The vanity set was owned by a local woman who lived in the Harbour Master's house at Warrnambool after it was decommissioned. The set was possibly a wedding gift from her mother-in-law, Caroline Edwards, a local business woman who was an importer of 'china and fancy goods' along with her husband Thomas Myers Edwards. The Edwards owned Staffordshire House, a business in Timor St (and later Liebig St) from 1876. The vanity set is an example of a valued possession of women at the time and could signify social standing. It was also a functional accessory used on a daily basis.The item is significant socially as an example of accessories available to and used by women in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Historically, it is linked to a local import business ‘Staffordshire House’ in Timor and later Liebig St Warrnambool, where it most likely came from. A pewter (or possibly silver-plated) three-piece vanity set that includes a hand mirror, hair brush and comb. All pieces feature a beautiful ornate moulded rose/flower design on the back, handles and edge of the comb. The hair brush no longer has bristles and is purely ornamental. The comb teeth and hair brush insert are most likely made of celluloid.flagstaff hill, warrnambool, flagstaff hill maritime museum and village, maritime village, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, great ocean road, vanity set, hand mirror, brush, comb, pewter, celluloid, silver plate, toilet set, harbours master's house, staffordshire house, hair brush, hairbrush

The hand mirror is part of a vanity set owned by a woman who lived in the Harbour Master's house at Warrnambool in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The set was possibly a wedding gift from her mother-in-law, Caroline Edwards, a local business woman who was an importer of 'china and fancy goods' along with her husband Thomas Myers Edwards. The Edwards owned Staffordshire House a business in Timor St (and later Liebig St) from 1876. The hand mirror is an example of a valued possession of women at the time and could signify social standing. It was also a functional accessory used on a daily basis.The item is significant socially as an example of accessories available to and used by women in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Historically, it is linked to a local import business ‘Staffordshire House’ in Liebig St Warrnambool, where it most likely came from. A pewter (or possibly silver-plated) hand mirror that is part of a vanity set. It features a beautiful ornate moulded rose/flower design on the back, handle and front edge of mirrorflagstaff hill, warrnambool, flagstaff hill maritime museum and village, maritime village, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, great ocean road, vanity set, hand mirror, pewter, silver plate, toilet set, harbours master's house, staffordshire house

Antique celluloid "French Ivory" bedroom mirror and brush sets became popular mass-market luxury items in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Celluloid, invented in the 1860s, was the world's first successful thermoplastic. Manufacturers marketed it as "French Ivory," "Ivorine," or "Ivory Pyralin" to mimic genuine elephant ivory at an affordable price point. While lavish dressing table or "toilet sets" emerged during the Victorian period, production peaked between the 1900s and the 1930s. These items belonged to Edna Parker's mother Mrs Beatrice Rouget in the early 1900's. Seven antique pieces of an art deco bedroom vanity set made from celluloid or Ivory Celluloid to appear ivory like. The pieces include: 1. A short shoehorn with a hole at the end to hang it. 2. A narrow clothes brush with natural bristles. 3. Two hair combs, one with a curved handle the other a celluloid straight dual toothed comb, has a manufacturing stamp on the back. 4. Two hand mirrors, one oval, the other round - both have bevelled edges. 5 . A flat tray with curved shaped raised edging to hold the pieces.The celluloid dual toothed straight comb has: 'Made in England' There is an 'elephant' outline between the words 'Made in' and 'England'. The clothes brush has 'England' stamped on one side.bedroom equipment, art deco vanity sets, dressing table sets, mirrors, combs

