MA

RC

H -

MAY

2010

AUSTRALASIA’S LEADING ANTIQUES AND COLLECTABLES MAGAZINE

9 771445 816006

ISSN 1445-8160

Aust $9.95 NZ $13.95

T R A D E R

92ND EDITION

ANZAC TREASURESLetters reaching out from the past

Celebrating the legacy of

MARGUERITE MAHOODLearn to identify

FAKES & FORGERIESTRAVEL FEATUREFollow the locals in New YorkSpecial collections to see in London

Collectables Trader 3

6 Lime spatulas from Papua New Guinea

Crispin Howarth

14 Planet of the Apes memorabilia

John Harrison

16 Hooked on barbed wire

Rob Ditessa

44 Workshop Hagenauer Wein: part 2

Ronald Hagenauer

78 Fans: Exquisite works of art

84 Photography: Seeing old London

88 The highly collectable cane

Ceramics feature20 The creative legacy of Marguerite Mahood

Marvin Hurnall

Heritage32 Memorabilia & memorials at

St Andrew’s Church

Noel Adsett

62 Quilts: the fabric of society

82 Celebrating Lebanese village culture

military memorabilia10 Anzac connections Treasured letters from a

World War One digger

Michelle Edgar

66 Rising Sun emblem

Rob Ditessa

Experts share48 Fakes and forgeries: learn to differentiate

Numismatics feature28 Recent auction trends

Peter Lane

58 Australian 1934 proof set

sets a world record

70 The Challenger medal

Peter Lane

Fashion feature40 Beth Levine: First lady of shoes

Travel feature36 Armenian Pottery in Israel

Melody Amsel-Arieli

55 British studio pottery in London

74 New York’s One Hanson Place

92 out & about

regular features51 Conundrum

53 Collectables fairs

54 How to subscribe

94 Bulletin board

96 Collectors’ bookshelf

103 Advertising rates

104 Advertisers’ Index

WINT R A D E R

CollectablescoverMarguerite Mahood (1901-1989), Figure, c. 1930s, hand modelled glazed earthenwareinscribed on base. Courtesy Marvin Hurnall

A. & J. Bool, Temple Bar, c.1878, carbon printmounted on card, 227 x 176 mm. Publishedby Society for Photographing Relics of OldLondon, printed by Henry Dixon & Son © Royal Academy of Arts, London

Japanese wooden fan, c. 1910, red silk gauze.Fan Museum, Greenwich, London

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40

62

70

20

44

55

conundrumenter our prize draw

See page 51

6 Collectables Trader

FROM A BASIC IMPLEMENT TO AN EBONY TREASURE

Lime spatulas FROM THE MASSIM REGION

OF PAPUA NEW GUINEA

Crispin Howarth

The irresistibly tactile Massimlime spatulas are among the

finest sculptural arts from thePacific. Aesthetically, they have asense of worth beyond their actualfunction and often deifyclassification when they appear atauction or in antique shops. I haveknown them to be tagged as shoehorns and letter openers to oddertitles including sorcery daggers anddrug spoons.

Strangely enough, the latterdescription is quite near the mark.Commonly known as lime spatulas,these ebony utensils from PapuaNew Guinea’s Massim region arecreated for the recreational pastimeof betel chewing.

GEOGRAPHY

The Milne Bay Province of PapuaNew Guinea covers the southeastern tip of mainland NewGuinea, known culturally as theMassim region. Many islands studthe waters eastward creating aborder between the Coral Sea andthe Solomon Sea.

Among these low-lying coralislands are the Trobriand Islands.These have been described as the‘islands of love’; made famous bythe anthropologist BronislawMalinowski in the early 20th century.

As the Trobriand Islands are sowell known many spatula areattributed to here almost on default.

CUSTOM OF BETEL CHEWING

An essential part of sociality in theMassim region is the custom ofchewing betel. Rarely will you see ameeting of people without thesedate habit of betel chewing.

When mixed in the mouth withslaked lime, the betel nut releasesmildly narcotic-like propertiesgiving the chewer a relaxing andeuphoric feeling. It has also beensuggested that betel nut cansuppress hunger pangs, relieveheadaches, minor ills and even actas an aphrodisiac, so it isunsurprising that betel chewing isconsidered slightly addictive.

