Name/Title
Deskset made from timbers of HMAS Sydney (I) c. 1924Entry/Object ID
2023.120Description
Rectangular wooden base with a curved front and an upper platform. The lower section of the desk set incorporates an elongated hollow for pen storage, inset with a pair of chromed brass pen supports, which holds a non-original, but period correct, nib pen.
The front of the arched face and the upper surface of the platform are inset with brass strips. The upper platform has two square sections mortised to a depth of 6 mm to accomodate a pair of cut crystal inkwells in a starburst pattern (minus their lids), in the base. A small silver and blue enamel plate is affixed to the upper centre of the set which states: 'Wood from HMAS Sydney'. The base is lined with green felt.
The wooden base was made from salvaged teak wood taken from the deck of HMAS Sydney (I) after it was broken up for scrap at Garden Island in 1929.
While large sections of the hull were set up as memorials (the bow is as Milson's point and the stern at the Australian War Memorial), the decking was salvaged and fashioned into items suitable for sale. Desk sets and similar objects made from the deck of the HMAS Sydney were being sold through the Australian War Memorial's shop from the late 1920s through to the early 1980s.
This desk set is of a higher quality than those usually encountered, incorporating a pair of cut crystal inkwells.Category
Fundraising, Memorabilia, War Memorabilia
Made/Created
Date made
circa 1930Time Period
20th Century