Item HT 50315 Letter - Box Hill Hospital to George Kyriakides, Melbourne, 7 Sep 2001

Summary

Letter addressed to George Kyriakides for a donation valued at $5,120 to Box Hill Hospital. The text suggests that George donated three pieces of jewellery, one white gold pendant valued at $4,350, one women's ring valued at $350.00 and a string of pearls valued at $420.00. These three pieces were offered in a Christmas raffle. The letter includes an official tax reciept and is dated 7 September 2001.
A promotional poster associated with this donation is also part of the Saracen collection at Melbourne Museum (see HT 53071).

George Kyriakides was born in 1921 in Larnaca, on the southern coast of Cyprus. In his early working years he was apprenticed to his father Petrou Kyriacou as a silversmith and in 1948 George migrated to Melbourne, Australia. In 1949 he married Australian-born Silvia Sarandis, the child of Greek migrants and they had two children. Using his skills as a silversmith, he worked for a local silverware company and then proceeded to start his own silversmithing business under the name Saracen Plate Company, situated at 152 Lygon St, Carlton. A manufacturing wholesale business, they sold mainly to large clients such as Myers and Prouds Jewellery. In 1974 George sold the wholesale silversmithing part of the business due to the difficulty in obtaining pure metals, and continued to work as a Jeweller under the name GK Jewellery until his retirement and beyond. In later years George was known for his philanthropic generosity and in 2006 he died and is survived by his two children.

Physical Description

A4 letter featuring blue and black text.

Significance

Statement of Historical Significance:
This collection offers a multi-faceted snapshot of a migrant small business in Lygon Street Carlton through tools of trade, product catalogue and a sample of the silverware produced for retail. It thus encapsulates a small business activity from production through to sale and distribution. It includes a beautiful filigree tray as well as more mainstream domestic silverware items. The collection enables the documentation of the passing on of trade traditions and skills from one generation to the next and the bringing of those skills to Australia, as well as capturing a particular craft, filigree work, which is a disappearing artform.