LOOKING FOR BERTY MAY AND ANYONE WHO KNOWS OF HIM

There have been reports of a shell necklace maker (jeweller?) Berty May working in Hobart – both South and West Hobart have been mentioned. It seems that he was working there in the 1940s & 1950s but little more than that is known about him or his work. It is thought that his work can be identified by his apparent predilection to dye his sell necklaces with aniline dyes in a range of colours. However he may not have always dyed his necklaces!

The network would be pleased to hear from anyone who knows anything at all about Berty May. A Tasmanian collector has a shell broach on a card that indicates that it was made in Tasmania by “J May”. Are Berty and J the same people? Are they related? Where did they or he work? Did he/they have any connection to A Butterfield?

We imagine that Berty, and possibly others, made his necklaces as "Hobart Necklaces."

HOBART NECKLACES

CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO ENLARGE

The text in the photograph reads

"SOUVENIRS OF TASMANIA
DESIGNED AND MANUFACTURED
BY A. BUTTERFIELD
VISITORS SPECIALITIES
TAS PHOTO CHARMS (Gold Mounted)
SHELL SPOONS (Sil Mounted)
SHELL SUGAR TONGS (Sil Mounted)
CAPE CLASPS (Sil Mounted)
SHELL BROACHES (Gold or Sil Mounted)
SHELL LINKS (Gold or Sil Mounted)
SHELL BREAST PINS, SHELL HAT PINS
SHELL NECKLETS, TAS WOOD STICKS

JUST A LITTLE TRIFLE TO KEEP THE MEMORY GREEN"

and it indicates that Butterfield had made the shell necklace depicted.The Tasmanian State Archives has this photograph in its collection. It is dated Circa 1898 and it depicts a display of Tasmanian "souvenirs designed and made" by a Mr A. Butterfield. It is significant that the image is framed by a necklace of the kind worn by Truganini and Fanny Cochrane Smith in period photographs of them.

It may well be a photographic record of what have become known as "Hobart Necklaces" made by non-Aboriginal makers in Tasmania by A Butterfield and more than probably others as well.

A variety of souvenirs, many incorporating shells, are included in the display but the central card bearing the text makes no reference to the Tasmanian Aboriginal people or their culture. They are, however, appropriated as icons of 'Tasmanian-ness'. The photographic images of Truganini and William Lanne, is of some interest.

In claiming to have designed and manufactured the 'necklace', Butterfield was clearly exploiting the curiosity value of the shells, their connection to Tasmanian Aboriginal culture and their Tasmanian-ness. In linking this Tasmanian-ness to the Tasmanian Aboriginal people and their cultural products he was reassigning its meaning and placing it in a colonial context. The other work that Butterfield depicts in the photograph point to the curio value of the necklace and this to some extent depends upon its Tasmanian Aboriginal connections and Tasmanian colonial associations—a kind of exotic otherness.

This 1898 'Butterfield' photograph seems to suggest that for over a century shell necklaces have had currency as souvenirs of Tasmania in the European population. George Augustus Robinson's reference to the making of shell necklaces being a 'cottage industry' in 1836 suggests that they were seen by the colonists as being in some way 'valuable' quite early on. There are also reports from the 1940s of a minister of religion on Cape Barren Island buying the 'mairreeners', presumably for resale on the Tasmanian mainland or for some other purpose.

Any additional information about this photograph or non-Aboriginal shell necklace makers of any kind would be welcomed by the research network. Email any information to shellnecklaces@7250.net

NETWORKER'S NOTE: A member of the network has told us of a jewellery shop in Hobart on Liverpool St. that seems may have some connection with the name "Butterfield". A Mr. Butterfield worked there in the 1970s. We are wondering if this may have even been the bussiness related to the photograpph above.