During chewing, the mouthproduces bright red excess saliva,which leads to the unsightly habitof constant spitting. Prolongedchewing has the effect of stainingteeth black.

BETEL CHEWING KIT

To chew betel in the Massim regiona small ‘tool kit’ is required – acontainer for the slaked lime, acontainer for betel nuts and a longspatula to dab the lime into yourmouth. It is these spatulas that arethe focus of this article.

Due to the attractiveness of thecarvers’ detailed work spatulashave been souvenired by visitors tothe Massim region since the mid19th century. Thousands ofexamples can be found in bothmuseum and private collectionsaround the world.

More often mislabelled as a dressing aid,

eating utensil or linked with witchcraft

practices, these crafted objects are fine

artworks of immense value

1

2

10 Collectables Trader

REACHING OUT FROM THE PAST:

Treasuredletters

FROM A WORLDWAR ONE DIGGER

Michelle Edgar

Life for a seventeen year oldboy in rural 1916 Australia was,

to understate it mildly, vastlydifferent from today. There were nosocial invitations and no assistancefrom the newly federatedgovernment. A car was just anoutlandish dream to while away thehours of farm chores. Also, thewhole world was at war and Alexwanted to leave home and join theoverseas action.

So young Alexander Edmistone

fudged his birth date and marched

off to join the allied troops in France,

still underage. He returned home

four years later, aged 21 and a man

in many ways. One can only guess

at the horrors he endured, far from

home and family and discovering

that war was not the lark the

recruitment posters said it was.

SCOTLAND, FRANCE, LONDON…

With Alex, we are incredibly lucky:

he kept and handed to his children

four years of carefully written

correspondence that miraculously

found its way to him in various

European war trenches. These

aged and delicate missives trace

young Alex’s postings:

Miss Feeney of Yeronga; Miss

1 Alexander Edmistone

2 Recruitment poster for WorldWar One

3 Alex’s list of ladies’ addresses

4 Envelopes showing originaladdresses and redirections forletters to Alex

5 Hilda Edmistone’s letter to herelder brother

Love letters from the early

years of the last century

are a reminder that some

things never change

1

2

3 4

14 Collectables Trader

John Harrison

The Planet of the Apesphenomenon began in the mid-

1960s, when late producer Arthur PJacobs purchased the screen rightsto French author Pierre Boulle’snovel, Monkey Planet. AlthoughJacobs’ drastically re-writtentreatment was rejected by everymajor studio, Charlton Hestonexpressed an interest. TwentiethCentury Fox gave Jacobs the go-ahead to shoot a ten-minute testfootage in which Heston is anastronaut having an articulateconversation with the orang-utan Dr Zaius (played by Edward GRobinson), as well as the malechimpanzee Cornelius (James Brolin)and his wife Zira (Linda Harrison).

The test footage received apositive response and proved thatape make-up would work on-screen, so Fox Studios went aheadwith the first Apes film.

Planet of the Apes was releasedin February 1968 and was a hugehit. Younger people were attractedto the story of astronaut Taylorcrash-landing on a planet whereevolution has been reversed andintelligent apes are the masterswith humans the mute slaves. Thesombre ending – discovery of theStatue of Liberty, rusted and half-buried in the sand, revealing that hehas landed on the nuclear warravaged Earth – tinged the film witha social commentary matching thetimes of anti-Vietnam War and anti-nuclear sentiments.

The commercial success of thefilm justified its enormous costs,with four sequels producedbetween 1970 and 1973: Beneaththe Planet of the Apes, Escapefrom the Planet of the Apes,Conquest of the Planet of the Apesand Battle for the Planet of theApes. In 1974 Apes became atelevision series, closing after ahalf-season. In 1975 the enjoyablebut short-lived half-hour animatedseries, Return to the Planet of theApes, was produced.

ORIGINAL APES MEMORABILIA

There was little Apes merchandisereleased during the initial runs ofthe films, apart from originalposters, lobby cards, stills, presskits, program booklets andsoundtrack LPs. The most notableoriginal Apes memorabilia is the44-piece bubble gum card setissued by Topps in 1968, a quiterare and desirable item especially ifwith the original counter topdisplay box.

One of the most popular and enduring sagas in the

science fiction film genre, Planet of the Apes was turned

down by every major studio until it came to the attention

of Charlton Heston

memorabiliaMORE THAN MONKEY BUSINESS!

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