and Grant Featherston in the early 1950s and presented local and imported homewares, mostly from the United States. She was enthusiastic about the convenient and comfortable lifestyle experienced by ordinary American women. Her fabrics and advice were regularly featured in Australian Home Beautiful, Australian House and Garden and the newspapers of the day. Some of Burke’s designs had remarkable longevity. Tiger Stripe (1938) for example, continued to be produced in a wide range of colours until 1970 and Crete (1946) remained a popular choice for interiors into the 1960s. Drawing from a rich variety of sources including Indigenous culture in Goanna (c.1954) and Pacific Island tapa cloth designs in Bird and Tree (1940), Burke also looked to Japan in designs such as Plum Blossom (1948) and Zen (1965). She loved exploring the potential of native flora, seen in designs including Waratah (1955) and Flannel Flower (1955), while garden flowers were the source for many other designs including Belladonna (1940), Periwinkle (n.d.) and Rose (1947). Burke’s clever interplay of a single striking printed colour with lively gestural lines revealing the white base fabric, gave her designs a vibrancy that characterised the optimistic post-war era. This can be seen in Burke’s fabrics for Hayman Island including Angel Fish and Seapiece (both 1949) which expressed the freshness and excitement of the luxurious new tropical resort and led to further commissions. Burke’s three decades in business (1937-1970) were an unparalleled success in the story of Australian design. Her fabrics have been collected by the NGA, the Powerhouse Museum, NGV, RMIT Design Archives and Sydney Living Museums in addition to Ararat Gallery TAMA. Written by Nanette Carter and Robyn Oswald-Jacobs.

Frances Burke: Designer of Modern Textiles Australia’s most influential and celebrated textile designer of the mid-20th century, Frances Burke (1904-1994), employed Australian native flora, garden flowers, marine subjects, Indigenous culture and increasingly, abstract motifs in her stunning modern fabrics. A confident, determined designer and businesswoman; Burke made the shift from fine art to design in 1937. While she began by designing dress fabrics for Melbourne’s fashionable Georges Department store, printing them on linen using lino blocks, she was an early adopter of the screen-printing process and during the war years began printing on cotton. Burke’s furnishing fabrics took their place in influential modern buildings Australia-wide through collaborations with leading architects and interior designers. They included Robin Boyd’s 1949 House of Tomorrow, Roy Grounds’ Quamby flats, Guilford Bell’s Royal Hayman Island Resort for Ansett Airlines, and Yuncken, Freeman Brothers, Griffiths and Simpson’s Canberra Civic Centre Theatre. In the post-war period, Burke made regular trips to the United States and Europe, on her return advising homeowners and manufacturers on the latest trends in products, colours and home design in lectures and interviews. At New Design her fabric showroom and interior design consultancy Burke introduced furniture by emerging designers Clement Meadmore and Grant Featherston in the early 1950s and presented local and imported homewares, mostly from the United States. She was enthusiastic about the convenient and comfortable lifestyle experienced by ordinary American women. Her fabrics and advice were regularly featured in Australian Home Beautiful, Australian House and Garden and the newspapers of the day. Some of Burke’s designs had remarkable longevity. Tiger Stripe (1938) for example, continued to be produced in a wide range of colours until 1970 and Crete (1946) remained a popular choice for interiors into the 1960s. Drawing from a rich variety of sources including Indigenous culture in Goanna (c.1954) and Pacific Island tapa cloth designs in Bird and Tree (1940), Burke also looked to Japan in designs such as Plum Blossom (1948) and Zen (1965). She loved exploring the potential of native flora, seen in designs including Waratah (1955) and Flannel Flower (1955), while garden flowers were the source for many other designs including Belladonna (1940), Periwinkle (n.d.) and Rose (1947). Burke’s clever interplay of a single striking printed colour with lively gestural lines revealing the white base fabric, gave her designs a vibrancy that characterised the optimistic post-war era. This can be seen in Burke’s fabrics for Hayman Island including Angel Fish and Seapiece (both 1949) which expressed the freshness and excitement of the luxurious new tropical resort and led to further commissions. Burke’s three decades in business (1937-1970) were an unparalleled success in the story of Australian design. Her fabrics have been collected by the NGA, the Powerhouse Museum, NGV, RMIT Design Archives and Sydney Living Museums in addition to Ararat Gallery TAMA. Written by Nanette Carter and Robyn Oswald-Jacobs.

