Papers by Dr Jo Vandepeer
Australiana, Volume 46, Number 4, 2024
South Australian malachite brooches ornamented the necks of colonial women in the second half of ... more South Australian malachite brooches ornamented the necks of colonial women in the second half of the 19th century. Today we read their history as an expression of the colony’s mineral wealth for it was copper that made the colony’s fortune, and malachite is oxidised copper. This article positions the unique jewellery within the history of the ‘Copper Kingdom’. In doing so, the earliest colonial jewellers are examined. New scholarship is shared on the lapidaries who cut and polished Burra Burra malachite, including Johannes Menge and Alexander Williamson Dobbie, both brilliant eccentric characters whose wider activities had significant impact on the state’s fortunes.
Australiana, 2024
Over 120 years ago, Portiere 1901 was created to celebrate the colony of South Australia joining ... more Over 120 years ago, Portiere 1901 was created to celebrate the colony of South Australia joining the Federation of Australia. The Portiere was commissioned and made by the first women in the world to gain both the right to vote and stand for parliament. The impressive 233.0 x 178.0cm embroidered silk object represents the pinnacle of a golden age of Art Needlework embroidery. However, questions surround it. Just seven years after their enfranchisement, why did South Australian women give the British royal family an object that was ostensibly a domestic curtain? This article tells the forgotten story of its origins and in doing so, places it back into the colonial history of the Australian Arts & Crafts movement.
Journal of the Australian Catholic Historical Society, 2022
Australiana, 2018
Alice Maud Golley was a self-taught wood carver of extraordinary talent. A powerful mythology has... more Alice Maud Golley was a self-taught wood carver of extraordinary talent. A powerful mythology has centred on snippets of her practise on remote Wedge Island but this paper explores the self taught ability, her perseverance under difficult conditions and her vice-regal patronage.
Australiana , 2019
Father Kelly's chair is an exemplar of the self-taught South Australian wood carver Alice Maud Ba... more Father Kelly's chair is an exemplar of the self-taught South Australian wood carver Alice Maud Baillie, nee Golley. The chair was commissioned by Father Kelly, an intrepid Catholic priest working for decades on Eyre Peninsula.
Australiana, 2021
An interpretation of a crude sketch of a simple, remote homestead near Mintaro in South Australia... more An interpretation of a crude sketch of a simple, remote homestead near Mintaro in South Australia reveals the story around the house and the family who occupied it, some of the tragedies that befell them as well as the remarkable feat of two children graduating from the prestigious University of Cambridge.
Australiana, 2022
A small watercolour painting by South Australian artist Rosa Fiveash reveals remarkable similarit... more A small watercolour painting by South Australian artist Rosa Fiveash reveals remarkable similarities between the 1919 pandemic and that of our times.
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Papers by Dr Jo Vandepeer