In the early 19th century, on a remote island off South Australia’s Yorke Peninsula, Maud Baillie taught herself to carve furniture with nothing more than a pocketknife in hand. She used pegs instead of nails and screws to hold the furniture together and sourced wood washed ashore from nearby shipwrecks. More than 100 years later, one of her exquisite hand-crafted wooden cabinets is being displayed the public for the first time at the Art Gallery of South Australia.
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00:00Wedge Island sits at the mouth of the Spencer Gulf. It was named by explorer Matthew Flinders
00:08in 1802. On one side are spectacular 200-metre cliffs. On the other, a beach landing area.
00:16This is where Maude Golley grew up on her family farm.
00:20Strong women who come very, very humble background, living in an isolated location.
00:26During the day, she helped breed horses for the British Indian Army in the late 1800s.
00:32At night, using rudimentary tools, the artist who became Maude Golley created some of this
00:37country's most unique furniture.
00:40We have a whole range of incredibly beautifully carved imagery.
00:45The Art Gallery of South Australia bought six pieces of Maude Golley's work in 2019
00:51from family members.
00:52It's out there for people to enjoy. The people of South Australia can see what a South Australian
00:58can do.
01:00The fact Maude Golley created these pieces with no formal training in a tough island
01:04environment makes her achievement even more impressive.
01:08So she was a resilient woman, a strong woman. She wouldn't have caused any or brought any
01:14attention on herself.
01:16It took restorers a year to finish just one missing section from this cabinet.
01:21She's a girl who's barely 20. No technical training, no books, no references. It's all
01:27coming out of her head.
01:29After years of planning, this work is now on display in the Art Gallery of South Australia.
01:35She probably would have been surprised to have found her work in a state collection
01:40on permanent display.
01:41And she said to Mum one day, she said, oh, they're only pieces of wood, Betty.
01:48Pieces of wood that have found their place in history.