45: Carte-de-visite; photograph of the bird 'Didunculus strigirostris'

For this episode of Object Matters host Dr Craig Barker is joined by Chau Chak Wing Museum colleague Jan Brazier, the Curator of History Collections. Together they discuss a carte-de-visite featuring a photograph of a bird taken by Sydney studio photographer Thomas Skelton Glaister in 1863. Not any bird, this is the first ever photograph of the endangered Didunculus strigirostris or tooth-billed pigeon.
Jan leads us on a journey into the research she has undertaken about this image, tracking from Samoa to Sydney to London an meeting influential figures in 19th century natural history, and providing the story as to this remarkable bird's significance.


Read more on the research into the three copies of the carte-de-visite.
Brazier, Jan (2019). A rare bird - The tooth-billed pigeon Didunculus strigirostris. Muse: Art, Culture, Antiquities, Natural History. (23), pp. 4-5

Guest: Jan Brazier is curator of the History Collections, which comprise of the Historic Photographs Collection and the Science Collection. Previously, she was the archivist at the Australian Museum. Jan's earlier career was as a research assistant in the area of Australian history for the Department of History, Australian National University, and then for Professor Ken Inglis on his major histories of the ABC and war memorials in the Australian landscape.

Host: Dr Craig Barker, Head of Public Engagement, Chau Chak Wing Museum and Director, Paphos Theatre Archaeological Excavations. Follow @DrCraig_B on Twitter and Instagram.

Objects details:
Carte-de-visite; photograph of the bird 'Didunculus strigirostris', the tooth-billed pigeon from Samoa where it is known as manu mea; photographer T Glaister,1863.
Donated by John Pearson Ramsay 1996 [HP96.79]
See also HP83.74.27 and HP83.74.28 both donated as part of the Ramsey Collection in 1974.