Frances Burke: Designer of Modern Textiles Australia’s most influential and celebrated textile designer of the mid-20th century, Frances Burke (1904-1994), employed Australian native flora, garden flowers, marine subjects, Indigenous culture and increasingly, abstract motifs in her stunning modern fabrics. A confident, determined designer and businesswoman; Burke made the shift from fine art to design in 1937. While she began by designing dress fabrics for Melbourne’s fashionable Georges Department store, printing them on linen using lino blocks, she was an early adopter of the screen-printing process and during the war years began printing on cotton. Burke’s furnishing fabrics took their place in influential modern buildings Australia-wide through collaborations with leading architects and interior designers. They included Robin Boyd’s 1949 House of Tomorrow, Roy Grounds’ Quamby flats, Guilford Bell’s Royal Hayman Island Resort for Ansett Airlines, and Yuncken, Freeman Brothers, Griffiths and Simpson’s Canberra Civic Centre Theatre. In the post-war period, Burke made regular trips to the United States and Europe, on her return advising homeowners and manufacturers on the latest trends in products, colours and home design in lectures and interviews. At New Design her fabric showroom and interior design consultancy Burke introduced furniture by emerging designers Clement Meadmore and Grant Featherston in the early 1950s and presented local and imported homewares, mostly from the United States. She was enthusiastic about the convenient and comfortable lifestyle experienced by ordinary American women. Her fabrics and advice were regularly featured in Australian Home Beautiful, Australian House and Garden and the newspapers of the day. Some of Burke’s designs had remarkable longevity. Tiger Stripe (1938) for example, continued to be produced in a wide range of colours until 1970 and Crete (1946) remained a popular choice for interiors into the 1960s. Drawing from a rich variety of sources including Indigenous culture in Goanna (c.1954) and Pacific Island tapa cloth designs in Bird and Tree (1940), Burke also looked to Japan in designs such as Plum Blossom (1948) and Zen (1965). She loved exploring the potential of native flora, seen in designs including Waratah (1955) and Flannel Flower (1955), while garden flowers were the source for many other designs including Belladonna (1940), Periwinkle (n.d.) and Rose (1947). Burke’s clever interplay of a single striking printed colour with lively gestural lines revealing the white base fabric, gave her designs a vibrancy that characterised the optimistic post-war era. This can be seen in Burke’s fabrics for Hayman Island including Angel Fish and Seapiece (both 1949) which expressed the freshness and excitement of the luxurious new tropical resort and led to further commissions. Burke’s three decades in business (1937-1970) were an unparalleled success in the story of Australian design. Her fabrics have been collected by the NGA, the Powerhouse Museum, NGV, RMIT Design Archives and Sydney Living Museums in addition to Ararat Gallery TAMA. Written by Nanette Carter and Robyn Oswald-Jacobs.

Frances Burke: Designer of Modern Textiles Australia’s most influential and celebrated textile designer of the mid-20th century, Frances Burke (1904-1994), employed Australian native flora, garden flowers, marine subjects, Indigenous culture and increasingly, abstract motifs in her stunning modern fabrics. A confident, determined designer and businesswoman; Burke made the shift from fine art to design in 1937. While she began by designing dress fabrics for Melbourne’s fashionable Georges Department store, printing them on linen using lino blocks, she was an early adopter of the screen-printing process and during the war years began printing on cotton. Burke’s furnishing fabrics took their place in influential modern buildings Australia-wide through collaborations with leading architects and interior designers. They included Robin Boyd’s 1949 House of Tomorrow, Roy Grounds’ Quamby flats, Guilford Bell’s Royal Hayman Island Resort for Ansett Airlines, and Yuncken, Freeman Brothers, Griffiths and Simpson’s Canberra Civic Centre Theatre. In the post-war period, Burke made regular trips to the United States and Europe, on her return advising homeowners and manufacturers on the latest trends in products, colours and home design in lectures and interviews. At New Design her fabric showroom and interior design consultancy Burke introduced furniture by emerging designers Clement Meadmore and Grant Featherston in the early 1950s and presented local and imported homewares, mostly from the United States. She was enthusiastic about the convenient and comfortable lifestyle experienced by ordinary American women. Her fabrics and advice were regularly featured in Australian Home Beautiful, Australian House and Garden and the newspapers of the day. Some of Burke’s designs had remarkable longevity. Tiger Stripe (1938) for example, continued to be produced in a wide range of colours until 1970 and Crete (1946) remained a popular choice for interiors into the 1960s. Drawing from a rich variety of sources including Indigenous culture in Goanna (c.1954) and Pacific Island tapa cloth designs in Bird and Tree (1940), Burke also looked to Japan in designs such as Plum Blossom (1948) and Zen (1965). She loved exploring the potential of native flora, seen in designs including Waratah (1955) and Flannel Flower (1955), while garden flowers were the source for many other designs including Belladonna (1940), Periwinkle (n.d.) and Rose (1947). Burke’s clever interplay of a single striking printed colour with lively gestural lines revealing the white base fabric, gave her designs a vibrancy that characterised the optimistic post-war era. This can be seen in Burke’s fabrics for Hayman Island including Angel Fish and Seapiece (both 1949) which expressed the freshness and excitement of the luxurious new tropical resort and led to further commissions. Burke’s three decades in business (1937-1970) were an unparalleled success in the story of Australian design. Her fabrics have been collected by the NGA, the Powerhouse Museum, NGV, RMIT Design Archives and Sydney Living Museums in addition to Ararat Gallery TAMA. Written by Nanette Carter and Robyn Oswald-Jacobs.

