Art Linens and Taffetas... at Beard Watson's

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Type: Advertising postcards
Date: 1905 - 1907
Place: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; North Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Materials: Ink, Paper
Collection: Josef Lebovic Gallery collection no. 1
Accession number: 1986.0117.3734

Description

A postcard featuring a black and white photograph of a woman sitting inside, in front of a window, with her back to the camera. There is a handwritten note in the margin next to the photograph and a printed advertising message on the reverse that reads "ART LINENS / AND TAFFETAS... / at BEARD WATSON'S".

According to the handwritten note, this image shows Joyce Jackson seated in front of a window at her home, Hanney, built in 1896 at 378 Alfred Street, Cammeray/North Sydney (demolished 1960s). Esdaile Joyce Jeaffreson Jackson (1889 - ?) was the daughter of English-born architect Edward Jeaffreson Jackson (1862 - 1952), who greatly influenced the development of Federation-era architecture in Sydney. Designed and furnished by Jackson in the Arts and Crafts style, part of the development of a broader 'Federation' style, the family moved in in around 1900. The prominence accorded to the chair covering in the image suggests that it is the fabric, or 'art linens' that is the focus of the advert. Beard Watson & Co (founded 1889) was a Sydney retailer and manufacturer of high-quality home furnishings. Newspaper records show that as a young woman Joyce attended many society events of the day. In 1907, she became engaged to the Rev. Francis Metcalf, chaplain and naval instructor on board the H.M.S. Powerful, the flagship of the Australian naval squadron based in Sydney between around 1905 and 1911. She may have returned with her husband to Plymouth with the ship in 1911.

Read live from the Museum's Collection API (12/11/2026, 5:44:36 am). Record last updated by the Museum 2026-09-30. Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.