In light of the current situation gripping the World…. Moorabool is closing our physical shopfront and concentrating on this website.
Moorabool wishes all customers the best of health, and please take care out there. We are still functioning behind the scenes, manning our website, and our postal system will continue, although naturally not as quick as usual. If you are buying/selling, we are available by email, facetime, or telephone; our website is monitored, so please feel free to continue on as ‘usual’ as possible in this rapidly changing world….
As soon as we are ‘free’ of this invisible menace, we will have some exciting events to promote – having used all this down-time to prepare!
Sincere best wishes, from John Rosenberg, Paul Rosenberg, Alard Pett, Lindsay Wilson, and all @ Moorabool Antiques, Geelong.
Staffordshire figures of the 1860’s including Florence Nightingale (and a German porcelain Turk!)
Illustrated here is Florence Nightingale & friends practicing ‘Social Distancing’ …. She was of course responsible (in the 1850’s) for the very first idea of how to contain a disease as it spread…. she would approve whole-heartedly of the incredible response our Governments are undertaking to tackle this age-defining catastrophe that is currently unfolding….
A surprise attribution leads to a fascinating provenance.
Pair of well-painted plates, unmarked, maker uncertain….
A flamboyant pair of plates with startling orange borders had been in our storeroom for some time before their significance was unearthed, purely by chance.
Their shape is a common ‘lobed’ form, and made by many porcelain makers in the mid 19th century. Our possible attribution was Copeland…. circa 1870…. one of many similar makers of bone china in the 19th century. But as unmarked pieces, it would take a miracle to attribute them firmly.
One day, their origin literally left out at me – on the front cover of a newly acquired book (a gift from a good friend, thanks Helen!) was an identical plate! The book was Godden’s ‘Ridgeway Porcelains’, 1985 edition. At last, a firm attribution.
Opening up to p229, we discover their significance:
‘A plate from a John Ridgeway dessert service shown at the 1851 Great Exhibition’..>>! What excellent provenance!
Tracing Godden’s identification of this service to an original booklet that was available to visitors at the Great Exhibition, we find the following inscription:
#42 One Dessert Centre(piece) , Two Comports, Six Plates….. Coral Border, Watteau Centre & Gold
At the ‘Great Exhibition’ in Crystal Palace, London, this was a ‘sample’ display of a service type, showing off what the company was capable of, and one of a group of other sample services with different decoration. Similar to the way ‘concept cars’ at today’s car shows sometimes never get made commercially, the display and the available retail product may well have differed; some items may have been ‘Great Exhibition Only’ pieces and never been part of the commercial production of the firm. The superb and very costly large scenes on these plates makes the case for the idea that these plates are two of the 6 made for the Great Exhibition of 1851, and were not part of the general offerings to the public from Ridgeway.
It’s Exhibition time again at Moorabool Antiques – time to showcase our recent exciting finds with a display & sale of over 500 exciting items.
Pair of 18th century Dummy Boards
From a lovely pair of 18th century ‘dummy boards’ – almost life-size – to a dazzling array of Ceramics, there’s a huge variety of items to be seen.
Our local purchases included a remarkable collection of late 18th / early 19th century English pottery of all descriptions, a collection of coffee cans, ditto spill vases, and a large number of early 19th century English porcelain pieces. We’re particularly struck by the beauty of the ‘Dry Bodies’, a group of feldspathic stonewares which have incredible detail to their decoration due to absence of glaze.
A delightful Chetham & Woolley drybody sucrier, the brown ground panels with white sprigged children, circa 1800
In porcelains, you’ll find the collectable, and the unusual: Coalport, Daniel, Davenport, Derby, Spode, Swansea, Worcester are familiar names; less known are Wolfe, Machin and Mayer. And there’s plenty more to add to that list!
From 18th century Europe comes a selection of Meissen, Sevres, and other Porcelain makers.
Exotics include the humorous Japanese Satsuma ‘turtle’ kettle, some Italian creamwares, and an interesting array of Antiquities beginning with a 4,500 year old ‘Indus Valley Culture’ pottery bull from the John Kenny collection, Melbourne.
