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00:30Welcome to Antiques Down Under.
00:34We're on the search for incredible antiques and collectibles.
00:38From private collections, historic homes, backyard sheds, museums and galleries.
00:43We'll be talking to the experts, the custodians and the passionate collectors.
00:48Coming up on this episode of Antiques Down Under, we take to the skies and discover the world of flying.
00:55Claudia visits the Canberra Museum and checks out the exhibition Wearing Joy.
01:00Colleen has a chat with Claudia about the fun of collecting.
01:06And Lee visits an incredible collection of Bendigo pottery.
01:21Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Flight 432 to Sydney on Vince Airways.
01:27Please make sure you have fastened your seatbelt.
01:30Welcome to Antiques Down Under.
01:36You've got this incredible collection of aviation memorabilia.
01:40It's unbelievable.
01:42What started you off?
01:43Uh, airline ashtrays.
01:44I've never been a smoker, but I do like the airline ashtrays and I collected all the airlines that I can around the world.
01:52And is it the label, the design of their logo?
01:56Yes, the designs most likely because they were very different to the normal hotel ashtrays that you get and they had aircraft on them and anything with aircraft was my interest.
02:08Now, Vince, this is one of my favourites in your collection of ashtrays.
02:14Ashtrays jumped out at me, Whitefriars glassware and it's Algerian Airways.
02:20That's correct.
02:21How did you come across it?
02:22Uh, there was just a donation, like most of the things I get.
02:25Mm-hmm.
02:25And he showed me this and I fell over backwards.
02:28It was just amazing, amazing looking ashtrays.
02:30The design is incredible, isn't it?
02:31Yes, it is just fabulous with the, with the imprints inside.
02:34Exactly.
02:34It's really, really nice.
02:36It's one of my nicest, actually.
02:37Yeah.
02:37Now, Vince, show me one of your favourite ashtrays.
02:39My, one of, it's just this one.
02:41It's Egypt Air brass, as you can see, but I do like the, the logo.
02:47It's just such a gorgeous logo.
02:49It is, isn't it?
02:49And, uh, it catches my all the time, so it's one of my favourites.
02:53That's why it's a bit large.
02:56Yes, it is a lounge, a first-class lounge ashtray.
03:00Yes.
03:01Great.
03:01And it's got an English and, of course, an in there.
03:04Yeah, an Arabic.
03:05An Arabic.
03:05Yeah, yeah.
03:06So, yeah, that's one of my favourites, because it catches my eye.
03:09I like, I love the colours.
03:10Because every time you walk past it, you go.
03:11Yeah, it catches, yeah.
03:12It jumps out, it does.
03:13Yeah, it does.
03:14Can we now go and have a look at some more items in Vince's massive collection?
03:24This is the cake topper for the, uh, first Rex, uh, jet service to, from Melbourne to Sydney.
03:30This was sitting on top of the, uh, top of the cake, uh, before it was cut.
03:35And it had a lot of icing around here as well, but this slowly, the icing is actually starting
03:40to fall off, so I'm losing bits of it as we go along.
03:43Now, Vincent, tell us about this incredible cabinet of badges.
03:51Now, these badges are mostly jacket badges and hat badges, captain's hat badges.
03:57They're, they're from all over the world.
03:59Uh, the ones on the left are mostly Australian, but the ones, all the others are worldwide.
04:05The British BA, British European Airways, that's probably one of the oldest I've got,
04:09around the fifties, 1950s and so.
04:12Uh, I've got United Kingdom as well down here.
04:14I'll just collect as I, as I get them.
04:16TAA one over there.
04:18Yes, TAA, here in Malta, you get them from everywhere.
04:22There's American ones in there as well.
04:24Well, we're going to go and have a look at some more items.
04:28And there's some items there I'm particularly interested in.
04:31All right.
04:32So, let's go and have a look shall we?
04:33Okay, let me go.
04:34All right, yep.
04:38This is a small collection of my Concord memorabilia.
04:42I have models in here.
04:44I've got a couple of compendiums and some other articles, salt and pepper shakers
04:50and jewellery holders.
04:52I've ever got an ink blotter from off the Concord gifts that they used to give out on board.
04:59I have never been on the Concord myself, but I have a lot of friends that went on it.
05:03And every time they came back, they came back with a piece of this memorabilia for me.
05:11These are the black boxes that you find on aircraft.
05:14They were designed by Dave Warren, an Australian.
05:17They record anything that happens on an aircraft in the last 30 minutes or 60 minutes,
05:23whatever it's designed for.
05:25And this is what they look like.
05:27They're not actually black.
05:28They're actually orange.
