An Eggsact History? Not So Much

The decorative emu egg known as ‘Doctor Maldon’s Egg’, object 400006, Image courtesy of Illawarra Historical Society. 

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Usually I am hurrying on my way somewhere down the museum hall followed by running up or down the very steep stairs (it’s wise to concentrate) so I don’t pay much attention to my surroundings. I’ve become accustomed to things I pass all the time and barely glance at them. However last week some rather large eggs caught my eye and I paused to examine them. I just never know if something is going to have a good tale behind it – but it has so far turned out to be a rare occurrence that there isn’t enough for a story of some kind.

The collection holds two examples of decorative objects made from emu eggs; like many things in the collection, with several different curators entering data over time, the information between the two objects has been mixed up, as well as an information plaque in the display was placed with the wrong object. One egg is mounted on silver (object 400006) which we will call ‘Doctor Maldon’s Egg’, and one on wood (object 400073) which we will call the ‘Torch Legacy Egg.’

Doctor Maldon’s Egg is a plain one without any surface decoration. It’s set into a silver mount both above and below, which flares out at the top and bottom. This gives it the appearance that is has been converted to a vase for small flowers. However upon examination, the mounts are enclosed inside with what looks like some kind of capped bolt that obviously runs through the centre of the egg holding it into the two parts. It seems to have been made with intention purely of decoration.

It apparently dates from 1888 and was made as part of a wedding present. This hints at two things; it was commissioned, and was part of a set of some kind. Another recorded comment regarding the object is the egg “was given to the (Illawarra Historical) Society separately and set in (the) silver holder by the donor Dr. H. Maldon of Crown Street, Wollongong, donated 13/9/1969.”

This doesn’t make a lot of sense because if it was ‘made’ as part of a present by adding only a mount, you can’t ‘make’ a plain egg (unless you’re actually an emu). It was either donated as is, or Maldon must have been associated with the museum in order to be allowed to do such a bizarre thing as take a donated object and modify it and then return it to the collection (things are different these days; this practice is something that would never be allowed now). This doesn’t stack up; but if not a true statement, then why was it made record of? It’s illogical to note down details about an acquisition that are complete fiction. The information came from somewhere.

The decorative emu egg known as ‘Torch Legacy Egg’, object 400073, Image courtesy of Illawarra Historical Society.

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Anyway, maybe looking into Maldon will give us a clue. As it turns out I was right about the association. Dr. Henry Cleveland Maldon, known as Harry, was born in 1902 in Bombala, New South Wales, Australia, although there seems to be no birth record. (In a weird coincidence it turns out I’m very distantly related to him through my second great aunt Isabella Streeter). He had part of his education at Sydney Grammar School before becoming a dentist. He had resided in the north-east of the state in the thirties, in the electoral area known as New England, bounded by Walgett, Dubbo, Armidale and adjoining the border with Queensland. He was living in Scone, in the Upper Hunter Shire of NSW in the late 1930s. He makes his first appearance residing in Wollongong in 1943, the same year he married Lorna Isabel Maldon née Greenslade in Sydney. His wife was much younger than him being born in Queensland in 1913 to Percy George and Agnes Christine née Zerk. the couple had two children; Sally Ann and Michael David Felix.

He was involved with several organizations over time including the Hunter Ambulance Service (life member), and the Wollongong Camera Club which was formed in early 1944. As an insight into his persona and standing in the community after just a year or so of living in the city, In October 1946  Maldon “who is well known in Wollongong for the interest he takes in cultural advancement” was requisitioned to open the ‘International Photographic Display’ show which was part of the Centenary Celebrations. It was the first of its kind to be held in Wollongong and only the second to be held in Australia at that time.

As it turns out, his major involvement was with the Illawarra Historical Society; he and Lorna were both founding and life members. He was elected as the very first patron of the IHS in 1945. For many years during the 1940s and 1950s, IHS council meetings were held in Dr Maldon’s rooms at his dental surgery in Crown Street. Once a year, the IHS were invited to the Maldon home in New Mount Pleasant Road.