Indus Valley Culture Bull, from Northern Pakistan, circa 2,500 BC
We are busily cataloguing several hundred more pieces, and adding them to the website Preview Gallery on a daily basis. Keep an eye on the uploads, and feel free to send through a ‘query’ if there’s anything you wish to know.
Otherwise…. see you on Saturday 5th October! And for all who are simply too far away – feel free to email or call.
A special milestone occurred this week, with John Rosenberg, founder of Moorabool Antiques, turning 80.
John Rosenberg turns 80, 2019
Back in the 1950’s, a young John Rosenberg could have never believed he would be proprietor of a business such as Moorabool was to become. His first purchase at the age of 12 was a Staffordshire Swan Inkwell – still treasured to this day!
Staffordshire Swan Inkwell
He haunted the few places in Geelong that had Antiques, and from their owners began to learn the vast amount there is to know about the past – something he is still pursuing every day of late, pouring through our reference books for the more obscure patterns & shapes contained in the huge collection we are currently processing…..
John has seen huge change in the Antiques Trade, from his very first Antique Dealers Association fair in 1959 – the second ever held in Victoria– through 59 consecutive years exhibiting, including the boom years for Antiques in the 1980’s-90’s…. fast-forward to 2019 and there was no Dealers Association Antique Fair held, breaking his 59-year consecutive stretch… a reflection on the shrinking Antiques Market.
These days the business is quite, and prices are low – and that, says John is exciting.
“For anyone buying Antiques, there has never been a better time. In all my experience, most items are cheaper today than they were when I began, and have not been this affordable in any of the years since…”
In other words, now is the perfect time to buy!
John has never lost his fascination in past products, hand-made with care and attention. And the variety is seemingly endless.
“Always something to discover, something ‘New’ in Antiques that I have never seen before…”
“I still work every day – if you call this work!”
We got together some friends & family in the Reference Library of Moorabool to celebrate his 80th party.
Some wonderful in-house catering resulted in a very trendy ‘Grazing table’ – using antiques in a very encouraging way!
The cake was always a concern -clearly a ‘normal’ cake would not do for this momentous occasion – and so a Willow Pattern design was conceived – echoing the one from his 70th birthday, but in this case, brought to life with a ‘crash’!
Willow Pattern Plate Cake
Those cracks are an Antique ceramic dealers worst nightmare, and slicing it up & eating it was something of a relief!
A good time was had by all, and thanks to all who came & sent their best wishes – and have done so since.
An exciting find at Moorabool is this portrait silhouette of Sir John Franklin.
His name is very familiar in Tasmania; as stated on the back of this newly discovered portrait, he was Governor there 1837-43, and his name appears across the state with a town on the Huon River, and a major river which narrowly avoided being dammed, an electorate, plus his splendid statue in the middle of a fountain in Hobart.
This silhouette is a majorly important piece, being a very personal depiction for which he would have had to sit; a frontal painted portrait could be mocked up from a printed image, and often was of famous people (for example Napoleon). However, a profile must be drawn from life, and this portrait has a secret beneath the image in the form of an original ‘trade card’ for the artist; in this case, George Atkinson, ‘Profilist to His Majesty’ (George III) at no. 40 Old Steine, Brighton. What is exciting about finding the trade card is it allows us to date the piece to 1822 -1828, the years he operated out of that address.
During this time, Sir John must have visited and sat for his profile to be taken. Not for long – George Atkinson prided himself in his speed, advertising a sitting took ‘less than one minute’. One can imagine Sir John dropping in, dressed in his Navy uniform, before striding out a minute later to take the airs on the promenade at Brighton!
These portraits were the equivalent of a studio photograph today. Atkinson charged 10s 6d for a detailed profile, a not so insignificant amount. So who did he have a portrait done for – to whom was this portrait gifted?