05:30So, they can be found when an accident happens and they need to get to them quick.
05:38That's it for Vince Airways.
05:40We're signing off on ADU.
05:47Hi, Dave.
05:55We have this mystery item and we'd like you to tell us what you think it is.
06:03Well, to me, it looks like it could be a hat holder or ceremonial headband for maybe a
06:10government position or a military post.
06:12I think you've covered quite a few possibilities.
06:17Hi, Daniel.
06:18We've got a mystery item here.
06:20Would you like to tell us what you think it is?
06:21Yes, I'd like that.
06:23It's looking like a skull cap.
06:25Could possibly be used in horse riding, maybe.
06:30It's probably, it's got some markings on it as well.
06:32It's quite well decorative.
06:37Some very good guesses.
06:39Do you want to guess the mystery object?
06:42Head to our Facebook and Instagram pages to enter.
06:47Canberra Museum and Gallery's exhibition, Wearing Joy, Beautiful Brooches, celebrates
06:52brooches of all types from collector Carla Velting.
06:56And I'm feeling the joy.
07:04Carla, how wonderful to have your beautiful brooch collection in such an environment.
07:10How did you get started with brooch collecting?
07:12I've always loved quirky jewelry.
07:13Wearing something that makes your outfit just pop and brooch is just for a natural fit.
07:16I started off with necklaces and earrings, but brooch is just something like a piece of art you can
07:20wear and just elevate an outfit.
07:22It makes it so much fun.
07:22So how many in the collection?
07:25Five to six hundred.
07:27Okay, I'm not telling anybody.
07:28Your secret is safe with me.
07:33So who are some of the designers in the collection?
07:35There are so many amazing designers out there.
07:36There are smaller makers like LL Designs of Fractured Lace.
07:39You can move off to the bigger makers like Erswald and they're all Australian.
07:41And you've got ones with French ones like Leah Stein and Marie Pavone.
07:44It's quite a collection, but I see there's a brooch there that looks a little bit like you.
07:48I love to embroider and I took a challenge on to embroider my face and that was what came out of it.
07:52Did you watch a lot of TV as a kid?
07:53Because I'm seeing a lot of childhood memories here.
07:55I did watch some.
07:56I've got some absolute favourites like May Gibbs and Peter Rabbit.
07:59Others I have when I came to Australia.
08:00I was two and a half.
08:01I spoke only Dutch.
08:02So my parents taped Sesame Street, which is a Dutch version of Sesame Street,
08:06and also the Smurfs in Dutch for me.
08:07So I have them on the board to remind me of when I came to Australia.
08:12Vanessa, you're curator here at Canberra Museum and Gallery.
08:16Does the museum focus mainly on stories from the Canberra region?
08:20Yes, it does.
08:21So here we are in Canberra, we're surrounded by national institutions,
08:25but it wasn't until Canberra Museum and Gallery opened in 1998
08:29that we really had a museum focusing on Canberra.
08:33So our people, development and artists associated with Canberra,
08:38and also their connections around Australia and with the international community.
08:46Brooches.
08:47We've been wearing them since the Bronze Age, and this is a little pocket of popular culture.
08:54What does it tell us about society?
08:56So I think people love to communicate things through what they wear, and especially through
09:02adornment. These have so many different themes, and these are really the themes that are important to
09:08Carla. So we've got TV shows that she loves, books that she loves. They resonate with all sorts of
09:15people from all ages. The exhibition is called Wearing Joy, Beautiful Brooches. Was it a joy
09:21to put together? Absolutely. So I love doing the research for exhibitions, but it was also great to
09:27do this one that didn't require really any research. I just let the objects themselves shine, and really
09:34Wearing Joy is my take on the trend of dopamine dressing, where fashion these days tends towards muted
09:41colours. But it's wonderful to see people that dress brightly, and it really brings them joy, and
09:47brings others joy to see them. I think wearing joy sums it up beautifully.
09:57Mark, you're the Chief Creative Officer of the wonderful company Erst Wilder, who makes so many of
10:03these fantastic brooches. Erst Wilder, interesting name. Is it Erst Wilder? What are we thinking?
10:10Yeah, you're on the right track. It's a question we get a lot. Erst Wilder refers to a time in the past,
10:14and there's a strong vintage influence over our designs and where we've come from. But as you can
10:20see, a lot of our designs are very character driven, so we thought it's a little bit wilder.
