Historical information
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.
Significance
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.
Physical description
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.
Subjects
References
- Website - Laurel Leaf Farm Shows examples of celluloid combs
- Website - The Invention of Bakelite Quote from website - "Many 19th century manufacturers modified colloids and natural polymers to form new materials. In 1870, the American inventor John Wesley Hyatt used chemically modified cellulose to produce an astonishing new product called Celluloid, a plastic that was used for everything from hair combs to silent-movie film."
- Website: Victorian Collections Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum and Village Internet link to a Women’s Journal held by Flagstaff Hill– The Ladies Home Journal circa 1891. See page shown in this record.
