Photograph depicting workers at The Pearlbutton Manufacturing Co
Object No. E5182-20
This photograph depicts workers in a Sydney pearl button factory sewing buttons onto cards in about the early 1930s. It is the last in a didactic collection in the Museum which illustrates the complete process of manufacturing pearl buttons as it was carried out in Australia, from diving for shell to marketing the finished article. The collection was acquired from the Pearl Button Manufacturing Company of Foster Street, Sydney, in 1933. Pearl divers in places such as Thursday Island, Broome and Port Darwin harvested the Golden Lip pearl shell, (Pinctada maxima), from which the buttons were made. After cutting, splitting, grinding, fashioning, hole drilling and polishing, final stage in the process of manufacture was grading. Buttons were examined on both sides by hand and sorted into three grades. After grading, they were sewn onto cards. The highest grade, 'firsts' were sewn onto silver card and the 'seconds' onto blue cards. In accordance with the international standard of the day, (the photograph was acquired in 1933), two dozen buttons were sewn onto each card. Buttons made from pearl shell were valued because they were durable and retained their lustre unaffected by washing. After World War 2, plastics replaced pearl shell as the preferred material for buttons. The pearl shell button spawned a whole subculture in the 'pearlies' of London's East End and its appeal has endured as both a utilitarian object and a source of inspiration for contemporary designers like Rowena Gough, whose neckpiece, Mobius Bandolier is part of the Powerhouse Museum Collection. The Torres Strait supplied over half the world demand for pearl shell in the 1890s. In addition to buttons, pearl shell was used for cutlery, hair combs, jewellery, decorative objects and inlay for furniture. The Powerhouse Museum collection includes a variety of objects made from pearl shell. - See more at: http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/imageservices/page/145/#sthash.qMKtsHrj.dpuf
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Summary
Object Statement
Photograph, part of a didactic collection illustrating pearl button manufacture, black and white print, mounted, workers sewing buttons onto cards, paper / wood, photographer unknown, Australia, for The Pearlbutton Manufacturing Co Ltd, Foster Street, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 1933
Physical Description
Photograph depicting workers sewing buttons onto cards, part of a didactic collection showing how pearl buttons were made, pearl shell, made by The Pearlbutton Manufacturing Co Ltd, Foster Street, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 1933
SOURCE
Acquisition Date
23 April 1933
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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