Irene (Rene) Bosward album of photographs of eminent local and visiting musicians in Sydney

PXA 7765

fonds

approximately 1911-1960

Graphic Materials, Photographs, Ephemera

9669227

1 album (42 photographic prints, 2 photocopies, 4 postcards, 2 printed flyers, 1 program) - gelatin silver, albumen - 25.5 x 20.5 cm or smaller

Irene (Rene) Frederica Bosward (1898-1994) and her sister Cecilie Florence Bosward (1900-1988) were the children of Sydney-born Frederick William Bosward and London-born Euphemia Louisa Skinner who married in 1896. The family originally lived at Enmore before settling into a home in Ashton Street, Waverley, close to Centennial Park. Their mother encouraged them in music, with Rene playing the viola and Cecilie the piano. Neither woman married. After their parents died, they moved into a house in Havilah Road, Lindfield, where they held chamber music gatherings and caught the train to concerts in the Sydney Town Hall. Both women performed in public during their younger years. Cecilie was a member of the Palm Court Orchestra at the Metropole Hotel in Sydney. Later, she was a teacher of piano at Ravenswood School in Gordon.

Rene trained as a bookkeeper, finding long-term employment as office manager for A. E. Smith & Co. Ltd Violin Makers of Hunter Street, Sydney. Rene played a viola made by A. E. Smith. She later gave her viola to Jane Hazelwood who was a member of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.

Arthur Edward Smith was in direct contact with every eminent violin and stringed-instrument player who visited Sydney or who was based there. His daughter Ruth married Ernest Llewellyn, a prominent musician who established the Canberra School of Music.

Reference:
Compiled from the Library's acquisition file

The photographs used to be in frames on the walls of Irene and Cecilie Bosward's double sitting room at Lindfield. When the Bosward sisters sold the Lindfield house, the photographs were taken out of their frames and placed in albums. On the death of Irene Bosward, the photographs passed to Ian Tanner, second cousin, who was also Executor of her Estate.

A collection of black and white photographs and ephemera documenting distinguished musicians who were based in Australia or who visited Sydney over a fifty-year period from approximately 1911, who may have passed through A. E. Smith’s violin shop. Most of the photographs have clearly identified subjects. Many of the photographs are signed and dated in ink or annotated with personal messages by the subjects. Some of the photographs were taken by Australian studios such as Dupain, Tornquist, Bostock or Monte Luke.