A look at his activities 1822-28 provide the most likely answer. He was quite an active Navy officer, spending some time exploring the Arctic reaches above Canada, but still found time to marry in 1823 to a Romantic poet named Eleanor Porden. They had a child in 1824; she died in 1825. He was off on another Arctic expedition shortly after, returning to England in 1827. Was it at this time he visited Brighton, for a little R&R? Perhaps having a portrait done to give to a special friend of his late wife, Jane Griffin…. and perhaps it worked, as they were soon married, in November 1828. She was the fascinating strong-willed ‘Lady Franklin’, who came to Tasmania in 1836 and is considered by some to have been the driving force behind Franklin’s time as Governor. This portrait came from a local Victorian source, and perhaps came to Australia with The Franklins in 1836, only to be left behind in 1843 when they returned to England.
Jane Griffin, later Lady Franklin
Internationally, Franklin has recently been of increasing interest due to his exploits after he left his position in Tasmania. This interest stems from the tragedy of his final adventure, his quest for a North-West passage through the Arctic ice above the American continent, a short-cut to the Pacific ocean that would have had great consequences for trade – if it had existed at the time. Ironically, with ‘global warming’ ships have recently been able to pioneer this northern route between the oceans – but when Sir John attempted it in 1845, he found no way forward. No way back either… surrounded by thick sea ice, he and his two ships on the expedition, Erebus and Terror were stuck. They were well equipped for such an incident, but a decision was made to try and walk out; all men and their commander disappeared in the Arctic wilderness, along with the ships. They had three years worth of provisions, but once that time was up the British Admiralty offered a £20,000 reward for resolution. Expeditions were mounted, but only a few graves and cryptic clues were found; Sir John Franklin and his 128 men had perished.
The recent interest came as a result of the excited announcement from Parks Canada in 2014 – they had discovered the wreck of Erebus. Two years later, their search revealed the Terror. Both are in relatively shallow and accessible waters, and dives on them have been nothing short of sensational; the state of preservation in the low temperatures is superb.
HMS Erebus, on the seabed 2014 in this side-sonar image from the moment of discovery.
An announcement in April 2018 by the British Government has resulted in the British ‘gifting’ the remains to Canada; an exciting future awaits as plans are proposed to recover items from these incredibly important ships – indeed, perhaps even the ships themselves!
We are thrilled to have discovered this previously unknown silhouette portrait of Rear-Admiral Sir John Franklin.
Today is an important one in Australia; the 25th of April 1915 was a ‘coming of age’, the first military action as an independent dominion. While the troops of the young nation didn’t achieve what they set out to do, and 8,709 didn’t return, it resulted in a sense of pride in those who did return with tales of valor and mateship. Even in the midst of the military disaster it turned out to be, a sense of being ‘Australian’ arose. Although the last of the troops who served at Gallipoli have passed on, all around Australia the younger generations gather at dawn, remembering the sacrifice and bravery of past generations.
Will Dyson ‘A Voice from Anzac’ Print 1927 -see it here>
This image by Will Dyson, the first official War Artist for Australia, illustrates the sentiment 12 years later; two soldiers in full kit sit by the sea, but are just ghosts on closer examination with the coastline visible through their bodies. The caption reads “Funny thing Bill- I keep thinking I hear men marching!” – the memories of those who didn’t return are still sharp. This cartoon appeared in the Herald on Anzac day in 1927, and proved to be so popular another print run was ordered, on better quality paper and in a limited number. These ended up in various RSL clubs around the country, and it was perhaps in one of these that the collection of signatures along the lower edge were collected. While it has Dyson’s own pencilled signature, the others are unexpected and remarkable: they are all winners of the Victoria Cross in WWI, with one exception: Lieutenant General Sir John Monash. It is an apparently unique tribute to the Gallipoli spirit, put together by soldiers who were there.
