BOUNTY: NINETEENTH-CENTURY SOUTH AUSTRALIAN GOLD AND SILVER
2 JUNE TO 5 AUGUST 2012
Admission with
South Australia Illustrated ticket
Bounty: Nineteenth-century South Australian gold and silver celebrates the creative skills
and tenacity of colonial artisans. Often arriving in South Australia with little more than the
tools of their trade, these gold- and silversmiths including E. Firnhaber, Julius Schomburgk,
Jochim Wendt and Henry Steiner, and at slightly later date, August Brunkhorst, Silas Schlank,
Frederick Bassé and Louis Suhard, went on to win awards and accolades for their pieces of
art.
This exhibition looks at different aspects of nineteenth-century society through such items
as the communion silver of churches, the 1852 Adelaide gold pound, Friendly society medallions,
civic ceremonial regalia and presentation objects for important citizens and sporting events.
Drawing upon the Art Gallery's extensive holdings of these works,
Bounty also showcases some splendid examples from public, civic, ecclesiastical,
sporting and private collections. By delving into particular works, periods and makers, this
exhibition reveals how personalities, social events and public aspirations interweave, and so
presents a richer understanding of colonial life in Adelaide.
Henry Steiner, Australia, 1835–1914, Bracelet, c.1869, Adelaide, gold, malachite, 4.0 x 7.5 x
6.5 cm (bracelet), 9.5 x 11.8 x 10.6 cm (case); Gift of Diana Evans, Lady Porter, Anne Prior, and
Marion Wells through the Art Gallery of South Australia Foundation Collectors Club 2005
