King plates : a history of Aboriginal gorgets
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
King plates : a history of Aboriginal gorgets
Aboriginal Studies Press, 1993
Available at 3 libraries
  Aomori
  Iwate
  Miyagi
  Akita
  Yamagata
  Fukushima
  Ibaraki
  Tochigi
  Gunma
  Saitama
  Chiba
  Tokyo
  Kanagawa
  Niigata
  Toyama
  Ishikawa
  Fukui
  Yamanashi
  Nagano
  Gifu
  Shizuoka
  Aichi
  Mie
  Shiga
  Kyoto
  Osaka
  Hyogo
  Nara
  Wakayama
  Tottori
  Shimane
  Okayama
  Hiroshima
  Yamaguchi
  Tokushima
  Kagawa
  Ehime
  Kochi
  Fukuoka
  Saga
  Nagasaki
  Kumamoto
  Oita
  Miyazaki
  Kagoshima
  Okinawa
  Korea
  China
  Thailand
  United Kingdom
  Germany
  Switzerland
  France
  Belgium
  Netherlands
  Sweden
  Norway
  United States of America
Note
Includes bibliographical references (p. 141-151)
Description and Table of Contents
Description
In the early days of colonial Australia the governors and the land holders saw advantage in singling out certain Aboriginal people as leaders and distinguishing them in some way, so as to ensure their cooperation in the Europeans' efforts to open up the land. A type of mili-tary gorget was chosen as a suitable badge of office. It had already been used in North America for the same purpose. In Australia these became known as 'king' or 'brass plates'. They were presented not only to perceived 'chiefs' but to faithful servants and to the specially courageous - to anyone, in fact, who helped in some way to ease the white people's progress in the new land. They were presented from the earliest times through to the first decades of the twentieth century. The main purpose of this book is to describe and illustrate the large collection of Aboriginal gorgets held by the National Museum of Australia. But the author, Jakelin Troy, has produced far more than a mere catalogue. She gives a comprehensive history of king plates, describes other gorgets not in the collection, and provides a list of references to pictures of Aboriginal people wearing gorgets. She also includes a useful bibliography.
"King Plates" provides not only encouragement to scholars to engage in research in an area that has had little attention, but to Aboriginal people seeking information about their forebears.
Table of Contents
- Foreword
- Explanation of terms
- The history of king plates
- Introduction
- Military gorgets
- The history of Aboriginal gorgets
- Reactions of Aboriginal people to gorgets
- Edmund Milne: a collector of gorgets
- The manufacture and decoration of gorgets
- Epilogue.
by "Nielsen BookData"