Towards the end of his life the couple had retired to Norfolk Island, where he befell a tragic demise in 1986, when knocked down by a car and killed instantly. He had remained patron of the IHS until not long before his death, the longest serving one in the organization’s history. The IHS Bulletin obituary stated that “his community services were such that it was a matter of some wonder he never received any public honour in recognition. A move to this belated end was actually in progress, supported by the Society, when the sad news arrived that he had been killed.” After he died, Lorna returned to Australia, and passed away in Bowral in 2001.

The fact he had the professional skills to mount and set things in a dentistry capacity does give some credence to the statement that he added the sliver parts to the egg. If so, it would have been performed during the 1960s. The cast metal components are relatively unfussy however the design does entail some Art Nouveau-style elements so looks much older than that, which is not helping unravel the misinformation. I do wonder if it was perhaps a belonging of his parents; there was only one couple named Maldon who married in NSW in 1889 and had a number of children. Since Harry’s birth is unrecorded, I’m unable to prove they are his relatives.

The Victorian Country Fire Brigades uniform button on top of the decorative emu egg known as ‘Torch Legacy Egg’, object 400073, Image courtesy of Illawarra Historical Society.

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Generally, these sort of decorative items made with emu eggs were popular in Victorian times. The Powerhouse Museum’s collection holds several examples made between the 1860s and 1900s. They were popular carved or etched with designs (see these later examples from the 1920s ), mounted in decorative metal elements and given as  gifts or trophy presentations, but also made into teapots, cups, or inkstands, to be even more novel.

Not only is the emu, the second largest bird in the world, a significant Australian icon for indigenous as well as non-indigenous peoples – but also the large, dark green  eggs (anywhere between 5 and 7 inches long) are extremely tough with a shell of over 1mm thickness.

The second one, the ‘Torch Legacy Egg’ is a lot fancier than Maldon’s, and is carefully engraved with a kangaroo and foliage in an oval shaped cartouche. The egg is mounted on wood of an unknown type, and secured to the mount with an embossed brass button through the top of the egg.

The button has the slogan “Country Fire Brigades Victoria’, as well as a shield and a fire helmet insignia embossed into it and is highly likely a uniform button. I was able to find three more examples  proving my theory right but this does not enlighten us further except giving a Melbourne manufacturer ‘Stokes & Sons.’

Thomas Stokes was a medal, coin and button maker in Victoria and, later New South Wales. The business  was established in1856 as Stokes and Martin until the partnership was dissolved in the 1890s, and around 1911 it became Stokes & Sons. It is still going today as Stokes Badges.

The Victorian Country Fire Brigade was originally established way back in the 1850s, and became the CFA (Country Fire Authority) in 1945. From its inception it has had many versions of uniform through the decades. So all we know is that the button probably dates from between 1911-1944. Without actually finding an Australian fire brigade uniform historian and/or uniform button expert, there’s really no way of narrowing down a date further. Plus, the button could have been added later, but this is unlikely; it had some kind of significance to the piece.

Presentation cup made of an emu egg mounted in silver, by William Edwards, presented by Christopher Pond to Mrs Stephenson, the mother of cricketer H. H. Stephenson, in Melbourne, Victoria, circa 1861. Image courtesy of the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, reg no A6436. 

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Extra information not included in the accession form is attached to the object via a label and string, stating it originated in Cowes, the main township on Phillip Island in the Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia which is rife with all kinds of wildlife including emus. It also states “Donated 15/6/83. Was given to Wollongong Torch Bearers for Legacy.” However there is plenty of information on the history of this organization and its offshoot.

Torch Bearers for Legacy was not formed until 1945 to aid war widows and their children so the actual gifting of the egg dates from on or after this time; but not necessarily the creation of it. It would have been quite an old-fashioned item by then, and I have to wonder what the significance of it was. Why an egg? What did it mean?  And what’s the connection?

I’m guessing that there’s some correlation between the end of the Victorian Country Fire Brigade, and the establishment of Torch Bearers, both in the same year – it seems obvious.

Overall, both of the eggs appear to be much older than when they’re assumed to have been – or said to have been – created around or after the second half of the C20th. I guess it’s just another thing we will never know for sure.