Earthenware Pot, C.1987
Thanakupi (Gloria Fletcher) (B.1937)
Earthenware
Diameter: 30.5 cm
The spherical form of this pot shows oxidised decoration depicting 'Corrup' the kangaroo and 'Chinjarl' the wallaby, a myth about world creation with a continuous design of native Australian animals and marine life dancing for joy.
A Pair of Minton Sulphur Crested Cockatoos
Minton Factory, England c.1860
Porcelain
Height: Crest up - 33 cm
Crest down - 30 cm
Nineteenth century Europeans had a fascination with Australian fauna and flora, and these cockatoos are an example of this. Both perched on bases shaped as tree stumps; one cockatoo with its crest up; the other with its crest down. It is believed they are allegorical figures of war (crest up) and peace (crest down).
Pair of Punch Bowls, c.1829
Porcelain
Width: 33cm Height: 14cm
Porcelain
Width: 29cm Height: 13cm
Chinese export porcelain was made and decorated in China to European order, as distinct from porcelain in native Chinese taste. By 1820 a flourishing shipping trade, known as the 'China Trade', had developed between Sydney and Chinese ports such as Canton and Shanghai. The bowls have the entwined monogram of John and Martha Hosking on the inside base. John Hosking and Martha Foxlowe were married in 1829 and these punch bowls may well have been commissioned to celebrate their nuptuals or perhaps received as a wedding present. The punch bowls have come from the Hosking family and they have remained in the family since the early 19th century. John Hosking (1806-1882) was the first elected Mayor of Sydney in 1842 and he was a partner in the firm of merchants, Hughes and Hosking.
Portrait Medallion of Captain James Cook, c.1779
Wedgwood and Bentley John Flaxman (1755-1826)
Blue jasper ware
Width: 8.5cm Height: 7cm
This portrait medallion is one of the "Heads of Illustrious Moderns" which consists of significant men and woman in the fields of the arts and sciences such as kings, queens, explorers, scientists, poets and historical figures by Josiah Wedgwood and Thomas Bentley from 1771 onwards. John Flaxman was the leading neoclassical sculptor working as a modeller for Wedgwood Pottery.