Frances Burke: Designer of Modern Textiles Australia’s most influential and celebrated textile designer of the mid-20th century, Frances Burke (1904-1994), employed Australian native flora, garden flowers, marine subjects, Indigenous culture and increasingly, abstract motifs in her stunning modern fabrics. A confident, determined designer and businesswoman; Burke made the shift from fine art to design in 1937. While she began by designing dress fabrics for Melbourne’s fashionable Georges Department store, printing them on linen using lino blocks, she was an early adopter of the screen-printing process and during the war years began printing on cotton. Burke’s furnishing fabrics took their place in influential modern buildings Australia-wide through collaborations with leading architects and interior designers. They included Robin Boyd’s 1949 House of Tomorrow, Roy Grounds’ Quamby flats, Guilford Bell’s Royal Hayman Island Resort for Ansett Airlines, and Yuncken, Freeman Brothers, Griffiths and Simpson’s Canberra Civic Centre Theatre. In the post-war period, Burke made regular trips to the United States and Europe, on her return advising homeowners and manufacturers on the latest trends in products, colours and home design in lectures and interviews. At New Design her fabric showroom and interior design consultancy Burke introduced furniture by emerging designers Clement Meadmore and Grant Featherston in the early 1950s and presented local and imported homewares, mostly from the United States. She was enthusiastic about the convenient and comfortable lifestyle experienced by ordinary American women. Her fabrics and advice were regularly featured in Australian Home Beautiful, Australian House and Garden and the newspapers of the day. Some of Burke’s designs had remarkable longevity. Tiger Stripe (1938) for example, continued to be produced in a wide range of colours until 1970 and Crete (1946) remained a popular choice for interiors into the 1960s. Drawing from a rich variety of sources including Indigenous culture in Goanna (c.1954) and Pacific Island tapa cloth designs in Bird and Tree (1940), Burke also looked to Japan in designs such as Plum Blossom (1948) and Zen (1965). She loved exploring the potential of native flora, seen in designs including Waratah (1955) and Flannel Flower (1955), while garden flowers were the source for many other designs including Belladonna (1940), Periwinkle (n.d.) and Rose (1947). Burke’s clever interplay of a single striking printed colour with lively gestural lines revealing the white base fabric, gave her designs a vibrancy that characterised the optimistic post-war era. This can be seen in Burke’s fabrics for Hayman Island including Angel Fish and Seapiece (both 1949) which expressed the freshness and excitement of the luxurious new tropical resort and led to further commissions. Burke’s three decades in business (1937-1970) were an unparalleled success in the story of Australian design. Her fabrics have been collected by the NGA, the Powerhouse Museum, NGV, RMIT Design Archives and Sydney Living Museums in addition to Ararat Gallery TAMA. Written by Nanette Carter and Robyn Oswald-Jacobs.

Frances Burke: Designer of Modern Textiles Australia’s most influential and celebrated textile designer of the mid-20th century, Frances Burke (1904-1994), employed Australian native flora, garden flowers, marine subjects, Indigenous culture and increasingly, abstract motifs in her stunning modern fabrics. A confident, determined designer and businesswoman; Burke made the shift from fine art to design in 1937. While she began by designing dress fabrics for Melbourne’s fashionable Georges Department store, printing them on linen using lino blocks, she was an early adopter of the screen-printing process and during the war years began printing on cotton. Burke’s furnishing fabrics took their place in influential modern buildings Australia-wide through collaborations with leading architects and interior designers. They included Robin Boyd’s 1949 House of Tomorrow, Roy Grounds’ Quamby flats, Guilford Bell’s Royal Hayman Island Resort for Ansett Airlines, and Yuncken, Freeman Brothers, Griffiths and Simpson’s Canberra Civic Centre Theatre. In the post-war period, Burke made regular trips to the United States and Europe, on her return advising homeowners and manufacturers on the latest trends in products, colours and home design in lectures and interviews. At New Design her fabric showroom and interior design consultancy Burke introduced furniture by emerging designers Clement Meadmore and Grant Featherston in the early 1950s and presented local and imported homewares, mostly from the United States. She was enthusiastic about the convenient and comfortable lifestyle experienced by ordinary American women. Her fabrics and advice were regularly featured in Australian Home Beautiful, Australian House and Garden and the newspapers of the day. Some of Burke’s designs had remarkable longevity. Tiger Stripe (1938) for example, continued to be produced in a wide range of colours until 1970 and Crete (1946) remained a popular choice for interiors into the 1960s. Drawing from a rich variety of sources including Indigenous culture in Goanna (c.1954) and Pacific Island tapa cloth designs in Bird and Tree (1940), Burke also looked to Japan in designs such as Plum Blossom (1948) and Zen (1965). She loved exploring the potential of native flora, seen in designs including Waratah (1955) and Flannel Flower (1955), while garden flowers were the source for many other designs including Belladonna (1940), Periwinkle (n.d.) and Rose (1947). Burke’s clever interplay of a single striking printed colour with lively gestural lines revealing the white base fabric, gave her designs a vibrancy that characterised the optimistic post-war era. This can be seen in Burke’s fabrics for Hayman Island including Angel Fish and Seapiece (both 1949) which expressed the freshness and excitement of the luxurious new tropical resort and led to further commissions. Burke’s three decades in business (1937-1970) were an unparalleled success in the story of Australian design. Her fabrics have been collected by the NGA, the Powerhouse Museum, NGV, RMIT Design Archives and Sydney Living Museums in addition to Ararat Gallery TAMA. Written by Nanette Carter and Robyn Oswald-Jacobs.