Dyson Anzac Print signatures – Will Dyson, A Jacka W Dunstan
Dyson Anzac Print signatures – J Monash, R C Grieve, G M Ingram
Will Dyson was born in 1880 near Ballarat, and was self-taught as an artist. He obtained work with various magazines as a satyrical illustrator, and became good friends with Norman Lindsay, marrying his sister Ruby. He spent the war years in England, and volunteered his skills to the Australian Imperial Forces “to interpret in a series of drawings, for national preservation, the sentiments and special Australian characteristics of our Army”. In this capacity he travelled to the Western Front in 1916, and was appointed the first official war artist in 1917. He was wounded twice as he proceeded with the troops, recording a very human side of the great conflict. He returned to Melbourne in 1925 where he worked at the Herald. During this time he produced the following print (1927) , and returned to London in 1930 where in died in 1938.
Also in the Australian War Museum is another dramatic depiction of Australian Anzac spirit, the life-size bronze ‘Simpson and his donkey’, by ‘Peter Corlett (1944 -). This work was commissioned by the Government, and installed on Anzac Day 1988 at the front of the War Memorial in Canberra. At the same time, 12 smaller versions were made & sold, and Moorabool currently has one of these.
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John Simpson Kirkpatrick was actually a British merchant sailor who jumped ship to enlisted in Fremantle, using his middle name. On the first day of his arrival at Gallipoli as a stretcher bearer, he found an abandoned donkey he named
Simpson & his Donkey Duffy
Duffy. The donkey helped Simpson carry the wounded who were still able to ride. This grainy photo was the inspiration for the legend, showing a wounded soldier being assisted by Simson down to the beach for evacuation to the hospital ships moored offshore.
We are honoured to have these reminders of the struggles that helped form Australia. I’ll finish with a group of prints that give a unique ‘Australian’ image to the warfare of WWI 100 years ago:
Welcome to the all-new Moorabool Antiques home on the web. We have been busily preparing since the start of the year, and are pleased to introduce our new site.
It’s been designed to make browsing our immense stock a pleasure for you, our online customers.
Right from the front page, you’ll find lots of different experiences – but hopefully familiar to regular visitors from our last site…. only Better and Easier!
We now have a logical menu populated with all the different groups of stock, allowing you to find your are of interest and see what we have to offer.
A new ‘search’ method is in place, far superior to the previous site, and you can access this on any page. Search for your interest and you will bring up pages on that subject to browse.
The final way to browse is via our ‘Collections’. These are ever changing and developing, and involve us defining a topic – for example ‘Middle Eastern Antiques’ – and grouping related pieces into a Collection Gallery. You’ll find access to this via the menu ‘Collections’ at the top of each page.
The other major addition is our ‘blog’. The currently featured blogs will appear down the left side of our homepage, and also on their own archive page. These are in-depth discussions of pieces or topics, and feature superior illustrations of their subject.
A series of new Customer Features will appear over the next while.
Today, we introduce the ‘Shortlist’. On any stock item’s page you will see a button titled ‘Shortlist’. This is a handy way to
make a list while browsing, and is great for comparing items side by side. As you add items, the will appear to the right in a list, along with a button ‘Compare’. Click this and you will bring up all the details and pics of the items you have ‘shortlisted’, side by side. If you’re wanting to save items, there’s a ‘wishlist’. These save to an account you make – we strongly recommend making an account, which will save your wishlist and your shipping details for any purchases. It will also keep track of these for you!
Drop in to our site and have an explore. There’s an ‘enquiry’ button on each page, and please feel free to send a message. As it is a new setup, if something doesn’t quite work or seem right…. let us know!
Lavish is the word that best describes this Flight Worcester plate. It’s from the ‘Hope’ service, ordered in 1789 by William Henry, the Duke of Clarence, who was the third son of King George III and eventual inheritor of the British throne at the age of 64 after both brothers died without heirs.
William IV
The subject was chosen by him, and reflects his military career. Each piece has a different rendition of ‘Hope’ with her anchor, with a ship in the background. He had joined the Royal Navy in his youth, serving in North America and the Caribbean under Nelson. Nicknamed the ‘Sailor King’ when he came to the throne, it is little wonder he chose this nautical theme for his service.
