Tyre swan
Object No. 91/1207
Tyre swan, rubber / metal / timber, tyre maker unknown, Czechoslovakia ( Czech Republic / Slovakia), repurposed by Mr and Mrs Johnson, St Marys, New South Wales, Australia, 1960-1990
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Summary
Physical Description
Automobile tyre which has been modified to resemble the form of a swan. Half of the tread has been sliced along and cut at the end to form the neck of the swan and the head. The remaining side areas of the tyre has been turned inside out and form the wings of the bird. The negative from which the head was cut forms a forked tail. A riveted metal strap ensures the neck curves forward. The base of the object is nailed to a rectangular wooden base. The tyre has been painted white with red detailing for beak and red drawing pins for eyes.
DIMENSIONS
Height
740 mm
Width
670 mm
Depth
520 mm
PRODUCTION
Notes
Object made by a 'Mr and Mrs Johnson' pre 1990. Probably between the 1960s and 1980s. These swans were still popular in the mid 1980s when some still decorated, as hanging flower vases, Sydney's Redfern station (most likely as a private initiative of station workers who tended the small station 'garden').
HISTORY
Notes
This tyre swan was used as lawn decoration by the previous owners at their home in St Marys, an outer western suburb of Sydney in New South Wales. The two photographs of the tyre swans in situ were taken by Jan Mackay, 1989.
SOURCE
Credit Line
Purchased 1991
Acquisition Date
18 October 1991
Copyright for the above image is held by the Powerhouse and may be subject to third-party copyright restrictions. Please submit an Image Licensing Enquiry for information regarding reproduction, copyright and fees. Text is released under Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivative licence.
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