Frances Burke: Designer of Modern Textiles Australia’s most influential and celebrated textile designer of the mid-20th century, Frances Burke (1904-1994), employed Australian native flora, garden flowers, marine subjects, Indigenous culture and increasingly, abstract motifs in her stunning modern fabrics. A confident, determined designer and businesswoman; Burke made the shift from fine art to design in 1937. While she began by designing dress fabrics for Melbourne’s fashionable Georges Department store, printing them on linen using lino blocks, she was an early adopter of the screen-printing process and during the war years began printing on cotton. Burke’s furnishing fabrics took their place in influential modern buildings Australia-wide through collaborations with leading architects and interior designers. They included Robin Boyd’s 1949 House of Tomorrow, Roy Grounds’ Quamby flats, Guilford Bell’s Royal Hayman Island Resort for Ansett Airlines, and Yuncken, Freeman Brothers, Griffiths and Simpson’s Canberra Civic Centre Theatre. In the post-war period, Burke made regular trips to the United States and Europe, on her return advising homeowners and manufacturers on the latest trends in products, colours and home design in lectures and interviews. At New Design her fabric showroom and interior design consultancy Burke introduced furniture by emerging designers Clement Meadmore and Grant Featherston in the early 1950s and presented local and imported homewares, mostly from the United States. She was enthusiastic about the convenient and comfortable lifestyle experienced by ordinary American women. Her fabrics and advice were regularly featured in Australian Home Beautiful, Australian House and Garden and the newspapers of the day. Some of Burke’s designs had remarkable longevity. Tiger Stripe (1938) for example, continued to be produced in a wide range of colours until 1970 and Crete (1946) remained a popular choice for interiors into the 1960s. Drawing from a rich variety of sources including Indigenous culture in Goanna (c.1954) and Pacific Island tapa cloth designs in Bird and Tree (1940), Burke also looked to Japan in designs such as Plum Blossom (1948) and Zen (1965). She loved exploring the potential of native flora, seen in designs including Waratah (1955) and Flannel Flower (1955), while garden flowers were the source for many other designs including Belladonna (1940), Periwinkle (n.d.) and Rose (1947). Burke’s clever interplay of a single striking printed colour with lively gestural lines revealing the white base fabric, gave her designs a vibrancy that characterised the optimistic post-war era. This can be seen in Burke’s fabrics for Hayman Island including Angel Fish and Seapiece (both 1949) which expressed the freshness and excitement of the luxurious new tropical resort and led to further commissions. Burke’s three decades in business (1937-1970) were an unparalleled success in the story of Australian design. Her fabrics have been collected by the NGA, the Powerhouse Museum, NGV, RMIT Design Archives and Sydney Living Museums in addition to Ararat Gallery TAMA. Written by Nanette Carter and Robyn Oswald-Jacobs.

Frances Burke: Designer of Modern Textiles Australia’s most influential and celebrated textile designer of the mid-20th century, Frances Burke (1904-1994), employed Australian native flora, garden flowers, marine subjects, Indigenous culture and increasingly, abstract motifs in her stunning modern fabrics. A confident, determined designer and businesswoman; Burke made the shift from fine art to design in 1937. While she began by designing dress fabrics for Melbourne’s fashionable Georges Department store, printing them on linen using lino blocks, she was an early adopter of the screen-printing process and during the war years began printing on cotton. Burke’s furnishing fabrics took their place in influential modern buildings Australia-wide through collaborations with leading architects and interior designers. They included Robin Boyd’s 1949 House of Tomorrow, Roy Grounds’ Quamby flats, Guilford Bell’s Royal Hayman Island Resort for Ansett Airlines, and Yuncken, Freeman Brothers, Griffiths and Simpson’s Canberra Civic Centre Theatre. In the post-war period, Burke made regular trips to the United States and Europe, on her return advising homeowners and manufacturers on the latest trends in products, colours and home design in lectures and interviews. At New Design her fabric showroom and interior design consultancy Burke introduced furniture by emerging designers Clement Meadmore and Grant Featherston in the early 1950s and presented local and imported homewares, mostly from the United States. She was enthusiastic about the convenient and comfortable lifestyle experienced by ordinary American women. Her fabrics and advice were regularly featured in Australian Home Beautiful, Australian House and Garden and the newspapers of the day. Some of Burke’s designs had remarkable longevity. Tiger Stripe (1938) for example, continued to be produced in a wide range of colours until 1970 and Crete (1946) remained a popular choice for interiors into the 1960s. Drawing from a rich variety of sources including Indigenous culture in Goanna (c.1954) and Pacific Island tapa cloth designs in Bird and Tree (1940), Burke also looked to Japan in designs such as Plum Blossom (1948) and Zen (1965). She loved exploring the potential of native flora, seen in designs including Waratah (1955) and Flannel Flower (1955), while garden flowers were the source for many other designs including Belladonna (1940), Periwinkle (n.d.) and Rose (1947). Burke’s clever interplay of a single striking printed colour with lively gestural lines revealing the white base fabric, gave her designs a vibrancy that characterised the optimistic post-war era. This can be seen in Burke’s fabrics for Hayman Island including Angel Fish and Seapiece (both 1949) which expressed the freshness and excitement of the luxurious new tropical resort and led to further commissions. Burke’s three decades in business (1937-1970) were an unparalleled success in the story of Australian design. Her fabrics have been collected by the NGA, the Powerhouse Museum, NGV, RMIT Design Archives and Sydney Living Museums in addition to Ararat Gallery TAMA. Written by Nanette Carter and Robyn Oswald-Jacobs.

