Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor: 100 Women 100 Brooches 100 Stories Exhibition

Maria Ann (‘Granny’) Smith

‘Granny Smith’ apples are an Australian favourite yet many people don’t know where their name originated. Maria Smith migrated to Australia from England in 1838 with her husband and children. In 1856 they managed to buy their own land in Eastwood, NSW where they grew a variety of fruit to be sold. Maria also made fruit pies and would travel to markets by horse and cart to sell her produce and affectionately became known as ‘Granny’.  One day she was given a box of Tasmanian crab apples to use in her pies. Maria threw the peels and seeds into her compost heap and sometime later found a small seedling growing. She cared for the seedling and grew delicious apples. This seedling was to become the famous ‘Granny Smith’ apple.
After Maria’s death in 1870, Edward Gallard bought part of the Smith farm and continued to work on the seedlings which went on to win numerous awards. Today ‘Granny Smith’ apples are enjoyed worldwide and were among the first fruits to become a staple in Australian supermarkets.

Kathy Mclay, Maria, 2011.
Rhodium plated 925 silver, onyx and prehnite, 46x45x23 mm.
Photograph Rod Buchholz.

Maria is celebrated in the Tinker, Tailor Soldier, Sailor exhibition by a brooch crafted by Kathy Mclay. The brooch uses onyx to represent an apple seed and a semi-precious stone, prehnite, to emulate thinly sliced cooked apple.[i]

Don’t miss your chance to see this brooch and many more!

Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor: 100 Woman 100 Brooches 100 Stories is on show from 26 October - 15 December 2013 at Hurstville Museum & Gallery.

Visit our website for more information.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor is an artisan travelling exhibition, toured by Museum & Gallery Services Queensland.

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[i] Information taken from Franzidis, Evie: Tales of 100 Inspirational Australian Women, in: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor: 100 Women, 100 Brooches, 100 Stories, artisan, Fortitude Valley, Queensland, 2011, p. 24.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor: 100 Women 100 Brooches 100 Stories Exhibition

Stella (‘Miles’) Franklin - Novelist and Prize Founder

Miles Franklin was an iconic Australian author and an obvious choice to be included in an exhibition revolving around remarkable women. Growing up in rural Australia at the turn of the 20th century, Miles witnessed daily the hard work, pain and sacrifice her mother experienced maintaining a household and raising children. Miles resolved to never marry to save herself this physical and emotional hardship, and though she had several partners, she stuck to this decision.

Miles was taught to read and write by her mother and at the age of 16 began work on her most famous novel My Brilliant Career. The book was published when Miles was 19, and shortly thereafter removed from print by Miles herself after family and friends complained about the intimate nature of the contents.

In 1906 Miles travelled to America where she remained for 30 years doing various work, most notably with the National Women’s Trade Union League of America and as a volunteer nurse in WWI.

In the 1930s Miles relocated to Australia and took over the family home in Carlton, in the St George area. From this home she wrote one of her most successful novels, All that Swagger (1936).

Miles Franklin is commemorated in this exhibition with a brooch created by Roseanne Bartley from found plastic. She has aimed to represent the ideal behind the Miles Franklin Award and indeed My Brilliant Career, in showing that items that seem of little cultural significance, such as a discarded plastic spoon or the life choice of one young woman in rural Australia, can be shaped to reflect the cultural experience of a generation and of course, to create something beautiful.[1]

Roseanne Bartley, M is for, 2011.
Found plastic, 925 silver and stainless steel, 68x74x76 mm.
Photograph Rod Buchholz.

Don’t miss your chance to see this brooch and many more!

Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor: 100 Woman 100 Brooches 100 Stories is on show from 26 October - 15 December 2013 at Hurstville Museum & Gallery.

Visit our website for more information

Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor is an artisan travelling exhibition, toured by Museum & Gallery Services Queensland.

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[1] Information taken from Franzidis, Evie, Tales of 100 Inspirational Australian Women, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor, artisan, Fortitude Valley, Queensland, 2011, p.52.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor: 100 Brooches 100 Women 100 Stories

The Honourable Dame Roma Flinders Mitchell

Roma Mitchell was Australia’s first female judge. Born in Adelaide in 1913, she followed her father’s footsteps and won a scholarship to study law at the University of Adelaide. She was one of only 10 graduates, and the only woman, who successfully found employment during the difficult Depression era.

Roma served as a barrister for 28 years, specialising in matrimonial law and eventually became a partner in a law firm. In 1962, she became the first Australian woman to be appointed Queen’s Counsel, a title recognising her expertise and seniority.  In 1965 Roma became a judge in the Supreme Court. She remained the only women to be appointed a judge in an Australian superior court during her 18 years of service and made many significant contributions to landmark cases and reports.  

Dame Roma Mitchell supported legislative action aimed at the equality of women, lobbied for and chaired the Human Rights Commission and endlessly strove to encourage more women to take up academic appointments. Roma became the first woman to be appointed Governor of South Australia in 1991 and was a well-loved figure.

Katheryn Leopoldseder, Roma Mitchell hair brooch, 2011.
Nylon hair, oxidised 925 silver and stainless steel.
Photograph Rod Buchholz.

Katheryn Leopoldseder created a brooch symbolising the legal wig, exploring the symbolic notion of hair and the way in which Roma symbolically exchanged her own hair for the legal wig and the leadership and authority associated with it. The brooch was crafted using nylon hair, oxidized 925 silver and stainless steel.[i]

Don’t miss your chance to see this brooch and many more!

Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor: 100 Woman 100 Brooches 100 Stories is on show from 26 October - 15 December 2013 at Hurstville Museum & Gallery.

Visit our website for more information.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor is an artisan travelling exhibition, toured by Museum & Gallery Services Queensland.

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[i] Information taken from Franzidis, Evie: Tales of 100 Inspirational Australian Women, in: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor: 100 Women, 100 Brooches, 100 Stories, artisan, Fortitude Valley, Queensland, 2011, p. 84.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor: 100 Women 100 Brooches 100 Stories Exhibition

Hurstville Museum & Gallery is opening an exciting new exhibition Tinker, Tailor,Soldier, Sailor: 100 Woman 100 Brooches 100 Stories on the 25 October 2013. 

It is the largest jewellery exhibition ever seen in Australia and was originally created to celebrate the 2011 centenary of International Women’s Day.
The exhibition is an artisan travelling exhibition, toured by Museum & Gallery Services Queensland.

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor relates to an old nursery rhyme sung by little girls to predict the profession of their future husband. ‘Not in their wildest dreams could they have imagined that all the professions recited, from priest to lawyers, would one day be occupations for women.’[1]

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor celebrates the professional achievements of 100 Australian women through the creation of 100 brooches, crafted by 100 of Australia’s finest female jewellers. The women featured were chosen by Dr Dorothy Erickson, an eminent jeweller and history enthusiast and their achievements are in every field imaginable – from tinker to tailor; bishop to soldier; bullocky to lawyer. Amongst the famous women included are Saint Mary Mackillop, Cecilia May Gibbs, Miles Franklin and Kylie Kwong.

The exhibition will run from 26 October - 15 December 2013. Don’t miss out on your only chance to see this exhibition in Sydney!

You are welcome to join us for the official opening on
Friday 25 October 6.00pm for a 6.30pm start. 

Please RSVP to (02) 9330 6444 or museumgallery@hurstville.nsw.gov.au

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[1] Erickson, Dorothy: What wonderful women, in: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor: 100 Women, 100 Brooches, 100 Stories, artisan, Fortitude Valley, Queensland, 2011, p. 1.