GREAT AUSTRALIA

Datec 1860

Object number00039547

NamePlaque

MediumCeramic

Dimensions200 x 230 x 40 mm, 1.5 lb. (0.7 kg)

ClassificationsCommemorative artefacts

Credit LineANMM Collection

Terms

DescriptionThis pink lustreware plaque depicts the clipper ship GREAT AUSTRALIA. It has a raised and moulded edge in the shape of a picture frame and is finished with a copper lustre glaze. Ceramic ware such as this was often produced to commemorate the launch or loss of a vessel. GREAT AUSTRALIA sank off the coast of Burma in 1865.HistoryA number of potteries were active at Sunderland, England during the 19th century. They often specialised in pink lustreware and did not always hallmark their items. Commonly produced wares include jugs, mugs, pots and wall plaques decorated with black transfer prints of the Sunderland region, shipping, rural scenes or religious subjects. Clipper ships were part of everyday life in the mid-19th century and potters often commemorated great ships or fast voyages in their work. The trademark pink lustreware of Sunderland potters was created by spraying fine drops of oil onto newly painted lustre while it was wet. When the lustre was fired, the little pools of oil left a mottled surface. Lustreware can be recognised by its iridescent surface which is created by painting glazed pottery with a mixture of silver, gold, platinum or copper dissolved in acid. The colour yellow indicates the presence of silver, ruby indicates gold, silver indicates platinum and red or pink indicates copper. In the 19th century copper was by far the most common and cheap lustreware available. It features predominantly in Sunderland wares. The GREAT AUSTRALIA was a wooden bark built in New Brunswick, Canada in August 1860. The three-masted wooden clipper ship of 1,661 tons was specifically designed to cater for the growing number of immigrants travelling to Australia. It was owned by the Liverpool line Wright & Co and used for transporting cargo and passengers between Liverpool and Melbourne from 1861 to 1864. It wrecked off the coast of Burma on 14 July 1865 while carrying a cargo of rice bound for Liverpool.SignificanceThis ceramic plaque is indicative of the GREAT AUSTRALIA's role transporting immigrants to Australia. It also represents the production of ceramic ware for the lower to middle classes during the mid-19th century.