The Hope Service, Flight Worcester, 1790
Securing the service commission was a major event for the ailing Worcester factory, which had been purchased by John Flight in 1783. It was William’s second commission from the factory, the first being the ‘St Andrew’ service, celebrating his achievement of the Order of St Andrew, earlier in 1789.
John Flight recorded in his diary in January 1790:
‘We used our two best painters last week to make some very fine designs for the Duke of Clarence, we have already completed 3 plates and I have sent them to London. One is a gold arabesque design, another the figure of Hope, the other of Patience.’
A few days later on 24th January John Flight added:
‘Apart from the two plates mentioned… we have made two others with figures, Peace and Plenty. H.R.H. Duke of Clarence has decided on the Hope design with the decoration that we put on the Peace plate, he has ordered a table service that will amount to more than £700 sterling. He has given us a year in which to complete it…’
A plate from ‘The Hope Service’, Flight Worcester 1790, made for the Duke of Clarence, later King William IV.
It is interesting to track down some original tabloid gossip from the period:
‘Hope Service’ described in a 1791 Clarendon Post
This news article intended to impress, inflating the price and the number of pieces. The comment about it being ‘particularly appropriate to the nautical profession of the royal proprietor …’ is interesting, as William was indeed a Navy officer. His father George III had determined he should join the Royal Navy, and so he entered the navy at 13 as a midshipman. He saw active service in the War of American Independence (targeted in a kidnap plot by an agent of George Washington in New York, 1782!), and became a friend of Nelson. He was placed on the Warwick under Captain George Keith Elphinstone, and spent time in the Caribbean. In 1789 he returned to England, where his father the King’s health was failing, but although he received promotions to rear-admiral, vice-admiral, and in 1799 admiral, the navy refused his pleas for a return to active service. When he gained the throne in 1830, he was affectionately known as ‘The Sailor King’.
‘Hope Service’ described in the Derby Mercury, 1791
Another news article, in the ‘Derby Mercury’ in 1791, quotes the same inflated price – 800 Guineas (more than the £700 Flight recorded in his journal) – but gets the number of pieces right at 296. The story related of his ‘Blue-blooded Britishness’ is fantastic – if it happened. He was offered a set of ‘Avignon China’ (French porcelain of some type) he refused, saying while OTHERS may be happy with foreign products, he wouldn’t even accept a piece of furniture that wasn’t British!
The back of this plate has a large pasted label, which declares the following:
Hope Service Label
Specimen of the Celebrated Service of Old Worcester
Porcelain, made and presented to Lord Nelson by the
Nation, bequeathed by him to King William the Fourth
who gave it to his son Lord Frederick Fitzclarence
and in whose Will the full particulars are given –
It passed by marriage to the Earl of Erol and was
his up to May 1893 when it was dispersed at Christies
and realised nearly the sum of £2000.
This is of course different to what has been described at the top of this page, and is a fascinating example of mis-information. This old label provides us with the source of this mis-information, the Christies auction which dispersed the service in 1893. They of course got their information from the Earl of Erol, who had inherited it from his father, the illegitimate son of William IV, Fitzclarence. It was in this will that ‘the particulars’ were given, and so the confusion appears to have arisen right back then, just the next generation from when it was a wonderful new service that impressed the nation.
We have found a number of outstanding items over the years, and many of these have left Australia for distant shores. It’s with great pleasure that we can announce the acquisition of our latest ‘Great Find’, the Sulkowski Charger, by our very local National Gallery of Victoria.
Sulkowski Service – Meissen Charger c. 1735-8
This is a large piece of porcelain, measuring 34.5cm across. It isn’t the largest from the service – there appears to be two sizes larger again – but it is an impressive piece, perfectly displaying the large & showy armorial device. It is this coat of arms that makes this so important; experts regard it as the earliest large-scale commission from the Meissen factory made for someone other than the owner of the works, Augustus II ‘The Strong’.
