Australian Silver Centrepiece with Indigenous Motifs

An Australian silver centrepiece, probably by Jochim Matthias Wendt, Adelaide, 1875, on a large domed chased base applied with a bronze indigenous hunter, a kangaroo and an emu, silver tree fern and centre twisted tree trunk issuing leafy branches, turned ebony base and replacement glass bowl, apparently unmarked, 19.69 in. high raised on an associated silver plate mirrored plateau. Provenance: Anne Scholfield Antiques, Sydney, 28 March 1983

You must be a subscriber, and be logged in to view price and dealer details.

Ebony - Ebony is a close grained timber, black in colour. It has a fine texture which can be polished to a high gloss, making it suitable for venereering, inlay and stringing and its use as solid timber is resticted to small decorative items and ornamental decoration, such as chess pieces and musical instrument parts. The term "ebonised" means "faux ebony", timber that has been darkened during the polishing process to resemble ebony.
Bronze - An alloy of copper and tin, traditionally in the proportions of about 9 parts of copper to 1 part of tin.

The discovery of bronze in Western Asia in the 4th century enabled people to create metal objects which were superior to those previoulsy possible because of its strength and hardness, and it has been used throughout the world for weapons, coins, tools, statuary and other decorative items.

It is very fluid in a molten state, and its hardness, strength when set, and non-corrosive properties makes it most suitable for casting sculpture.
Chasing - The method of decorating gold and silver objects using a punch and hammer so that the design appears in relief. Flat or surface chasing is done from the front giving the item definition, but not cutting into the metal.

Chasing is the opposite technique to repousse, but an object that has repousse work, may then have chasing applied to create a finished piece.

This item has been included into following indexes: