Quilt No.795CFC - Cultural Facilities Corporation
Owner:
Cultural Facilities Corporation
Location:
ACT
Maker
Maker:
Unknown
Made in
AUSTRALIA
Patterms
Date:
1901 - 1920
Description:
Skin rug believed to be platypus pelts, 28 in all. It has a brown cotton backing.
1300 x 900mm
History:
The maker is unknown as is any accurate date of making but it is likely to be pre World War 1. It was owned by Jessie Serle and is now owned by the Cultural Facilities Corporation, Canberra, ACT. It is stored at Lanyon and occasionally displayed.
Story:
"Platypus pelts were used in this area for rugs. Oral history indicates that the animals were trapped in the ?/Queanbeyan area until c. W.W.1.
Oral history: Sylvia Curley recalls platypus pelts being made into a waistcoat. Transcript of interview kept at Historic Places, Cultural Facilities Corporation."
[Elaine Lawson, Lanyon, Tharwa ACT 2620]
Related Quilts:
Kangaroo skin cloak of seven gores is made from the skins of seven grey kangaroos (Macropus fuliginosus). The skins vary in size and shape, the inner five are roughly triangular. The cloak is edged with a series of loops, through one of these near the collar is a piece of cloth which appears to have tied the cloak together. The skins are sewn together with two sorts of linen or cotton thread. In a small diamond-shaped gusset at the back of the neck there are some stitches of sinew. The skins are sewn together by means of a small hem which was turned back on to the fur, so stitches went through two layers of skin on each gore. There are some small holes in the skins. The skins are very soft and pliable, and greyish in colour; they vary in size and shape.
Longest part: 800mm
Ref: MA Thesis 1973, S.Meagher 'A Reconstruction of the Traditional Life of the Aborigines of the S.W. of Western Australia.
Small possum skin rug with the centre area greyish skins and 2 narrow borders of reddish brown and dark brown pelts. The skins are hand sewn with white thread. The backing is woollen material, light brown with dark brown woven stripe.
1380 x 1040mm
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Platypus skin rug, 63 pelts in 7 rows by 9. Skins are small, rectangular and worn down. The colour is greyish brown with a darker centre. The skins are machine stitched then the rug is hand sewn to dark brown felt which extends to form a wide border and this has 3 rows of machine stitching.
1780 x 1425mm
Skin rug made from approximately 50 fox skins. These are hand sewn together in strips approx. 100mm wide across the width of the rug. Backing is of dark brown felt. The edge is trimmed with blue felt with a scalloped edge. Skins were tanned with wattle bark tanning solution.
1550 x 1300mm