These arms are depicting a marriage, with the two shields beneath the crown representing each family. On the left is Count von Sulkowski (1695-1762), the high ranking court official. On the right are the arms of Baroness Maria Franziska von Stein zu Jettingen (1712-41) who he married in 1728 and had 7 children with. The production of a service such as this 8 years later is almost like a delayed wedding gift for himself; usually they are contemporary with the wedding, but remember the context: Meissen, the first producer of porcelain in Europe, was still in its infancy in the 1720’s, and we could argue that a service of such elaborate sophistication would not have been possible as the capabilities of the Meissen works were not yet experienced enough.
Count-Sulkowski
Alexander Joseph Graf von Sulkowski was Privy Councillor, Minister of State, and a Cabinet Minister to the King, Frederick Augustus. He was deeply involved in the Meissen factory, taking responsibility for the deliveries of porcelain to furnish the newly built ‘Porcelain Palace’ in Dresden, and also being responsible for the King’s treasure vaults in Dresden, known as the ‘Green Vaults’.
Augustus II ‘The Strong’
His origins & ascent to power is a tale in itself. Born to Polish gentry, rumour has it his mother fell under the spell of Augustus II ‘The Strong’, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland ( and creator of the Meissen porcelain factory!). Augustus II was known as ‘The Strong’ for his musculature, reinforced by his favourite party trick of apparently ripping iron horseshoes in half with his bare hands….. But there is another aspect to his nickname, the results of which were a debatable 354 illegitimate children!
Rumour has it that Alexander was one such child, and certainly Augustus II cared for the youth who came to the Royal Court at Warsaw in 1711 as a page. He entered the service of the crown prince, Frederick Augustus, who was one year younger, and they grew up together. He received his first title in 1712, ‘Master of the Horse’, and for the next seven years he & the Crown Prince went travelling through Italy, France, and the other German states. A couple of teenagers seeing the sights of Europe together, who can imagine what adventures they had…. certainly it would have been a bonding experience, and so Augustus was well established to rise in status in the court. He became a ‘Gentleman of the Bedchamber’ in 1726, married a court Lady-in-waiting in 1728, and became a Count in 1732. On 1st February 1733, Augustus II ‘The Strong’ died, and his heir Frederick Augustus ascended the throne. Straight away, Alexander was made Privy Councillor, Minister of State, Cabinet Minister and an Imperial Count. He also became a Count of the Holy Roman Empire. He was a Pole, and the only Pole to achieve such a lofty position in the court at that time. Like a Shakespearian play, the scene was set for his fall.
Sulkowski Service Meissen Charger
What is fascinating is that this very service has been blamed for his descent; it was so much showier & desirable than the King’s own services, and more importantly, he had not asked permission from the King – the owner of the works – before putting in his order. Certainly, he lost favour at the exact same time the pieces began to be delivered, and so Sulkowski lost his many positions of privilege & responsibility to another of Frederick Augustus’s ministers, Heinrich Graf von Brühl. Brühl takes on most of Sulkowski’s titles, including Director of the Meissen works, and straight away commissions his own grand, Baroque service – the delightful & iconic ‘Swan Service’.
The National Gallery already has a magnificent charger from Brühl’s service, and these two marvelous Meissen chargers will soon be housed together in the same cabinet – graphic depictions of a government power struggle 290 years ago that centered on Meissen, Europe’s first porcelain maker.
To be continued in Part 2…… once the charger is in place in the NGV!
For Australians, the First Fleet is the beginning of western culture and the foundation of our present society. Items connected with this remarkable period in Australia’s history are understandably scarce. Moorabool is very excited to have a fresh discovery with direct connections to Australia’s founding.
One of the most fascinating tales that can be told aboutAustralia is that of the founding of the British colony in 1788. Items connected to this event are extremely scarce. From a ceramic historian’s perspective, there is the remarkable Sydney Cove medallion, made by Josiah Wedgwood from clay sent back from Australia by Governor Phillip in November 1788. Phillip wrote back in July 1790, noting ‘ I return thanks for the Cup & Medallions ‘ – indicating he had already received back what could be classed as the first Australian Pottery to be made….although the kiln & sculptors were in England!
