Summary

Framed hand embroidery of Phar Lap and jockey (Jim Pike?) made by Edith Ellen May Clarke (nee Bradford) in Manly, Queensland in the early 1930s. Originally an apron, her husband thought it too good to be used so instead had it framed. It is not known whether this was a commercial design or if it was conceived by the maker using a newspaper photograph as inspiration.

Physical Description

Hand embroidered cloth panel containing an image of a male jockey riding a horse, with the name `Phar Lap' embroidered underneath. It is framed under glass in a decorative brown wooden frame.

Significance

This framed embroidery is an important addition to the Museum's Phar Lap collection as it comes with full provenance (the maker's son is providing some further details of its history), unlike the majority of Phar Lap souvenirs in the collection. Phar Lap's life and untimely death were commemorated in numerous handcrafted and commercial products such as this, marketed to a public hungry for the opportunity to show their devotion to and admiration for `Big Red' and his amazing achievements on the track. Living in Queensland, for the maker to see him race would have meant a trip to Radwick Racecourse in Sydney. Still the attraction of his story was so great as to see a piece such as this lovingly produced and framed to become a treasured possession.

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