The collars can be dated to the 1920s, evidenced by a photograph of Gwen Steele (nee Kelly) wearing them on a trip in New Zealand in 1930. Items of fur clothing with provenance allowing a creation date of the 1920sTwo fur collars made of European marten fur. One collar is of Stone (Beech) Marten fur; the other of Baum (Pine) Marten.Handwritten Note on reverse of photo Photo taken in 1930 in NZ. Mrs Gwen Kelly, now Gwen Steele, wearing Stone Marten fur. Also Baum Marten fur about same date. (Weasel type animal with valuable fur - Oxford Dic.)fur collars, full body furs, stone marten fur collar, baum marten fur collar, furs - 1920s

This plain brown fur muff was worn by Miss Emma Louise Foreman in the mid 1920s, and later when she married Mr Elrick Tait, who owned a factory in Prahran which manufactured wooden tool handles.Brown round fur muff, lined with red satin material in original round box with lid.costume accessories, glove accessories

The photographic firm of Morrison & Co., were active at 81 Bourke Street East during the 1880s. Like numerous other photographers in Melbourne, their business must have been severely curtailed by the Depression of the 1890s. The sitter’s identity has been established as a Mrs. Merritt. While we know that she is not the Mrs Merritt who was to be the wife of the future Mayor of Kew, there were two Mrs Merritts who were shopkeepers in High Street, Kew. Mrs Lucy Merritt operated a bootmaker’s shop, and subsequently a “boot warehouse” from 1888 until the 1920s. Miss Laura Merritt established a dressmaker’s shop in High Street in 1910. Her business also lasted until the 1920s, albeit changed to that of a bookseller and stationer. Both portraits are of the same woman.Cabinet Card by Morrison & Co. Silver albumen studio portrait of a woman later identified as Mrs Merritt of Kew. The sitter wears a dark, figured silk two-piece outfit with matching bonnet and a fur muff. Mrs Merritt, Kewmrs merritt, morrison & co

The donor, whose parents owned an antique shop believed that the evening coat was owned by the family of Cr Morris Nathan and his wife Margaret Frances, nee MacKay. Maurice Nathan was born in Kew in 1914 and died in East Melbourne in 1982. He was a student of Trinity Grammar School, Kew. He was Lord Mayor, and his wife Lady Mayoress, of the City of Melbourne for two terms between 1961 and 1963. The age of the coat, created in a design typical of the 1920s would suggest that it is of an earlier vintage, almost certainly dating from the 1920s, but perhaps earlier. The opulence of the sequinned and beaded embroidery have led to the supposition that it may be an opera coat inherited from an earlier generation.Three quarter length, red and cream silk, padded evening coat highlighted on the cuffs and hem with iridescent sequins, beading and pearls of different shapes and sizes. These decorative features are arranged in a formal design, particularly at centre back. Above the beaded sections are sunbursts outlined in gold beads.Trimmed rabbit fur at collar and cuffs. The sleeves are shaped above the embroidered sections while the hem features a zig-zag profile. MEASUREMENTS - Neck to hem front 93cm; Neck to hem back 100cm; Circumference 126cm; Shoulder to cuff 72cm; Shoulder width 36cm.Traditionally, pre acquisition, stored in brown suitcase embossed in gilt with the name R. NATHANevening jackets, opera coats, fashion -- 1920s

Orange bouclé wool coat woven with velvet stripes; brown fur collar and deep hem.1920s, cloak, cape

For the First Peoples of south-eastern Australia, making possum skin cloaks has long been a culturally important practice. But during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, possums and other native animals were also heavily hunted by white colonists who coveted their warm and fashionable furs. This rug, made from fifteen possum pelts, was used in a Brighton home during cold winter months in the 1920s.Possum skin rug made from 15 rectangular cut pelts mounted onto a brown wool felt with cut scalloped edges. possum skin, rug, fur, 1920s