Frances Burke: Designer of Modern Textiles Australia’s most influential and celebrated textile designer of the mid-20th century, Frances Burke (1904-1994), employed Australian native flora, garden flowers, marine subjects, Indigenous culture and increasingly, abstract motifs in her stunning modern fabrics. A confident, determined designer and businesswoman; Burke made the shift from fine art to design in 1937. While she began by designing dress fabrics for Melbourne’s fashionable Georges Department store, printing them on linen using lino blocks, she was an early adopter of the screen-printing process and during the war years began printing on cotton. Burke’s furnishing fabrics took their place in influential modern buildings Australia-wide through collaborations with leading architects and interior designers. They included Robin Boyd’s 1949 House of Tomorrow, Roy Grounds’ Quamby flats, Guilford Bell’s Royal Hayman Island Resort for Ansett Airlines, and Yuncken, Freeman Brothers, Griffiths and Simpson’s Canberra Civic Centre Theatre. In the post-war period, Burke made regular trips to the United States and Europe, on her return advising homeowners and manufacturers on the latest trends in products, colours and home design in lectures and interviews. At New Design her fabric showroom and interior design consultancy Burke introduced furniture by emerging designers Clement Meadmore and Grant Featherston in the early 1950s and presented local and imported homewares, mostly from the United States. She was enthusiastic about the convenient and comfortable lifestyle experienced by ordinary American women. Her fabrics and advice were regularly featured in Australian Home Beautiful, Australian House and Garden and the newspapers of the day. Some of Burke’s designs had remarkable longevity. Tiger Stripe (1938) for example, continued to be produced in a wide range of colours until 1970 and Crete (1946) remained a popular choice for interiors into the 1960s. Drawing from a rich variety of sources including Indigenous culture in Goanna (c.1954) and Pacific Island tapa cloth designs in Bird and Tree (1940), Burke also looked to Japan in designs such as Plum Blossom (1948) and Zen (1965). She loved exploring the potential of native flora, seen in designs including Waratah (1955) and Flannel Flower (1955), while garden flowers were the source for many other designs including Belladonna (1940), Periwinkle (n.d.) and Rose (1947). Burke’s clever interplay of a single striking printed colour with lively gestural lines revealing the white base fabric, gave her designs a vibrancy that characterised the optimistic post-war era. This can be seen in Burke’s fabrics for Hayman Island including Angel Fish and Seapiece (both 1949) which expressed the freshness and excitement of the luxurious new tropical resort and led to further commissions. Burke’s three decades in business (1937-1970) were an unparalleled success in the story of Australian design. Her fabrics have been collected by the NGA, the Powerhouse Museum, NGV, RMIT Design Archives and Sydney Living Museums in addition to Ararat Gallery TAMA. Written by Nanette Carter and Robyn Oswald-Jacobs.

Frances Burke: Designer of Modern Textiles Australia’s most influential and celebrated textile designer of the mid-20th century, Frances Burke (1904-1994), employed Australian native flora, garden flowers, marine subjects, Indigenous culture and increasingly, abstract motifs in her stunning modern fabrics. A confident, determined designer and businesswoman; Burke made the shift from fine art to design in 1937. While she began by designing dress fabrics for Melbourne’s fashionable Georges Department store, printing them on linen using lino blocks, she was an early adopter of the screen-printing process and during the war years began printing on cotton. Burke’s furnishing fabrics took their place in influential modern buildings Australia-wide through collaborations with leading architects and interior designers. They included Robin Boyd’s 1949 House of Tomorrow, Roy Grounds’ Quamby flats, Guilford Bell’s Royal Hayman Island Resort for Ansett Airlines, and Yuncken, Freeman Brothers, Griffiths and Simpson’s Canberra Civic Centre Theatre. In the post-war period, Burke made regular trips to the United States and Europe, on her return advising homeowners and manufacturers on the latest trends in products, colours and home design in lectures and interviews. At New Design her fabric showroom and interior design consultancy Burke introduced furniture by emerging designers Clement Meadmore and Grant Featherston in the early 1950s and presented local and imported homewares, mostly from the United States. She was enthusiastic about the convenient and comfortable lifestyle experienced by ordinary American women. Her fabrics and advice were regularly featured in Australian Home Beautiful, Australian House and Garden and the newspapers of the day. Some of Burke’s designs had remarkable longevity. Tiger Stripe (1938) for example, continued to be produced in a wide range of colours until 1970 and Crete (1946) remained a popular choice for interiors into the 1960s. Drawing from a rich variety of sources including Indigenous culture in Goanna (c.1954) and Pacific Island tapa cloth designs in Bird and Tree (1940), Burke also looked to Japan in designs such as Plum Blossom (1948) and Zen (1965). She loved exploring the potential of native flora, seen in designs including Waratah (1955) and Flannel Flower (1955), while garden flowers were the source for many other designs including Belladonna (1940), Periwinkle (n.d.) and Rose (1947). Burke’s clever interplay of a single striking printed colour with lively gestural lines revealing the white base fabric, gave her designs a vibrancy that characterised the optimistic post-war era. This can be seen in Burke’s fabrics for Hayman Island including Angel Fish and Seapiece (both 1949) which expressed the freshness and excitement of the luxurious new tropical resort and led to further commissions. Burke’s three decades in business (1937-1970) were an unparalleled success in the story of Australian design. Her fabrics have been collected by the NGA, the Powerhouse Museum, NGV, RMIT Design Archives and Sydney Living Museums in addition to Ararat Gallery TAMA. Written by Nanette Carter and Robyn Oswald-Jacobs.