10:24Erst Wilder became Erst Wilder. Aha, I like the name. There's licensed collections,
10:29there are original Erst Wilder ranges with our in-house illustrators. And then we have the
10:33opportunity to work with the most wonderful established artists and bring some of their
10:37art to life as our designs. They're little pieces of art, and they're more than just
10:43a little brooch and a lapel, aren't they? Absolutely. We identified at the very beginning of this brand
10:48the opportunity to make designs that aren't just nice ways to complete an outfit, but are ways to bring
10:53the internal to the external, to really express all those inner thoughts and feelings and nostalgic
10:59things that we love, memories of our families. All those sorts of things are captured in the designs.
11:04They're very meaningful to people, and we've in fact received emails or photos even of brides and
11:10bridal parties wearing floral brooches for a wedding, or on a more solemn note, family members wearing
11:15brooches to honour someone who was a devoted collector that has passed. Or they might just wear a teddy
11:20bear to have a little friend they can carry with them for the day. I think what Erst Wilder does so well
11:25is bring little moments of joy to people's lives. Yeah, absolutely. We like to think that we are part of
11:32the joy economy.
11:51I'm with Colleen, who has the most wonderful collection of Victoriana. Thank you for having me
11:56and sharing this with me Colleen. You're most welcome. Now I'm wearing as a necklace a beautiful
12:02chatelaine, but it's usually worn hanging off a belt isn't it? Correct, yes, and it was made or worn by
12:11the lady of the house. It is Russian and it's got a watch, a watch key and a seal. The seal was for doing
12:21her letters. Very, very ornate and little seed pearls around the edge of the watch and the little
12:28hands that held on to the watch is beautifully done. Chatelaine's a French word from the word
12:34chateau, the woman who looked after the chateau. This is what I think of when I think of a chatelaine,
12:40with scissors hanging off the bottom. So, well, this is English. That's English and that's dated
12:45around about 1890. And that has got like a thimble, a needle case, scissors, a tape measure and a pen.
12:56Oh, very handy. It's kind of like the Victorian woman's Swiss army knife, isn't it? Correct.
13:06Now, I've got a very interesting piece here. Now, it looks like it's got a couple of golf clubs on it.
13:11What's the story of that one? Well, that is rather unique because when you're out playing golf,
13:18you need a scorecard and sterling silver, of course. This piece here is not sterling silver. No,
13:24that is metal and it's cast. But again, it's got the thimble and it's got the needle case and the
13:32little tape measure, but hasn't got the scissors with that one. So you could mix and match? Absolutely.
13:38As there are little pieces here that you could go and buy to what you want and you could put it on
13:45your chatelaine. So it's almost like adding a charm to a charm blaze. Correct.
13:54So we move from the chatelaine to the pincushion. Now, these Victorian pincushions,
14:00they love their novelty, didn't they? They've got little ducks and swans and frogs and pigs.
14:05They were fascinated with little bits and pieces. A lady that loved gardening, she would get a wheelbarrow
14:15and shoes were a great thing in the Victorian days. They just adored shoes. This particular
14:24one is a billiard table. Oh, how funny. And the pigs, the little pigs were highly collectible.
14:30And same with the elephants. I'm passionate and love my collection of pincushions. It's taken me a long
14:38time. How long? 40 years.
14:45We've heard of a book that's a real page turner. Yes. But you've got a collection of page turners.
14:52Correct. But what's a page turner? Page turner is to turn pages in a book so that you didn't have
15:00your fingers on the pages because they didn't want the pages of the old books damaged. Ah,
15:08so they're using them in churches and synagogues? Correct. Holy books and even smaller books.
15:14There is page turners that are very tiny and they used to use those.
15:22You have a mighty collection of these page turners. I've got a few.
15:27And the interesting thing is that they were also paper cutters.
15:32Correct. And a lot of the books came where the pages were joined together and they would slip the
15:40page turner into the edge and cut the pages so that you could read the book.
15:52Tell me about this piece, Colleen. It seems to have engraving on it.
15:56Yes. That came from Western Australia many years ago and that was given to the governor of Western
16:05Australia and that is in gold, which is unusual. A lot of them were in silver or just with the ivory
16:16handles. Ivory was very popular in those days and quite sought after and always quite expensive.
16:25This particular one was tortoiseshell.
16:30Thank you so much for letting Antiques Down Under have a little look.
16:32You're most welcome. We do enjoy collecting and always will. It becomes a little bit of a habit
16:40and an addiction.
16:55We're in Bendigo today and I'm here with Eric to talk about the Bendigo Pottery. Now the Bendigo Pottery
17:08is the oldest pottery living in Australia. That started in the 1850s when a Scotsman came to Australia.
17:15He came out to the gold fields looking for gold but what he found was clay and not just clay,
17:20but clay that was perfect for pottery.