A ‘Sydney Cove’ medallion, 1789, in the National Museum of Australia
A recent discovery from the same period shares close ties with the first years of British settlement. It’s a coffee cup & saucer, well known as a distinct product of the Chamberlains Worcester factory from the mid 1790’s. It is painted in a fresh looking pattern with ears of barley bound by a gilt bow, and with an interesting central crest featuring a seahorse.
Chamberlains Worcester coffee cup & saucer, c.1795 bearing the SHORTLAND crest for Commander John Shortland of the Alexander, one of the First Fleet ships.
The Seahorse crest of John Shortland
This is the important part; the crest will be familiar to anyone with a knowledge of the Newcastle University, as it shares a common origin, the armorial of the Shortland family. It was chosen as the symbol for the Newcastle University in the 1950’s due to an important connection: the site of Newcastle had been explored by a certain John Shortland in 1797, while in pursuit of runaway convicts from the fledgling colony of Sydney.
This revelation led to some fascinating research. Thefirst thing to note is there is more than one ‘John Shortland’ to investigate, and they have been hopelessly confused with each other in the past due to their similarstories. The Newcastle University’s adoption of the Shortland crest because of its association with the John who explored the area is one such mistake: the actual bearer of the crest was back in England at that time!
from ‘Fairbairn’s Crests’ – Shortland is upper right
John Shortland Snr
John Shortland (senior), right, was born in 1739, and died in 1803. He served in the Royal Navy1755-90, and having proved himself a capable logistics man, in 1786 was appointed naval agent to the transports of the planned First Fleet. He was in fact the ‘man on the scene’ at Portsmouth, responsible for preparing and distributing the stores and convicts aboard the 11 vessels that made up the enterprise: Governor Phillip only arrived two days before departure! JohnShortland Snr was a senior officer on board the Alexander, a convict ship with 210 men on board.
As a part of this preparation for the adventure of a lifetime, he was able to secure appointments for his two sons, John and Thomas George Shortland.
John Shortland jnr
His son, John Shortland (Junior), left, was born in 1769 and also entered the Royal Navy, ending his life in a blaze of glory fighting off four French gunships in the West Indies in 1810. The post his father secured for him was that ofMaster’s Mate on the HMS Sirius, which was captained by John Hunter and carried Governor Phillip.
The departing fleet in 1787 therefore included both John Shortlands. After calling in at Tenerife and Rio de Janeiro, the fleet stocked up on provisions in Cape Town, departing for the last, long leg through the inhospitable cold Southern Ocean. This was an immensely brave undertaking. A modern equivalent would be sending a colony to Mars through the vast coldness of space, into an inhospitable and little understood landscape, carrying everything that would be needed for survival for the next few years – and discovering the land was already populated by a well-established culture that would very soon prove hostile. What a remarkable adventure the Shortland’s had….
The colony of Sydney began to take shape, and a pre-planned re-supply from England was expected any moment: however, it never came. The colony was critically short of food: some of the convict transports had been contracted out by the East India Company to collect tea in China bound for England, and had already left. On 14 July 1788, the Alexander under the command of Lieutenant John Shortland Snr,and three other ships left Sydney to make their way back to England and ensure supplies were sent back to the struggling colony. Things were so bad there was little food spare for the crew on the voyage. Two days out they parted ways, with two ships heading across the South Pacific to Rio de Janeiro, and the Alexander and theFriendship deciding to head to the north and reach the Dutch colony of Batavia. The other two ships limped into Rio several months later, having lost many crew and with those remaining so ill they couldn’t anchor their own ships.
The Alexander and the Friendship made their way up the eastern Australian coastline, around the east of New Guinea, and across present day Indonesia to Batavia. This was an epic journey through unexplored waters, which Shortland was able to document in great detail in his chart, published soon after his return to England in 1789. The work is a detailed map, suitable for use by any ships that might follow that route afterwards, and the acknowledging inscription bears the name of both the father, Lieutenant John Shortland, and the compiler of the map, Thomas George Shortland. Once again, the father had obtained a position for his son on board his ship, this time his second son as second mate.