Frances Burke: Designer of Modern Textiles Australia’s most influential and celebrated textile designer of the mid-20th century, Frances Burke (1904-1994), employed Australian native flora, garden flowers, marine subjects, Indigenous culture and increasingly, abstract motifs in her stunning modern fabrics. A confident, determined designer and businesswoman; Burke made the shift from fine art to design in 1937. While she began by designing dress fabrics for Melbourne’s fashionable Georges Department store, printing them on linen using lino blocks, she was an early adopter of the screen-printing process and during the war years began printing on cotton. Burke’s furnishing fabrics took their place in influential modern buildings Australia-wide through collaborations with leading architects and interior designers. They included Robin Boyd’s 1949 House of Tomorrow, Roy Grounds’ Quamby flats, Guilford Bell’s Royal Hayman Island Resort for Ansett Airlines, and Yuncken, Freeman Brothers, Griffiths and Simpson’s Canberra Civic Centre Theatre. In the post-war period, Burke made regular trips to the United States and Europe, on her return advising homeowners and manufacturers on the latest trends in products, colours and home design in lectures and interviews. At New Design her fabric showroom and interior design consultancy Burke introduced furniture by emerging designers Clement Meadmore and Grant Featherston in the early 1950s and presented local and imported homewares, mostly from the United States. She was enthusiastic about the convenient and comfortable lifestyle experienced by ordinary American women. Her fabrics and advice were regularly featured in Australian Home Beautiful, Australian House and Garden and the newspapers of the day. Some of Burke’s designs had remarkable longevity. Tiger Stripe (1938) for example, continued to be produced in a wide range of colours until 1970 and Crete (1946) remained a popular choice for interiors into the 1960s. Drawing from a rich variety of sources including Indigenous culture in Goanna (c.1954) and Pacific Island tapa cloth designs in Bird and Tree (1940), Burke also looked to Japan in designs such as Plum Blossom (1948) and Zen (1965). She loved exploring the potential of native flora, seen in designs including Waratah (1955) and Flannel Flower (1955), while garden flowers were the source for many other designs including Belladonna (1940), Periwinkle (n.d.) and Rose (1947). Burke’s clever interplay of a single striking printed colour with lively gestural lines revealing the white base fabric, gave her designs a vibrancy that characterised the optimistic post-war era. This can be seen in Burke’s fabrics for Hayman Island including Angel Fish and Seapiece (both 1949) which expressed the freshness and excitement of the luxurious new tropical resort and led to further commissions. Burke’s three decades in business (1937-1970) were an unparalleled success in the story of Australian design. Her fabrics have been collected by the NGA, the Powerhouse Museum, NGV, RMIT Design Archives and Sydney Living Museums in addition to Ararat Gallery TAMA. Written by Nanette Carter and Robyn Oswald-Jacobs.

Frances Burke: Designer of Modern Textiles Australia’s most influential and celebrated textile designer of the mid-20th century, Frances Burke (1904-1994), employed Australian native flora, garden flowers, marine subjects, Indigenous culture and increasingly, abstract motifs in her stunning modern fabrics. A confident, determined designer and businesswoman; Burke made the shift from fine art to design in 1937. While she began by designing dress fabrics for Melbourne’s fashionable Georges Department store, printing them on linen using lino blocks, she was an early adopter of the screen-printing process and during the war years began printing on cotton. Burke’s furnishing fabrics took their place in influential modern buildings Australia-wide through collaborations with leading architects and interior designers. They included Robin Boyd’s 1949 House of Tomorrow, Roy Grounds’ Quamby flats, Guilford Bell’s Royal Hayman Island Resort for Ansett Airlines, and Yuncken, Freeman Brothers, Griffiths and Simpson’s Canberra Civic Centre Theatre. In the post-war period, Burke made regular trips to the United States and Europe, on her return advising homeowners and manufacturers on the latest trends in products, colours and home design in lectures and interviews. At New Design her fabric showroom and interior design consultancy Burke introduced furniture by emerging designers Clement Meadmore and Grant Featherston in the early 1950s and presented local and imported homewares, mostly from the United States. She was enthusiastic about the convenient and comfortable lifestyle experienced by ordinary American women. Her fabrics and advice were regularly featured in Australian Home Beautiful, Australian House and Garden and the newspapers of the day. Some of Burke’s designs had remarkable longevity. Tiger Stripe (1938) for example, continued to be produced in a wide range of colours until 1970 and Crete (1946) remained a popular choice for interiors into the 1960s. Drawing from a rich variety of sources including Indigenous culture in Goanna (c.1954) and Pacific Island tapa cloth designs in Bird and Tree (1940), Burke also looked to Japan in designs such as Plum Blossom (1948) and Zen (1965). She loved exploring the potential of native flora, seen in designs including Waratah (1955) and Flannel Flower (1955), while garden flowers were the source for many other designs including Belladonna (1940), Periwinkle (n.d.) and Rose (1947). Burke’s clever interplay of a single striking printed colour with lively gestural lines revealing the white base fabric, gave her designs a vibrancy that characterised the optimistic post-war era. This can be seen in Burke’s fabrics for Hayman Island including Angel Fish and Seapiece (both 1949) which expressed the freshness and excitement of the luxurious new tropical resort and led to further commissions. Burke’s three decades in business (1937-1970) were an unparalleled success in the story of Australian design. Her fabrics have been collected by the NGA, the Powerhouse Museum, NGV, RMIT Design Archives and Sydney Living Museums in addition to Ararat Gallery TAMA. Written by Nanette Carter and Robyn Oswald-Jacobs.

