Place made
Adelaide
Medium
hand-painted porcelain blank
Dimensions
14.2 x 20.2 cm
Credit line
Gift of Vivien Stuart 2022
Accession number
20222C13A
Signature and date
Signed and dated on base, paint "Mamie Venner / MAY30 1951".
Provenance
Created by Mamie Venner; Purchased by Kath and Ron Watts; thence by descent to Vivien Stuart; gifted to the Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, 2022.
Media category
Ceramic
Collection area
Australian decorative arts and design
  • The establishment of the government run Adelaide School of Design in 1881 saw enormous numbers of women educated in painting, repoussé, embroidery, and wood carving. Women were the main producers and buyers of hand-painted ceramics, often acquiring pieces to mark special occasions such as birthdays or weddings. A group of artists from the Adelaide School of Design were among those who exhibited at the First Australian Exhibition of Women’s Work in Melbourne in 1907. Artists including Marmie Venner, Maida Wright and Floy Hubble exhibited widely and were well known in their lifetimes.

     

    Recent research has revived an interest in this period, particularly Adelaide’s intimate relationship with the British Arts and Crafts movement and the association between vocational training, suffrage, and women’s rights.