1. Rene & Cecilie Bosward with their parents (photocopy). Photograph by ?, Enmore.
2. Rene & Cecilie Bosward with their mother at Ashton Street, Waverley (photocopy).
3. A. E. Smith & Co. Ltd Violin Makers. Shop 68 Hunter Street Sydney, 1919-ca. 1930.
4. A. E. Smith in his workshop at home in Roseville, approximately 1954.
5. Two violins, viola & cello on display, presumably in A. E. Smith’s shop.
6. Austral String Quartet, approximately 1911-1913: Signed by Cyril Monk, Alfred Hill, Carl Gotsch and S. Vost Janssen.
7. Verbrugghen Quartet / photographed by Bostock, approximately 1916.
8. Verbrugghen Quartet, approximately 1922-1929. Printed as a postcard and sent from Minneapolis, USA by David E. Nichols. Signed by H. Verbrugghen, Jenny Cullen, David E. Nichols and James Messeas.
9. Ernest Llewellyn. Inscribed and signed by Ernest Llewellyn.
10. Ernest Llewellyn (violin) and Malcolm Sargent (piano). Inscribed and signed by Ernest Llewellyn, 1936.
11. Malcolm Sargent, probably 1936.
12. Queensland State String Quartet: David Powell, Harold Taberner, Ernest Llewellyn, Don Howley. Inscribed and signed by Harold Taberner, September 1948.
13. Harold Taberner / photographed by Dorothy Coleman, approximately 1948.
14. Norbert Wentzel. Inscribed and signed by Norbert Wentzel.
15. Ann Wentzel as graduate. Signed by Ann Wentzel, 1960.
16. John Ward (Sydney violin maker) with David Oistrakh (Soviet violinist).
17. Fritz Kreisler, approximately 1925 (toured Australia, 1925).
18. Signe Sandstrom (Swedish cellist). Signed by Signe Sandstrom, 4 December 1944.
19. Joan Fry (pianist) / photographed by Wallace Heaton Ltd, London.
20. Phyllis McDonald (violinist). Inscribed and signed by Phyllis McDonald.
21. Eileen Joyce (pianist). Signed by Eileen Joyce, 9 September 1933.
22. A. E. Smith with Bronislaw Huberman (Polish violinist). Signed by Bronislaw Huberman and Arthur E. Smith, 25 June 1937.
23. A. E. Smith with Bronislaw Huberman (Polish violinist). Signed by Bronislaw Huberman and Arthur E. Smith, 25 June 1937.
24. Vincent Aspey (violinist) / photographed by Hall. Inscribed and signed by Vincent Aspey, 1928.
25. Perry Hart (violinist). Inscribed and signed by Perry Hart, 27 November 1953.
26. Vost Janssen String Quartet in period costume. Stamped on reverse with ‘The Sydney Morning Herald and The Sydney Mail’.
27. Constance Bulmer (pianist).
28. Constance Bulmer. Inscribed and signed by Constance Bulmer.
29. Robert Wood (violinist) / photographed by Max Dupain, 1944. Inscribed and signed by Robert Wood, 26 January 1945.
30. Jascha Gopinko (violin teacher) / photographed by Freeman & Co. Ltd. Inscribed and signed by Jascha Gopinko.
31. James Scot Skinner. Printed as a postcard. Signed by J. Scott Skinner ‘The Strathspey King’ (a relative of Rene Bosward).
32. The Joachim Quartette: Joachim, Hausmann, Wirth and Halir. Printed as a postcard.
33. Zlatko Baloković (Croatian violinist) / photographed by Rafael Tornquist, Sydney.
34. Clyde Thorpe (violinist) / photographed by Monte Luke Studios. Inscribed and signed by Clyde Thorpe, 23 September 1929.
35. Walter [Thorn?]. Inscribed and signed by Walter [Thorn?].
36. Richard Kretz.
37. John Ward (Sydney violin maker) with Mstislav Rostropovich (Russian cellist).
38. Female violinist.
39. Mary Elizabeth Jones. Inscribed and signed by Mary Elizabeth Jones.
40. Male cellist.
41. [Una?], female harpist. Inscribed and signed by [Una?].
42. Marion Miller (soprano), Homebush. Printed advertising flyer.
43. Sir Thomas Beecham. Printed as a postcard.
44. New York String Quartet. Printed advertising flyer. of an unfinished portrait by the late Walter Goldbeck. Inscribed and signed by Ludvik Schwab (viola).
45. [Len?], British Merchant Navy officer. Inscribed and signed by [Len?], 14 November 1948.
46. Ron / photograph by Ross Studios, Sydney. Inscribed and signed by Ron.
47. Male in RAAF uniform with Navigator’s wing, approximately 1948. Photograph by Noel Rubie.
48. Male in RAAF uniform with Navigator’s wing. Contact sheet with 12 images.
49. U.S. Army officer. Inscribed and signed, 27 January 1945.
50. [Dudley?]. Inscribed and signed by [Dudley?].

Ephemera:
51. Concert flyer for an orchestral concert in aid of the E. V. Llewellyn Scholarship Fund, undated, featuring Jack Glatzer (violin) with Myee Clohessy (violin) and Christopher Nicolls (piano).
52. Photocopy of newscutting from the Canberra News, undated, about Ernest Llewellyn visiting Russia.

Copyright restrictions may apply:
Please acknowledge:: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales and Courtesy copyright holder

Compiled from signatures on the photographs as well as notes by Ian Tanner and his brother Howard Tanner inserted into the album.