Frances Burke: Designer of Modern Textiles Australia’s most influential and celebrated textile designer of the mid-20th century, Frances Burke (1904-1994), employed Australian native flora, garden flowers, marine subjects, Indigenous culture and increasingly, abstract motifs in her stunning modern fabrics. A confident, determined designer and businesswoman; Burke made the shift from fine art to design in 1937. While she began by designing dress fabrics for Melbourne’s fashionable Georges Department store, printing them on linen using lino blocks, she was an early adopter of the screen-printing process and during the war years began printing on cotton. Burke’s furnishing fabrics took their place in influential modern buildings Australia-wide through collaborations with leading architects and interior designers. They included Robin Boyd’s 1949 House of Tomorrow, Roy Grounds’ Quamby flats, Guilford Bell’s Royal Hayman Island Resort for Ansett Airlines, and Yuncken, Freeman Brothers, Griffiths and Simpson’s Canberra Civic Centre Theatre. In the post-war period, Burke made regular trips to the United States and Europe, on her return advising homeowners and manufacturers on the latest trends in products, colours and home design in lectures and interviews. At New Design her fabric showroom and interior design consultancy Burke introduced furniture by emerging designers Clement Meadmore and Grant Featherston in the early 1950s and presented local and imported homewares, mostly from the United States. She was enthusiastic about the convenient and comfortable lifestyle experienced by ordinary American women. Her fabrics and advice were regularly featured in Australian Home Beautiful, Australian House and Garden and the newspapers of the day. Some of Burke’s designs had remarkable longevity. Tiger Stripe (1938) for example, continued to be produced in a wide range of colours until 1970 and Crete (1946) remained a popular choice for interiors into the 1960s. Drawing from a rich variety of sources including Indigenous culture in Goanna (c.1954) and Pacific Island tapa cloth designs in Bird and Tree (1940), Burke also looked to Japan in designs such as Plum Blossom (1948) and Zen (1965). She loved exploring the potential of native flora, seen in designs including Waratah (1955) and Flannel Flower (1955), while garden flowers were the source for many other designs including Belladonna (1940), Periwinkle (n.d.) and Rose (1947). Burke’s clever interplay of a single striking printed colour with lively gestural lines revealing the white base fabric, gave her designs a vibrancy that characterised the optimistic post-war era. This can be seen in Burke’s fabrics for Hayman Island including Angel Fish and Seapiece (both 1949) which expressed the freshness and excitement of the luxurious new tropical resort and led to further commissions. Burke’s three decades in business (1937-1970) were an unparalleled success in the story of Australian design. Her fabrics have been collected by the NGA, the Powerhouse Museum, NGV, RMIT Design Archives and Sydney Living Museums in addition to Ararat Gallery TAMA. Written by Nanette Carter and Robyn Oswald-Jacobs.

Frances Burke: Designer of Modern Textiles Australia’s most influential and celebrated textile designer of the mid-20th century, Frances Burke (1904-1994), employed Australian native flora, garden flowers, marine subjects, Indigenous culture and increasingly, abstract motifs in her stunning modern fabrics. A confident, determined designer and businesswoman; Burke made the shift from fine art to design in 1937. While she began by designing dress fabrics for Melbourne’s fashionable Georges Department store, printing them on linen using lino blocks, she was an early adopter of the screen-printing process and during the war years began printing on cotton. Burke’s furnishing fabrics took their place in influential modern buildings Australia-wide through collaborations with leading architects and interior designers. They included Robin Boyd’s 1949 House of Tomorrow, Roy Grounds’ Quamby flats, Guilford Bell’s Royal Hayman Island Resort for Ansett Airlines, and Yuncken, Freeman Brothers, Griffiths and Simpson’s Canberra Civic Centre Theatre. In the post-war period, Burke made regular trips to the United States and Europe, on her return advising homeowners and manufacturers on the latest trends in products, colours and home design in lectures and interviews. At New Design her fabric showroom and interior design consultancy Burke introduced furniture by emerging designers Clement Meadmore and Grant Featherston in the early 1950s and presented local and imported homewares, mostly from the United States. She was enthusiastic about the convenient and comfortable lifestyle experienced by ordinary American women. Her fabrics and advice were regularly featured in Australian Home Beautiful, Australian House and Garden and the newspapers of the day. Some of Burke’s designs had remarkable longevity. Tiger Stripe (1938) for example, continued to be produced in a wide range of colours until 1970 and Crete (1946) remained a popular choice for interiors into the 1960s. Drawing from a rich variety of sources including Indigenous culture in Goanna (c.1954) and Pacific Island tapa cloth designs in Bird and Tree (1940), Burke also looked to Japan in designs such as Plum Blossom (1948) and Zen (1965). She loved exploring the potential of native flora, seen in designs including Waratah (1955) and Flannel Flower (1955), while garden flowers were the source for many other designs including Belladonna (1940), Periwinkle (n.d.) and Rose (1947). Burke’s clever interplay of a single striking printed colour with lively gestural lines revealing the white base fabric, gave her designs a vibrancy that characterised the optimistic post-war era. This can be seen in Burke’s fabrics for Hayman Island including Angel Fish and Seapiece (both 1949) which expressed the freshness and excitement of the luxurious new tropical resort and led to further commissions. Burke’s three decades in business (1937-1970) were an unparalleled success in the story of Australian design. Her fabrics have been collected by the NGA, the Powerhouse Museum, NGV, RMIT Design Archives and Sydney Living Museums in addition to Ararat Gallery TAMA. Written by Nanette Carter and Robyn Oswald-Jacobs.

