Thank you Beth for sharing your research. Have you shared it with the Royal Collection? Perhaps you could draw their attention to this thread and to the previous one.
--Previous Message-- : Congratulations Beth on your research. You : have enriched our understanding of the : creation of the Queen's wattle brooch and I : agree Ross Allan should be included in our : discussion about the design. : : Thank you so much Beth. : : Laura : : --Previous Message-- : Yesterday, I accessed the work of M Vine : published in The Europeans: emigre artists : in Australia 1930-1960 , edited by Roger : Butler, 1997. : She states that Joseph Mann was the jeweller : responsible for making the wattle brooch. : Oral history indicates that he had : previously worked for Cartier, but no : definite proof is given for that. Vine says : that from 1927 to 1948 he worked mainly in : France. : : My research, based on immigration documents, : shows that at least his wife was in Hungary : in 1942 when their son, Charles, was born. : By at least 1947 she was in France in : Biarritz, where their daughter was born. : : On the weekend, I applied to have Mann's : naturalisation papers digitised, but it will : be a while before that is processed. Vine : has looked at these papers and says that he : was sponsored to Australia by Phillip Nutt : of Select Jewelllery Manufacturing Co, : Melbourne. Sometime before June 1953 Mann : had purchased the business, and around April : 1958 sold it to another Hungarian born : jeweller. Mann then went to the US. : : According to Vine there are 2 designs for : the wattle brooch held by the National : Gallery of Australia. Only one is available : to view on the gallery's website. It is a : design made in 1952 by Ross Allan, : presumably for the intended tour by King : George and QEQM. : : This design shows so many similarities with : the design of brooch as it was presented in : 1954 that I think we should include Allan's : name when mentioning the designer. Without : naming any designer, Vine says : diplomatically that the design was a : collective effort. As can be seen in the : drawing from the National Gallery, there : have been changes. : Ross Allan's earlier design : : http://artsearch.nga.gov.au/Detail.cfm?IRN=67472&PICTAUS=TRUE : : :