Monthly Archive for July, 2009

Welcome Einar to Photo of the Day! He is going to be posting regularly from a behind-the-scenes perspective. This is his first post. Paula.

Welcome everyone! – To a regular post coming from within the depths of the Collections management team of the Museum. My name is Einar, and I work in the Registration Department –but hey, more about that later. Each Wednesday a group of objects is selected for digital imaging as part of our New Acquisitions Photography (NAP) schedule. I hope with these posts, to shed some light for those interested, on some of the behind the scenes processes that the Museum undertakes in caring for and keeping such a large and varied collection. So don’t forget to check in regularly and in the mean-time check out this image from a recent NAP session.

Photography by Marinco Kojdanovski
License: Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0
Post by Einar Docker, Assistant Collection Manager

This lovely photograph of a mother and her son with their very compliant pet tabby cat is from the Museum’s Tyrrell collection. While searching for historical photographs of people and their pets I found that the animals were often blurred because of the longer exposure times required in the early days of photography. Finding an image like this one is quite rare.

Part of this photograph’s appeal is its informality. The little boy is shown without his shoes, obviously taking a break from play. He is wearing a sailor suit, a form of dress based on adult uniforms that was worn by boys in the early 19th century and later popularised by the British royal family. At the boy’s feet is a version of the ‘Royal Tar’ hat that featured a wide, up-curving brim with a ribbon that was often woven with the name of a ship.

Due to mass production the sailor suit became widely available at low cost which contributed to its popularity. Although earlier sailor suits were made of white drill, they were later produced in more serviceable navy blue like the one shown in this photograph. Sailor suits with skirts were also made for girls.

For more about the history of the sailor suit, view here.

Photography, unattributed studio, Sydney, Australia, c. 1880-1923
No known copyright restrictions
Post by Kathy Hackett, Photo Librarian

What do you do when you need a drilling machine for a train that is over 100yrs old?

Bunnings was out of stock so Conservation Manager Dave Rockell borrowed this one off a mate!

Dave tells me that “the drill is able to be pushed along side a boiler where it can then be raised and twisted to the correct angles required. It would then be turned on and a hole or rivet drilled, or stay can be drilled out.”

This drill highlights one of the challenges our conservation staff face with many of our machines, engines, and transport objects. To repair and maintain old technology, you need the correct tools, which are often very rare and hard to find.

The drilling machine has finished being used to carry out some work on our locos and after a short stop in the workshop, it will be returning to its owner this week.

Photography by Paula Bray
License: Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0
Post by Erika Dicker, Curator

Stereo photographs like this one entitled ‘genre scenes’ were produced in print runs of thousands in the 1860s. This was not an automated process however and the publisher needed to pay workers to make the contact prints from the original plate, cut out and paste the two prints onto the mount board, and in this case, paint in the details of each print by hand. The bright colours in the image alert us to the fact it is intended to be comic, and in the close up we can see the gent has communicated some surprising news to the rustic about to spit out his soup.

No known copyright restrictions
Post by Geoff Barker, Assistant Curator

This image of artist Bronwyn Bancroft was taken for the Indigenous women’s exhibition Yinalung yenu: women’s journey. Bronwyn is one of the women featured in this exhibition that shares the stories of six prominent Indigenous women and how traditions are finding new forms of expression today.

In celebration of NAIDOC week there is a forum at the Museum today featuring Bronwyn, Sheryl Connors Education Officer, Australian Museum, Janet Mooney, Director Koori Centre at the University of Sydney and Lynette Riley, Senior Lecturer, Koori Centre, University of Sydney. The forum will focus on education, art and culture with personal and professional stories from this diverse group of leading Indigenous women.

This will take place on level 4 today from 2-3pm.

Photography by Paula Bray
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