17:27What made me collect is I dived this piece of pottery and I just got hooked after that and
17:36just started collecting. You say you dived it? Yes, dived it, yep. What does that mean?
17:43In the river, mud larking in the river. So you found it? Yes, in the river.
17:48Picked it up. What an amazing find. Yes, it was pretty impressive.
17:54So how long ago was that? How long have you been collecting? For about 12 years.
17:58You've amassed quite a collection in that time, haven't you?
18:00Oh yeah, I have a few. Yeah, I chase it pretty hard.
18:04Do you cover the whole history from the 1850s onwards?
18:08Yeah, the oldest piece I got is probably 1870s. It goes right up to 1940 in my collection.
18:21So Eric, I'm keen to see some of the early pieces to start with. What's your something early and
18:26interesting? I will show you this bread plate. What a marvellous bread plate. Very typical of
18:34the Victorian period with all this lovely slip decoration and this mottling which really harks
18:41back to decoration of English pottery in the 18th century. When does it date from?
18:46These plates date from about 1880s up to 1910.
18:50You say you've collected up to about 1940 and I see a wonderful clock down here which is clearly
19:01from about 1940s. Tell me something about this. This clock here is, they're pretty rare. The
19:08Bendigo pottery only made 33 of these clocks and they were made in about 1940.
19:21These kookaburras, they made quite a few. These were made in the about 1920s. They're pretty well
19:29sought after and you can also get the painted ones that aren't glazed.
19:35And then next to that I see a crab. Now of course crab is not perhaps uniquely Australian
19:40animal but it is a very Australian sort of thing. Tell me something about that.
19:45Yeah this piece is a Waverly Ware piece made in about the 1930s and 40s and I think they used this
19:56to put their crab meat in. Now you say it's Waverly Ware, what does that mean?
20:01Waverly Ware was made between 1930 and 1950.
20:05Now Eric, I'm not going to ask you to pick this piece up.
20:14This is the most wonderful Campana vase, so called because this shape of vase was
20:20found in great numbers in a particular field in Italy called Campana and it's an absolutely classic
20:27early Greek shape and it seems so out of place with all of the other wares that you have here.
20:34Tell me about it.
20:35Yeah, this is a Bendigo Pottery piece made in around 1880s up to the 1900s.
20:44Well Eric, this is an extraordinary collection. Surely there wouldn't be any more of it.
20:50Yes, I have another shed hidden away if you'd like to come and have a look at it.
20:56A shed full of it. Come, let's go.
21:03Eric, you've brought me out to your shed and I'm surrounded by bottles. I don't imagine you drank
21:09them all. No.
21:11Purely a collection and this magnificent array of Demijohns. I see one at the end which seems to
21:17stand out in terms of shape. Is there anything special about it?
21:20Yes, this is one of the earliest Bendigo Pottery ones. It's a Moore Brothers Sandhurst and she's
21:31pretty early, 1880s. Very, very rare item this one.
21:40Eric, thank you for showing me your wonderful collection.
21:42Bendigo Pottery is very important and it's been a delight to see so many wonderful examples.
21:49It's my pleasure. Thanks for coming.
21:57Vicki, can you tell me what this is?
21:59I can, yes. So it's actually used on horses, so it's a document holder that either was used in the
22:121900s in the Light Horse Brigade or even in the 1850s to take documents to the gold fields.
22:19Right, around Ned Kelly's time. Around Ned Kelly's time.
22:23Could have been on his horse.
22:24Well, not Ned Kelly's horse, maybe the troopers were trying to grab him.
22:28Yeah, that's right. So, yeah, exactly.
22:30And how does it work? It just opens up?
22:32Yep, just opens up.
22:33Love it.
22:34And the document would be clipped in here.
22:36Oh, right, yep.
22:37Right, to keep it so that it doesn't get wet and safe.
22:41Yep.
22:42And then could be secured under the saddle or...
22:44On the side of the saddle or something, yep.
22:46Yeah.
22:46Thank you very much.
22:48That's great.
22:49Now that was tricky. Did you get it right?
22:52Don't forget, you can guess this week's What Is It? by heading to our Facebook and Instagram pages.
23:02Next time on Antiques Down Under, Gregory meets the great-great-grandson of Master Carver Prenzel.
23:10Art Nouveau. I catch up with a passionate collector.
23:13For the love of dolls, I take a look at dolls over the years.
23:21And Elizabeth steps back in time, remembering the local milk bar.
23:25And Elizabeth.
23:36And Elizabeth.
23:37Missed an episode of Antiques Down Under?
23:56Check us out on Nine Now.
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