Their adventures were intense, as wracked by scurvy and illness they made their way through uncharted waters. Things came to a head when the Friendship ran aground: there simply were not enough men to maintain both ships, and so the decision was made to abandon the Friendship and consolidate the crew on the Alexander. Things got even worse, and by the time they reached the coast of Borneo, only a single crew member was fit for duty aloft other than the officers. It was at this moment they found themselves the prey of pirates, who suddenly appeared in four large row-boats and attempted to intercept the ship. A shot fired from a cannon persuaded them to give up the chase. A few days later, they found themselves just a short distance from Batavia- but with only a single man fit for work, the decision was made to drop anchor, although the crew was unable to furl their own sails. A boat with a few barely capable men set out, and were able to bring the much needed assistance of able bodied men back, and finally the Alexander limped into Batavia on 19 November 1788. By late May 1789, she was back in England, and John Shortland Snr was able to deliver the official dispatches Governor Phillip had entrusted to him, revealing the sad state of the colony. He spent his remaining time in the Royal Navy agitating within the Admiralty to ensure the colony was provided for, before retiring in 1790. He was also very interested in further exploration in Australian waters, and we can credit him for urging the Admiralty to dispatch Mathew Flinders in HMS Investigator which resulted in the first circumnavigation of Australia.
Meanwhile, back in Sydney, John Shortland Jnr also had an exciting time. He was involved with the supply runs to Norfolk Island in the effort to keep the colony fed. In 1792, he returned to England, returning the following year to Sydney. Threeyears later, he was sent in pursuit of the audacious convicts who had stolen theCumberland, a locally built ship described as ‘the largest and best in the colony’. John Shortland Jnr was sent in pursuit, setting out in two whaleboats. One turned back, but Shortland spent several days exploring the area around Port Stevens, returning with a rough map of the area Newcastle now stands on, and bringing a sample of coal. In a letter to his father back in England he described the Hunter (or ‘Coal’) River he had found, and stated “In a little while this river will be a great acquisition to the settlement”.
He was a member of the criminal court in Sydney, but returned to England in 1800 just in time to be a part of the Napoleonic Wars, heading to Egypt in 1800 as agent of the English troops. After various other postings, he found himself fighting the French in the West Indies, and finally in December 1809 went ‘out with a bang’ fighting as Captain of the 38-gun HMS Junon, taking on overwhelming odds of two 48-gun and two 20-gun French ships. He died of his wounds in January 1810, less than 7 years after his father, and probably before he had a chance to inherit and enjoy the family china……
It is very rarely we get to discover a piece of ceramic as infused with history as this cup & saucer.
Pieces such as this with family crests were commissioned from the factory, and used in polite society while entertaining. When coming to a conclusion about who owned this set, the most likely candidate is John Shortland Snr.
The earliest date possible for Chamberlains Worcester porcelain of this type would be 1793, more probably 1795-1800.As John Snr had returned to England in 1790 and retired to be with his wife Elizabeth, he would have been at the right place, at the right time – with the right motive, to entertain his visitors with tales from his colourful adventures in New South Wales, all over a freshly brewed coffee…..
His son John Jnr however would have been heading back to the Colony in 1794, where he remained for several years. He had a spell in Egypt, then found himself in the West Indies fighting the French, where he met his heroic death in 1810. He never married, and ordering a fine china service was probably not on his agenda in the short spells that he was back in England.
We conclude that this fascinating piece of ceramic history belonged to John Shortland Snr, perhaps a well-deserved retirement present for himself and his wife. It is a wonderful link to the earliesthistory of our country, a prime piece to apply the maxim of ‘if only it could talk’…… Just imagine the tales it could have heard, of shipwreck, pirate attacks, strange new lands, the tropical paradises, and of the colony at Sydney Cove which John Shortland Snr could quite proudly say he was essential in creating.
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– through 59 consecutive years exhibiting, including the boom years for Antiques in the 1980’s-90’s…. fast-forward to 2019 and there was no Dealers Association Antique Fair held, breaking his 59-year consecutive stretch… a reflection on the shrinking Antiques Market.
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