Pieced Animal skins Quilts
Rug made from skins of black quolls. The skins are dark grey-brown with black areas and each skin has cream spots. The skins are mainly machine stitched together with a few roughly hand sewn. The backing is maroon felt and this extends beyond the top with a scalloped edging. There is yellow ric-rac braid hand sewn on the back seam.
1300 x 885mm
Rabbit Skin Cloak. Rectangular pieces stitched together with sinew and later repaired with fishing line.
Fox skin rug made from centre backs of pelts. 16 skins running the width of the rug and a 40mm fur border. The backing is tan felt with a pinked edge (traditional in this type of fur rug) and this is joined to the rug with a doubled blue felt binding. The skins are very fine quality winter skins.
Dingo skin rug. 3 skins long x 5 skins wide with only the backs of the skins used. The backing is blue felt. The skins were tanned with wattle bark.
2100 x 1800mm
Rug made from 40 brown fur skins (8 rows by 5), possibly possum. Skins are sewn by machine, with seams covered with white tape. Rug is backed with cream wool felt, and bordered with beige scalloped felt. There is a braid binding along the outer edge of the skins. No padding.
1640 x 1480mm
Rabbit skin rug hand stitched. Originally had no backing but a fawn felt backing has been added.
1480 x 1180mm
Rug made from 40 quoll skins, 8 skins set in 5 rows. Skins are trimmed to rectangles and machine stitched together. Colours range from light cream to grey-brown with creamy yellow spots. The backing is dark green woven wool which extends beyond the top and is finished with a scalloped, punched edge. It is hand sewn to the top.
1575 x 1255mm
Animal skin rug made from rough rectangles of kangaroo skins, hand sewn together with leather thonging. Backing is woollen blankets.
2135 x 2057mm
Wallaby skin rug backed with checked cotton material.
1220 x 610mm
Fox skin rug made from 28 winter fox skins, with turquoise green felt backing and with green felt scalloped edging. Part of some tails as edging remain. Skins hand pieced together, top sewn to backing by machine.
1550 x 1550mm
Round rug of whip tail wallaby skins pieced into centre circle. Skins have been joined and then stitched on to maroon baize backing which has traditional punched scalloped edge. The skins are wattle bark tanned.
Diameter 1449mm
Skin rug made from feral cat skins and probably some wallaby pelts. There are 28 individual skins and colours are dark brown, creamy yellow and striped and spotted light and dark brown and cream. One cat pelt measures 495mm. The striped and spotted skins indicate tabby cats. The backing is maroon felt extended to form a pinked and scalloped edge. The top is attached to the backing with hand stitching incorporating faded red ric-rac braid along the seamline on the back.
1680 x 1300mm
Skin rug made from 50-60 rabbit skins in various colours, pieced in a diamond pattern. Dark diamond in centre, a diamond of dark honey colour, then a band of dark, another of dark honey, a band of grey, a band of honey, with corner triangles of grey. Rug is backed with blue felt, and has a scalloped edge of blue felt. Hand sewn. Skins tanned with wattle bark tanning solution.
1550 x 1300mm
3 fragments of koala bear skin joined with very fine stitching. Uneven edges. Thought to have been part of an aboriginal cloak or rug.
Possum skin rug made from rows of possum pelts sewn to a woollen blue checked blanket.
1720 x 1370mm
Kangaroo skin rug with pelts from both grey and red kangaroos. There are 25 squares each approximately 300 x 370mm. The backing is green flannel and there is an orange braid trim. 1500 x 1840mm.
"Possum skin rug made from rectangular pelts of possum skin, pieced to form an almost square rug. The skins are hand stitched onto a royal blue felt backing with pinked edges. On the reverse, a machine woven brown braid has been applied as a border decoration with loops of braid at each corner and a braid quatrefoil medallion in the centre." [PHM]
1600 x 1585mm
Possum skin rug constructed from 24 rectangular pieces hand stitched to a dark brown felt backing and couched on other side to faded blue silk tape. 19 possum tails similarly attached to felt backing dangle around 3 sides of the rug. All felt edges are scalloped.
1500 x 1200mm
"Fur rug assembled from squares each 25 x 25cm, cut from the central portion of selected, bark tanned Eastern Grey kangaroo skins. The fur top is composed of 27 full squares, 15 half squares and 2 quarter squares machine sewn together. Assembled top is set on the diagonal and is sewn down on to a thick commercially made 'Amanoket Superior' blanket." [Colin Wilkinson 18.5.00]
The blanket is a synthetic/wool blend with a bright colour woven pattern of rectangular shapes.
1200 X 1750MM
Rug made of fox and rabbit skins, hand stitched to a blue cotton denim twill backing. Fur colours are rich brown, grey, and black. Rug is in very good condition.
1700 x 1280mm