item details
Overview
This is a Staffordshire china nursery plate. In the centre is picture of a seated girl holding a birch and a lesson book. In front of her are her toys. The plate has been hand painted. The girl's dress is orange, the doll's skin is peach, and the carpet is green. At the top and bottom of the plate is some text. At the top it says 'Our Early Days' and at the bottom, where a part has broken off, it would have said 'Keeping School'. Around the edge of the plate are embossed daisies.
Nursery plates
Nursery plates are given to children as their first bowls and plates. They often feature nursery rhyme characters, the alphabet, or animals.
The Randell Cottage
This plate is part of a collection of objects found underneath the Randell family cottage when it was renovated in the 1990s. The Randell Cottage is at 14 St Mary Street in the suburb of Thorndon in Wellington. It was built by William Randell in 1867 for his family, who moved into the four-room cottage that year with seven children. By 1877 there were 10 children! William added two more rooms in 1874. He died in 1880 leaving his wife, Sarah, with five children aged 15 and under. Sarah and the family were supported by three of the elder children until she moved in with her daughter Emily in the suburb of Karori.
Acquisition
In 1994, Beverley Randell, great granddaughter of William and Sarah, purchased the cottage with the help of her own family. They refurbished it, keeping much to the original floor plan and furnishings. New foundations had to be laid and, during the digging, many objects were unearthed. As there was no formal rubbish collection in the 1870s, many hard, sharp, and unwanted objects were tossed beneath the house. Others most likely found their way down through cracks in the floorboards.
Beverley Randell donated the collection of finds to Te Papa in 2006. The objects provide a rare glimpse into the everyday lives of New Zealand's early European settler families.