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Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum and Village
From the collection of Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum and Village
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Domestic object - Chest of Drawers, British Imperial Oil Company Ltd, 1905-1927

  • Chest of drawers with wooden frame and rails, and three metal drawers with vertical handles

    Upright chest of drawers, front view

  • Side of drawer frame has two panels of wood. Drawers' metal handles are vertical

    Left side of drawer's and front, at an angle

  • One timber piece with a mended break in right top corner. Nails are visible.

    View of back of drawers

  • Base has black printed text and a logo of a cross

    Base of box facing viewer

  • Wooden drawer frame has three sets of rails on which the drawers slide, allowing for four drawers

    Inside of upright drawer frame

  • Tin drawer has wooden divider in centre. Pouring hole in tin has been closed.

    Drawer 1 from back towards front, at an angle

  • Drawer's side is black with orange text, wooden divider also has impressed text

    Drawer on bench, from left side towards right, from above at an angle

  • Metal drawer has two wooden dividers, making three compartments. Inscriptions are impressed into the din.

    Drawer 3, right side towards left, from above at an angle

  • Base of metal drawer has impressed inscriptions. Handle is fixed to the base.

    Drawer 3, base from above, front closest to bottom of photograph

  • Chest of drawers with wooden frame and rails, and three metal drawers with vertical handles
  • Side of drawer frame has two panels of wood. Drawers' metal handles are vertical
  • One timber piece with a mended break in right top corner. Nails are visible.
  • Base has black printed text and a logo of a cross
  • Wooden drawer frame has three sets of rails on which the drawers slide, allowing for four drawers
  • Tin drawer has wooden divider in centre. Pouring hole in tin has been closed.
  • Drawer's side is black with orange text, wooden divider also has impressed text
  • Metal drawer has two wooden dividers, making three compartments. Inscriptions are impressed into the din.
  • Base of metal drawer has impressed inscriptions. Handle is fixed to the base.

Historical information

This early 20th-century chest of drawers is unique. It was made from recycled timber kerosene boxes and metal tins. The case was made in South Australia between 1905 and 1927 by the British Imperial Oil Company Ltd, which was the first business to import bulk petroleum products into Australia. Before this, ships carried crates of kerosene as cargo. Items salvaged from the 1880 wreck of the vessel Eric the Red included kerosene boxes.

Kerosene replaced plant and animal-based fuel, such as whale oil, for lighting in homes and for the lamps in lighthouses and on marine vessels. It was also used for cooking and heating and as engine fuel. The last kerosene-fueled lighthouse lamp was transferred to solar power in 1985.

Significance

The chest of drawers is one-of-a-kind. The original uses for the components of the chest of drawers, the wooden box and metal tins were for containing and transporting kerosene. Kerosene was used from the late 19th century for fuel in lamps, heating, and cooling. Previously whale oil was used for the lamps in lighthouses.
The company providing the kerosene was the first to import it into Australia in bulk quantities.
The set of drawers is one of the many ways that inventive Australians were able to repurpose materials.

Physical description

Chest of drawers; wooden frame and rails, metal drawers with vertical metal handles. The frame has been constructed from the wooden panels of a vintage oil and kerosene box. The three drawers have been created from empty kerosene cans that were cut in half from top to bottom, some with the round opening closed over. Inscriptions from the original box and cams are stencilled on the top and base of the frame and impressed or painted on the metal cans. The frame has provision for a further drawer. The wooden case and metal tins were made in Australia.

Inscriptions & markings

Top and base of frame; "THE BRITISH IMPERIAL OIL CO. LTD." "OIL ENGINE KEROSENE" "CASE ANDTINS AUSTRALIAN MADE"
On tin; "POWIRIN" "BIOCO LTD"
Logo [cross} with inscription on horizontal bar "CROSS"
Impressed in timber drawer dividers (indecipherable text)
Side of drawer, painted in orange on black; "TY -, REG U S - TIDE - "

Subjects

References

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