Almost as soon as Australia was first settled, local manufacture of silver articles began. Their historical significance and artistic qualities would have been forgotten if not for the inspired work of a few dealers and other collectors, including John Houstone, who reassessed and collected the widely scattered surviving products of dozens of colonial silversmiths. The Houstone Collection contains the best array of silver from the convict era, and a broad general representation of later colonial silver from all over Australia. Not only are early silversmiths identified in this lavishly illustrated book, but its new insights enrich our understanding of the Australia of colonial times.
