Underwater camera case

Manufacturer R G Lewis

Datec 1959

Object number00044215

NameCase

MediumMetal, glass

DimensionsOverall: 178 x 205 x 127 mm, 2420 g

ClassificationsTools and equipment

Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from the George Family and Adrian Jackson

Terms

DescriptionAn R G Lewis Photo-Marine underwater camera case. Self-taught pearl cultivator Denis George used this Lewis Photo-Marine underwater camera case to house his Leica camera (00045033) for underwater photography.HistoryThis Photo-Marine camera case was designed by Norman Lewis who owned the R G Lewis chain of camera stores. Lewis, a keen writer and traveller all his life, took up diving and designed this metal case to take with him on his dives and later sold throughout his stores. Denis George (1917-2001), a post-World War II Greek Migrant, was a self-taught pearl maker who found his own way to culture pearls and spent decades from the 1950s to the 1980s experimenting and trying to improve his products. His ambition was to culture a unique Australian pearl. He produced pearls mainly from 'Pinctada maxima' (gold lip pearl) and 'P. Margaritifera' (black lip pearl). He was a maverick in the Australian and Papua New Guinean pearl industry because he refused to collaborate with Japanese pearling companies who dominated pearl culture by keeping their technique secret and forming joint ventures with nationals. Denis George was never commercially successful but his achievements were remarkable. Not only did he develop his own way to seed pearl oysters, but he also pioneered the culture of pearls from 'Pteria penguin', a bivalve known as Butterfly Shell which was not then a recognised pearl shell. He was recognised in Japan for his pearling achievements, but was not well known in Australia. His efforts extended beyond his own individual interests, in lifelong attempts to establish locally owned and run pearl culture industries in Australia and Indo-Pacific countries. He also strove for recognition of the naturalist William Saville-Kent as the true originator, around 1890, of the cultured pearl technique which the Japanese later claimed as their own and developed as an industry. SignificanceThis underwater camera case reflects the development of pearl cultivating equipment and techniques in the mid 20th century. These developments, along with a decrease in the demand for mother-of-pearl, saw the Australian pearling industry shift from shell harvesting to pearl cultivating. In 2011, Western Australian pearl cultivating is worth approximately $150 million annually.