The strength of the book lies less in its revisiting the history of silversmithing in Australia than in meticulously and systematically updating of our knowledge of the silversmiths themselves The book uncovers numerous previously unheralded or unidentified makers, such as Thomas Butler, Charles Hendrick, Alexander McLeod and William Park (to name a few) – all, incidentally, connected to Alexander Dick. The marks illustrated (230 in all) and biographies of these and many others silversmiths make the book an indispensible addition and advancement beyond existing references. A new dimension is the inclusion of a list of numerous initials and crests linking items to specific families.
As to be expected in an academic work there are issues raised which are open to debate. The author does not shy away from his position on, for example, his concerns over the degree of involvement of Joseph Forrester in the known corpus of silverwork, and the authenticity of the Collins Castor. There are even some tentative attributions of items that one may think are possibly more doubtful than tentative, such as the Henshall Cream Jug and the Garfield dishes. But none of this diminishes the very considerable body of knowledge provided by this work and its sharp focus on Australian silver.
It has been a fascinating year for Australian Silver. We have already had the Vizard Collection under that hammer in April this year (pre-viewed and reviewed in these pages) and now we see the extraordinary scope of the Houstone collection in a remarkable and seminal catalogue. But where will the items end up on display?
The book is hard cover measuring 28 cm x 22 cm x 3 cm. It is indexed, has 320 pages, 300 colour illustrations, and images of 230 hallmarks.
Early Australian Silver – the Houstone collection, by J.M.Houstone will be available shortly. It is published by Halstead Press, RRP $79.95 (postage extra)