Approximately a couple of dozen large (over half a meter in height) silver centrepieces were crafted in Australia in the second part of the 19th century. About half of these tour de forces of Australian silversmithing are known to have survived. Thought to have been lost or destroyed until it resurfaced only a few years ago, this centrepiece is designed in the form of a fern tree towering over a massive base with a model of the Broken Hill Proprietary Company mine. The first smelting plant crusher, constructed in 1886, features in the centre and is flanked by two mining shafts: the Rasp shaft and engine house on the far left and McCulloch's shaft on the right.
The epergne is believed to have been made to celebrate the good fortune of Charles Rasp who discovered rich silver deposits in Broken Hill in 1883 thus enabling the establishment of BHP two years later. It commemorates the beginning of silver mining and smelting at Broken Hill, an event that had an enormous significance in the economic and social history of New South Wales and Australia. Completed in about 1887, this imposing example of Australian silversmithing was made from Broken Hill silver by Henry Steiner, one of Adelaide's leading silversmiths, possibly in collaboration with August Brunkhorst who also retailed it. In 1888 it was displayed in the Melbourne Centennial Exhibition where it received an Honourable Mention.
Author: Eva Czernis-Ryl
Designed by Henry Steiner possibly in collaboration with August Brunkhorst in Adelaide. It was most probably based on a contemporary photograph of Broken Hill mine.
Made by Henry Steiner possibly in collaboration with August Brunkhorst, the work's retailer, in Adelaide in 1886-1887. Commissioned by Charles and Agnes Rasp.
Born and trained in Germany, Henry Steiner was a leading Australian silversmith and jeweller who worked in Adelaide between 1858 and 1889 (with a 3-year break in 1884-7 when he returned to Germany). One of the most prolific colonial makers, he worked under the patronage of several governors and showed his foremost creations at intercolonial and international exhibitions both in Australia and overseas. In 1884 Steiner sold his business to August Brunkhorst, another German-born silversmith and the retailer of the Broken Hill Centrepiece to Charles Rasp.
In 1888 the centrepiece was loaned by Charles Rasp to August Brunkhorst, an Adelaide silversmith and the original retailer of the object. Brunkhorst exhibited it at the Melbourne Centennial Exhibition of 1888 where it received an Honourable Mention.
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