Search results

Image

Ophir gold diggings in 1851 - asset 2

This is a hand-coloured lithographic print showing the gold rush town of Ophir as it appeared soon after the first discovery of gold in 1851. About 30 canvas tents sprawl haphazardly near the river; miners are visible near the tents and several are walking along a dirt track; and rounded, sparsely treed hills are in the ...

Image

Pandanus baskets, 1912-13

These are four conical pandanus baskets from western Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory. All are painted with natural pigments and date from 1912-13. They are between 43 cm and 76 cm high and their diameters range from 14 cm to 24 cm.

Image

Former Pacific Island indentured labourers waiting for deportation, 1906

This black-and-white photograph shows Pacific Islanders mustered at the Cairns Court House in Queensland awaiting a medical examination prior to their deportation under the Australian Government's 1901 Pacific Island Labourers Act. The group, including a woman, some children and an Islander holding a bicycle, would probably ...

Image

Chinese farm workers planting cane, Cairns, 1890s

This is a black-and-white 1890s photograph portraying about 12 men, presumed to be Chinese as some wear conical hats, manually laying sugar-cane cuttings, or setts, at regular intervals in long furrows in a large paddock on Hambledon Sugar Plantation near Cairns in Queensland. In the background are a mounted overseer supervising ...

Image

Pacific Islanders at irrigation channels, c1905

This sepia photograph shows around 20 Pacific Islander men posed on either side of a narrow irrigation channel in a cane field at Bingera Plantation near Bundaberg in Queensland. Some are holding long-handled hoes or shovels. A junction of the irrigation channel is visible in the foreground with equipment necessary to divert ...

Image

Orrery, c1770 - part 2

This is a mechanical model of part of the solar system, commonly known as an orrery, manufactured by English mathematician and instrument maker Benjamin Martin in about 1770. This bronze model features a cylindrical clockwork mechanism with an orb representing the Sun placed in the centre. Extending from this on an arm ...

Image

Sunshine stripper harvester, 1884

This is a Sunshine stripper harvester, the design of which was developed by Hugh Victor McKay on his father's property at Drummartin, Victoria, in 1884. The harvester has three wheels, one at the front and two at the back. It is designed to strip, thresh and clean wheat grain. It is painted in brown and yellow, and features ...

Image

'First hut at Challicum, 1842'

This is a watercolour by Duncan Cooper that depicts the first hut built at Challicum, a sheep run west of Ballarat in western Victoria. The basic hut consists of timber slabs and a roof clad with bark. Mount Langi Ghiran and Mount Cole form part of the mountain range shown behind the hut. The watercolour, which measures ...

Image

Orrery, c1770 - part 1

This is a close-up of a mechanical model of part of the solar system, commonly known as an orrery, made by renowned London instrument maker Benjamin Martin in about 1770. This bronze model features a cylindrical clockwork mechanism with an orb representing the Sun placed in the centre. Extending from this on an arm is a ...

Image

Challicum, 1844

This is a pen-and-ink diagram by Duncan Cooper that shows the layout of the home station at Challicum, a sheep run west of Ballarat in western Victoria. A list of the buildings is included in the diagram. They are: '1. Hut. 2. Kitchen, with covered shed behind. 3. Store. 4. Carpenters Shop. 5. Henhouse. 6. Woolshed. 7. ...

Image

Syracuse 'Easy' washing machine, 1920s-30s

This is an electric domestic washing machine of a type that was manufactured by the Syracuse Washer Corporation under the name 'Easy' during the 1920s and 30s. The machine is made from enamelled metal and stainless steel, and features two tubs set in a triangular frame. The larger tub is the agitator tub and the smaller ...

Image

Forehead ornament, c1916

This is an Aboriginal forehead ornament from the Northern Territory, believed to have been made in the early 1900s. It comprises more than 30 kangaroo teeth, each embedded in beeswax and then attached to a string. Lengths of string extend out at both ends of the ornament. The ornament is 45 cm long and 9.5 cm wide.

Image

Stone axes and picks, early 1900s

This is an image showing six stone axes and picks made by people of the Warumungu and Tjingali groups near Tennant Creek in central Northern Territory. On average, the axes are 50 cm long and 20 cm wide, while the picks are 40 cm long and 25 cm wide.

Image

Leadbeater's possum

This is a colour photograph of a preserved Leadbeater's possum ('Gymnobelideus leadbeateri'). It is a museum specimen. The long bushy tail, large eyes and ears are displayed in the image.

Image

Ceremonial headdress, c1921

This is a ceremonial headdress of the Wangkanguru (Wonkonguru) people, made at an Aboriginal settlement in the north-east of South Australia in about 1921. Its main features are three thick tassels made of rabbit-tail fur attached to string made of kangaroo fur and hair. It is 56 cm long and up to about 34 cm wide.

Image

New Zealand hatchetfish

This is a colour photograph of a New Zealand hatchetfish ('Polyipnus kiwiensis') in a transparent container. The organs responsible for bioluminescence are visible against the black background. The keel-shaped abdomen of the hatchetfish can also be seen.

Image

Feather fossil

This is a colour photograph of a feather fossilised in mudstone. This specimen is from the Koonwarra fossil bed in the South Gippsland region of Victoria. This fossil shows detail of the feather structure, including the central shaft and attached barbs.

Image

Thylacine pup

This is a colour photograph of a preserved underdeveloped thylacine pup ('Thylacinus cynocephalus'). It is a museum specimen preserved in a glass container. Museum cataloguing labels are visible.

Image

Women unionists marching on Black Friday during the Brisbane General Strike, 1912

This is a black-and-white photograph of an orderly procession of women walking four or five abreast past Brisbane's Treasury Building in the city centre on 2 February 1912, a day that became known as 'Black Friday'. The majority of the women appear to be dressed in their best and wearing hats for the occasion. Several horsedrawn ...

Image

Panning for gold on the Mulgrave River, c1888

This is a black-and-white photograph showing five miners prospecting for alluvial gold on the banks of the Mulgrave River in Queensland. Two of the men hold shovels and stand by a sluice, two others pan for gold and the fifth rests on a wooden wheelbarrow. Several other mining implements are in evidence - a pan, pick, shovel ...