Frances Burke: Designer of Modern Textiles Australia’s most influential and celebrated textile designer of the mid-20th century, Frances Burke (1904-1994), employed Australian native flora, garden flowers, marine subjects, Indigenous culture and increasingly, abstract motifs in her stunning modern fabrics. A confident, determined designer and businesswoman; Burke made the shift from fine art to design in 1937. While she began by designing dress fabrics for Melbourne’s fashionable Georges Department store, printing them on linen using lino blocks, she was an early adopter of the screen-printing process and during the war years began printing on cotton. Burke’s furnishing fabrics took their place in influential modern buildings Australia-wide through collaborations with leading architects and interior designers. They included Robin Boyd’s 1949 House of Tomorrow, Roy Grounds’ Quamby flats, Guilford Bell’s Royal Hayman Island Resort for Ansett Airlines, and Yuncken, Freeman Brothers, Griffiths and Simpson’s Canberra Civic Centre Theatre. In the post-war period, Burke made regular trips to the United States and Europe, on her return advising homeowners and manufacturers on the latest trends in products, colours and home design in lectures and interviews. At New Design her fabric showroom and interior design consultancy Burke introduced furniture by emerging designers Clement Meadmore and Grant Featherston in the early 1950s and presented local and imported homewares, mostly from the United States. She was enthusiastic about the convenient and comfortable lifestyle experienced by ordinary American women. Her fabrics and advice were regularly featured in Australian Home Beautiful, Australian House and Garden and the newspapers of the day. Some of Burke’s designs had remarkable longevity. Tiger Stripe (1938) for example, continued to be produced in a wide range of colours until 1970 and Crete (1946) remained a popular choice for interiors into the 1960s. Drawing from a rich variety of sources including Indigenous culture in Goanna (c.1954) and Pacific Island tapa cloth designs in Bird and Tree (1940), Burke also looked to Japan in designs such as Plum Blossom (1948) and Zen (1965). She loved exploring the potential of native flora, seen in designs including Waratah (1955) and Flannel Flower (1955), while garden flowers were the source for many other designs including Belladonna (1940), Periwinkle (n.d.) and Rose (1947). Burke’s clever interplay of a single striking printed colour with lively gestural lines revealing the white base fabric, gave her designs a vibrancy that characterised the optimistic post-war era. This can be seen in Burke’s fabrics for Hayman Island including Angel Fish and Seapiece (both 1949) which expressed the freshness and excitement of the luxurious new tropical resort and led to further commissions. Burke’s three decades in business (1937-1970) were an unparalleled success in the story of Australian design. Her fabrics have been collected by the NGA, the Powerhouse Museum, NGV, RMIT Design Archives and Sydney Living Museums in addition to Ararat Gallery TAMA. Written by Nanette Carter and Robyn Oswald-Jacobs.

Frances Burke: Designer of Modern Textiles Australia’s most influential and celebrated textile designer of the mid-20th century, Frances Burke (1904-1994), employed Australian native flora, garden flowers, marine subjects, Indigenous culture and increasingly, abstract motifs in her stunning modern fabrics. A confident, determined designer and businesswoman; Burke made the shift from fine art to design in 1937. While she began by designing dress fabrics for Melbourne’s fashionable Georges Department store, printing them on linen using lino blocks, she was an early adopter of the screen-printing process and during the war years began printing on cotton. Burke’s furnishing fabrics took their place in influential modern buildings Australia-wide through collaborations with leading architects and interior designers. They included Robin Boyd’s 1949 House of Tomorrow, Roy Grounds’ Quamby flats, Guilford Bell’s Royal Hayman Island Resort for Ansett Airlines, and Yuncken, Freeman Brothers, Griffiths and Simpson’s Canberra Civic Centre Theatre. In the post-war period, Burke made regular trips to the United States and Europe, on her return advising homeowners and manufacturers on the latest trends in products, colours and home design in lectures and interviews. At New Design her fabric showroom and interior design consultancy Burke introduced furniture by emerging designers Clement Meadmore and Grant Featherston in the early 1950s and presented local and imported homewares, mostly from the United States. She was enthusiastic about the convenient and comfortable lifestyle experienced by ordinary American women. Her fabrics and advice were regularly featured in Australian Home Beautiful, Australian House and Garden and the newspapers of the day. Some of Burke’s designs had remarkable longevity. Tiger Stripe (1938) for example, continued to be produced in a wide range of colours until 1970 and Crete (1946) remained a popular choice for interiors into the 1960s. Drawing from a rich variety of sources including Indigenous culture in Goanna (c.1954) and Pacific Island tapa cloth designs in Bird and Tree (1940), Burke also looked to Japan in designs such as Plum Blossom (1948) and Zen (1965). She loved exploring the potential of native flora, seen in designs including Waratah (1955) and Flannel Flower (1955), while garden flowers were the source for many other designs including Belladonna (1940), Periwinkle (n.d.) and Rose (1947). Burke’s clever interplay of a single striking printed colour with lively gestural lines revealing the white base fabric, gave her designs a vibrancy that characterised the optimistic post-war era. This can be seen in Burke’s fabrics for Hayman Island including Angel Fish and Seapiece (both 1949) which expressed the freshness and excitement of the luxurious new tropical resort and led to further commissions. Burke’s three decades in business (1937-1970) were an unparalleled success in the story of Australian design. Her fabrics have been collected by the NGA, the Powerhouse Museum, NGV, RMIT Design Archives and Sydney Living Museums in addition to Ararat Gallery TAMA. Written by Nanette Carter and Robyn Oswald-Jacobs.