Affective Aprons: Object Biographies from the Ladies’ Cottage, Royal Derwent Hospital New Norfolk, Tasmania

Secret and safe: The underlife of concealed objects from the Royal Derwent Hospital, New Norfolk, Tasmania

“…Even the Hyde Park Barracks assemblage – an underfloor deposit collection – has only a small proportion of deliberately cached material, its bulk having accumulated through different taphonomic process such as discard and cleaning (Davies and Garvey, 2013). Furthermore, previous research on the Ladies’ Cottage collection (Auld et al., 2019) suggested that the material was probably gathered and hidden by a single patient, given stylistic similarities in the embroidery applied to many of the clothing items.…”

“…Fifteen aprons, two pairs of bloomers (LC00146 and LC00149) and five nightgowns (LC0089, LC0105, LC0133, LC0148 and LC0095) in the collection were all likely institutional garments given their standard pattern and plain fabrics (Auld et al., 2019). Both bedding and clothing were made in the asylum, and tailors and seamstresses were known to have been employed from amongst the patients from at least the 1860s (Anonymous 1862: 188).…”

“…Both bedding and clothing were made in the asylum, and tailors and seamstresses were known to have been employed from amongst the patients from at least the 1860s (Anonymous 1862: 188). The employment of female inmates in such activities was common, providing both ‘suitable’ gendered work opportunities and a chance to economize (Auld et al., 2019; Coleborne, 2003; Monk, 2003). The knee-length hems of the complete dresses (LC0110, LC0120) and aprons date them at the earliest to the 1930s, and probably later.…”

“…stars, tridents, a triskelion, a locomotive or horseshoes), religious motifs and phrases (e.g. crosses, ‘St Mary’), as well as indecipherable words and motifs (Auld et al., 2019). Also evident are misspelt words and reversed letters, which suggest that the embroiderer may have been copying content without always understanding its meaning.…”

“…The collection discussed here became an unexpected focus for such dialogue. We have previously published an analysis of three embroidered aprons from this collection (Auld et al., 2019) using a multi-disciplinary object biography approach to explore these evocative symbols of female domesticity through a lens of ‘object-mediated empathy’ (Byrne, 2013). In this article we analyse the entire assemblage taphonomically and archaeologically, but also as a ‘collection’ curated by an actor within a unique set of circumstances (Joy, 2016).…”