Historical information

This item is from a collection donated by descendants of John Francis Turner of Wodonga. Mr. Turner was born on 6 June 1885. He completed all of his schooling at Scotts Boarding School in Albury, New South Wales. On leaving school, he was employed at Dalgety’s, Albury as an auctioneer. In 1924 John was promoted to Manager of the Wodonga Branch of Dalgety’s.
On 15/03/1900 he married Beatrice Neal (born 7/12/1887 and died 7/2/1953) from Collingwood, Victoria. They had 4 daughters – Francis (Nancy), Heather, Jessie and Mary.
In 1920, the family moved From Albury to Wodonga, purchasing their family home “Locherbie” at 169 High Street, Wodonga. "Locherbie" still stands in Wodonga in 2022. The collection contains items used by the Turner family during their life in Wodonga.

Japanese pottery and ceramics had varying basemarks, particularly those designed for export. Some restrictions were due to requirements imposed by other countries after WW2. This Japanese type of china was advertised in the 1920's and 1930's. During the years of the American occupation of Japan (1945-1952), all exports from Japan were marked "Made in Occupied Japan" and after the occupation simply "Japan". This information helps to establish the provenance of items such as this toast rack.

Significance

This item is representative of ceramic domestic items used in Australian homes in the 1920s and 1930s.

Physical description

A ceramic rectangular toast rack decorated with a cherry design. Each end is shaped as a shallow bowl and there are 3 upright dividers to support slices of toast. The cherry design is hand painted and then glazed. The bottom centre is stamped with MARUHON WARE, HAND PAINTED, JAPAN around a K in a circle.

Inscriptions & markings

Underneath "Maruhon Ware/ K in circle/ HANDPAINTED/ JAPAN"