POWERHOUSE COLLECTION

Inkstand with kangaroo and emu motifs by William Edwards

Object No. 86/1613

Only twenty four significant examples of Australian-made secular presentation pieces crafted in gold are known to have survived from the colonial period; almost eighty are known to have been made. This unique inkstand is one of the most striking, particularly in its use of sculptural elements and Australian iconography. Fashioned in silver and almost pure gold, it was made in the workshop of William Edwards (c1819 -c1889) in Melbourne in 1865 and retailed by Kilpatrick & Co (est.1853). The son of a London silversmith and a manufacturing silversmith, Edwards came to Australia in 1857. Until about 1872 he ran a business in Melbourne which supplied silverware to major retailers; some objects were imported from the family business in London. From about 1873 Edwards was in partnership with Alexander Kaul. William Edwards' workshop excelled in the production of silver-mounted emu egg trophies and is credited with making the earliest surviving piece, the covered cup presented in 1859 to a Melbourne University scholar by his students (also in this Museum's collection). Although silver-mounted emu eggs form the largest surviving body of Edward's output, his workshop also produced a number of silver and occasionally gold trophies and epergnes, some of which were displayed in international exhibitions. Edwards was also responsible for major commissions such as the gifts for Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh which subsequently brought him an appointment as goldsmith and jewller the the Duke's household. The majority of the firm's wares were designed in the naturalistic and rococo revival styles. From the early 1860s, classical revival motifs and forms began appearing, often in combination with rococo and sometimes gothic elements. Regency detailing, evident in the design of the base of this inkstand, was rare. Also well known are Edward's silver claret jugs of the 1860s, which were made in many variations including richly repoussed pieces and even emu and ostrich egg versions. Thomas Bibby Guest was a steam biscuit manufacturer in William Street in Melbourne who succumbed to the lure of the goldfields in about 1857 and 'made a considerable sum of money in mining [and] ... lost most of it'. John Todd, his English business associate, helped Guest by sending the latest biscuit-making machinery on credit which enabled Guest " to produce such a quality that no one else could & by this means I have got back my lost trade, & my returns...more than trebled & still go on increasing" ( TB Guest & Co, papers, University of Melbourne Archives, 1875). The loan was repaid in full in August 1865, when the inkstand was delivered to Todd in Manchester. Guest's biscuit works were relocated to North Melbourne in 1897, and in 1900 the business was converted into a proprietary company. Guest died on 3 April 1908 as 'a man of exceptional business capacity, and his enterprise in starting a new industry so early, earned him the esteem and respect of his fellow colonists." ('Age', 4 April 1908, p.17). John Todd died in Manchester in 1875, and the fate of his inkstand, until it was located in 1986 in England and purchased by the Powerhouse Museum, is unknown. The original invoice for the inkstand, for 100 pounds, dated 11 April 1865 and made out to TB Guest still survives in the University of Melbourne Archives. Eva Czernis-Ryl, September 2007 Recommended further reading: C Thompson, 'Substantial evidence of your gratitude... A silver and gold presentation inkstand by William Edwards, Melbourne, 1865', Australiana, August 1987, pp 91-95.