Tim Cha

Produced from its premises in Launceston, Tasmania, Campbell’s pottery products were shipped to shops and agents in Tasmania, mainland Australia, New Zealand and as far as India and the USA. Examples can be found regularly at antique shops and auction rooms throughout Australia. The vast majority of pieces available today to collectors were produced during the 1920s to 1940s when there was a significant output of hand-thrown domestic and decorative pottery.

The Wallis album is closely linked to the two chests through Captain James Wallis (1785?–1858). Wallis, appointed commandant of the Newcastle penal settlement by Macquarie in 1816, had the Macquarie chest made as a parting gift for Governor Macquarie around 1818. It is possible that Wallis, who retired from the army in 1826 as a Major, put together the album in the 1840s, when he retired to the Isle of Man. Many of the drawings and paintings in the album were the basis for decorating the panels on the two chests. The Library bought the album in October 2011, after it was discovered in the miscellaneous possessions of a deceased estate consigned to auction in Canada.