Miniature Wax Model Cows - Thomas Family

DESCRIPTION

TitleMiniature Wax Model Cows - Thomas FamilyObject TypeObjectDatec.1880-1920DescriptionMiniature Beeswax Model Cows and Display Case.

Set of six handmade miniature wax cows and cedar and glass display case.

Three sisters who grew up in Uralla/Armidale, NSW (Mary, Martha and Wilhelmina Gore) designed and made miniature beeswax animals which won many awards in Australia and overseas.

The beeswax cows are covered in real cow hair, the hooves carved from sheep horn, eyes made from glass, and horns from rooster talons.
Provenance and SignifcanceThis lovely set of miniature wax cows and the display case were donated to the Shellharbour School of Arts by Isabella Thomas on behalf of her husband William Makin Thomas.

They were formally exhibited in the Thomas Memorial Room at the School of Arts.

On the death of William Makin Thomas, he bequeathed his collection of 1150 books, curios, photographs, and Aboriginal cultural heritage items, to the Shellharbour School of Arts with the wish that a room be built to house the collection, and that it me named in memory of his father, John Thomas.

William's wife, Isabella Thomas, who paid for the rooms construction, was presented with a signet ring on the opening of the Thomas Memorial Room at the Shellharbour School of Arts, in 1924.

The Thomas Memorial Room was located in the Shellharbour School of Arts building in Mary Street, built by George Laurence Fuller of Dunmore.

An inscription on a brass plate within the room read 'This Library was bequeathed to the Shellharbour School of Arts by the late W.M. Thomas, District Surveyor of Armidale, and this room was erected by his wife, Isabella, in remembrance of their father, the late John Thomas of Shellharbour.'

William Makin Thomas married Isabella Dickson in 1888. The couple eventually moved to Armidale, NSW, where William was appointed the District Surveyor.

William and Isabella acquired these lovely miniature cows while they lived in Armidale, NSW.

William died in 1919, and Isabella moved back to Shellharbour.DonorShellharbour City CouncilExternal LinkStoryplace - Beeswax and BullocksMuseums Victoria Collection

CHARACTERISTICS

MaterialModelled from wax and cow hide.DimensionsDisplay Case - 23cm x 58cm x 30.5cm

CLASSIFICATION

PrimaryHandcraftsSecondaryWaxwork

CONNECTIONS

CollectionObjectsThomas Memorial Library CollectionFamilyThomasLocalityShellharbour VillagePersonThomas, John

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