The hair brush is part of a vanity set owned by a woman who lived in the Harbour Master's house at Warrnambool in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The set was possibly a wedding gift from her mother-in-law, Caroline Edwards, a local business woman who was an importer of 'china and fancy goods' along with her husband Thomas Myers Edwards. The Edwards owned Staffordshire House a business in Timor St (and later Liebig St) from 1876. The hair brush is an example of a valued possession of women at the time and could signify social standing. It was also a functional accessory used on a daily basis.The item is significant socially as an example of accessories available to and used by women in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Historically, it is linked to a local import business ‘Staffordshire House’ in Liebig St Warrnambool, where it most likely came from. A pewter (or possibly silver-plated) hair brush that is part of a vanity set. It features a beautiful ornate moulded rose/flower design on the back and handle of the hair brush. The hair brush insert is most likely made of celluloid, it no longer has bristles and is purely ornamental. flagstaff hill, warrnambool, flagstaff hill maritime museum and village, maritime village, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, great ocean road, vanity set, pewter, silver plate, toilet set, harbours master's house, staffordshire house, hair brush, hairbrush, brush, celluloid

The comb is part of a vanity set owned by a woman who lived in the Harbour Master's house at Warrnambool in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The set was possibly a wedding gift from her mother-in-law, Caroline Edwards, a local business woman who was an importer of 'china and fancy goods' along with her husband Thomas Myers Edwards. The Edwards owned Staffordshire House a business in Timor St (and later Liebig St) from 1876. The comb is an example of a valued possession of women at the time and could signify social standing. It was also a functional accessory used on a daily basis.The item is significant socially as an example of accessories available to and used by women in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Historically, it is linked to a local import business ‘Staffordshire House’ in Liebig St Warrnambool, where it most likely came from. A ladies hair comb which features an ornate flower design on the pewter (or possibly silver-plated) edge. The comb teeth are most likely made of celluloid.flagstaff hill, warrnambool, flagstaff hill maritime museum and village, maritime village, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, great ocean road, vanity set, pewter, silver plate, toilet set, harbours master's house, staffordshire house, celluloid, comb

The clothes brush was donated along with a vanity set owned by a local woman who lived in the Harbour Master's house at Warrnambool at the turn of the 19th century. The clothes brush and vanity set were possibly a wedding gift from her mother-in-law, a local business woman who was an importer of 'china and fancy goods'. The item is significant socially as an example of accessories available to, and used by, women in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Historically, it is linked to a local import business ‘Staffordshire House’ in Timor and later Liebig St, Warrnambool, where it most likely came from. The top of the clothes brush has an ornate dragon design constructed from pressed metal (possibly tin or chrome). The natural bristles of the brush have been glued together in small clumps and placed in holes in a wooden base. The wooden base is held within the metal top using small nails.flagstaff hill, warrnambool, maritime village, maritime museum, flagstaff hill maritime museum & village, shipwreck coast, great ocean road, metal, pressed metal, tin, chrome, natural bristles, staffordshire house, harbour master’s house

This brush & comb set was used by Mrs Rooks who lived in Mt. Beauty between 19 and 2 . It is typical of the sets that adorned dressing tables in the 1950s and 1960s. Could be part of a larger vanity set. Handle on brush indicates it is a ladies brush and not a mans. Today these types of items are becoming more collectible .Historic, & social asignificance. As it is the only one in our collection it also has good interpretive capacity as it shows the types dresser sets or vanity set used for womens personal attirement during the 1950's. Pig bristle hair brush with ovate head, narrow neck and smaller ovate handle. Cream [butter coloured] xylanite [ lined pattern] . Wide toothed matching comb.ladies, brush, comb, set, dressing-table

