item details
Overview
This is a fragment of a small plate. There are pink, purple, and yellow lines around its rim. The plate is quite small and is believed to have been part of a child's tea set.
Children's tea sets
The origin of children's tea sets is unknown. Early examples include German copper and pewter sets from the seventeenth century. When materials became less expensive in the nineteenth century, children's tea sets became more popular. A child might use a tea set to serve tea to dolls or to themselves.
Colonial toys
The plate this fragment is from is typical of the type of toys used by colonial children in New Zealand. It is thought that the children of the Randell family, who settled in Wellington in 1867, played with it. There were many popular games in colonial New Zealand, including marbles, jacks, knuckle bones, skipping ropes, bowling hoops, ball games, and cards.
The Randell Cottage
This sewing needle 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.