Silver & Gold: Unique Australian Objects 1830–1910

Silver & Gold: unique Australian objects 1830–1910 showcases exceptional nineteenth and early twentieth century Australian silver and gold objects drawn from the National Gallery of Australia’s significant collection of colonial decorative arts and design. The theme of this exhibition is celebration, with objects marking significant personal, community and professional achievements and milestones, or displays of prosperity and artistic accomplishment.

The exhibition includes objects made by silversmiths who worked across the country, including Alexander Dick, David Barclay, Henry Steiner, William Edwards, Edward Fischer, John J Cohen and Joachim Matthias Wendt. These silversmiths worked in a range of historical revival and contemporary styles.

While British and European aesthetics and traditions pervade the early silverware created in Australia, local styles emerged as a national consciousness developed and became more pronounced towards Federation. Many of the objects reflect the nationalist fervour of the late nineteenth century, embodying the ideas of nation-building through honouring the individual worker achieving excellence, the heroic sportsman and celebrating Australia’s unique flora and fauna.

Silver & Gold reveals the exceptional skills of Australia’s earliest professional craft practitioners and their compelling narratives of Australian social and commercial history. To find out more read the accompanying Education Resource.

A National Gallery of Australia Exhibition.