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.