Washington Square Author: Henry James Jr Publisher: MacMillian & Co Date: 1881 Further Information: Blue cloth hardcover and spine with spine lettering in gilt. Cover & spine have black patterned strip edged with gilt. The spine has a Library label with inscription. Book has 3 parts 1. Washington Square 2. The Pension Beaurepas 3. A Bundle of LettersfictionThis volume compiles three distinct early works by Henry James that explore his signature theme of the clash of social manners, money, and personal integrity. Set in 1840s New York City, the masterpiece Washington Square follows Catherine Sloper, a plain, introverted heiress. She is caught between her cold, brilliant father, Dr Austin Sloper, who often views his daughter with disappointment and contempt, and Morris Townsend, a charming but penniless suitor whom the doctor rightly suspects is a mercenary fortune-hunter. It is a devastating, brilliantly controlled story about emotional manipulation and dignity. The second story, The Pension Beaurepas, is a comic yet biting sketch set at a boarding house in Geneva, Switzerland. It satirizes the 'American abroad', focusing on wealthy American tourists and the stark cultural differences between the Old World and the New. The third story, A Bundle of Letters, is an epistolary short story told entirely through letters, featuring a cast of international guests staying at a Paris hotel. Each letter writer reveals their own cultural biases, blind spots, and vanity.flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked coast, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, book, pattison collection, warrnambool library, warrnambool mechanics’ institute, ralph eric pattison, corangamite regional library service, warrnambool city librarian, mechanics’ institute library, victorian library board, warrnambool books and records, warrnambool children’s library, washington square, henry james jr

Dressing tables (also known as Vanity Tables in the U.S.A.) have been around since the beginning of the seventeenth century, however it wasn't until the early to mid 20th century that they began to be found in the homes of the middle class and they were often a matching part of a bedroom suite. Dressing tables often featured a variety of objects such as combs, brushes, hand mirrors, perfume bottles, cosmetics, nail buffers, ring holders, jewellery and trinket boxes and trays. The origins of this tray are unknown however its design is reminiscent of trays (and Dressing Table Sets) produced by two English firms in the mid 20th century - "Delina" and "Regent of London". A paper (written by the Warwickshire Industrial Archeology Society) notes that the products items produced by "Regent of London" in the 1940's "satisfied a demand for previously unattainable items, offered to the general public aching for change after wartime privations, post war austerity and years of having to 'make do and mend'." This tray is composed of several decorative elements and materials. The metal border is gilt brass with two filigree bow handles, the main part of the tray is two pieces of circular glass and the encased doily is a mix of embroidered net and petit point. It was suggested in the paper written by the Warwickshire Industrial Archeological Society that the different pieces would have probably been produced elsewhere and brought to the factory to be assembled into the finished product. This vanity or dressing table tray is significant as it is a rare example of an accessory available to and used by women in the mid 20th century. It is also significant as an example of an everyday household item which would have been a valued possession and was made in a style that reflected the importance placed on it to be decorative as well as functional.Round footed dressing table tray with a gilt brass border, filigree bow handles and an embroidered net and petit point doily encased in glass. The gilt border is decorated with a stylized leaf design on the side and a floral design on the top. The petit point embroidery in the center is of five flowers in pink, mauve and yellow surrounded by buds and leaves.vanity tray, dressing table tray, glass tray, gilt brass, petit point, embroidery, net embroidery, doily, filigree, brass tray, flagstaff hill maritime village, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill, warrnambool, flagstaff hill museum and village, domestic object, dressing table

Hard cover book. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes Author: Anita Loos Publisher: Brentanos Ltd Illustrator: Ralph Barton Date: 1926 Further Information: Plain blue Cloth hardcover with lettering and patterning to spine in black. The spine has a Library label with an inscription. fictionGentlemen Prefer Blondes is the Illuminating Diary of a Professional Lady that follows Lorelei Lee, a self-absorbed, gold-digging blonde flapper from Arkansas, as she journals her romantic and financial conquests travelling from New York to Europe (Paris, London) with her more sensible friend Dorothy, collecting rich admirers, diamonds and comic misadventures along the way. It was published the same year as F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby and Carl Van Vechten's Firecrackers, and is considered one of several notable 1925 American novels focused on the carefree hedonism of the Jazz Age. The London/Brentano's edition you're describing (1926) came out shortly after the original 1925 American edition, illustrated throughout in Art Deco style by caricaturist Ralph Barton.shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, warrnambool, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, shipwrecked-artefact, book, pattison collection, warrnambool library, warrnambool mechanics’ institute, ralph eric pattison, corangamite regional library service, warrnambool city librarian, mechanics’ institute library, victorian library board, warrnambool books and records, warrnambool children’s library, gentlemen prefer blondes, anita loos