MEDIA RELEASE: Apple Seed Craft in Tasmania

The Tasmanian Apple Seed Research Network has begun a hunt for the rich histories linked apple seed necklaces, placemats, etc. made in Tasmania. Actually the real hunt is for the makers and the stories that belong to these curious objects.

In the antique market at the moment there seems to be a demand for 19th C and early 20th C Tasmanian apple seed craft products. They are beautiful and interesting objects but curiously they are coming to light with no clear provenance and generally dealers say that they are "storyless".

Strangely, nobody seems to know who actually made these wonderful objects – nor when or where they were made. This is a little unusual, because it does seem highly likely that were made in Tasmania. After all Tasmania is the “Apple Isle”!

If these necklaces were made in Tasmania someone somewhere must know something about the people who made them. Was it someone’s grandmother or their Aunty Joan?

There are quite a few necklaces turning up that are claimed to be of Tasmanian origin. Interestingly there are counter claims that some have no apple seeds in them at all  – tropical wild tamarind seeds have been suggested. Other necklaces are being bought on eBay from the USA and some people suspect that some of these are being ‘passed of’ as Tasmanian necklaces.

It took a lot of time to make these items. However, because the items that have turned up recently come without a story and they sell for relatively little money. On the other hand there are reports that similar necklaces, placemats, etc. are selling for a great deal of money because of their connection to Tasmania.

The Tasmanian Apple Seed Research Network has been set up to research the stories linked to ‘apple seed craft’ in Tasmania. We are sure that there are some wonderful stories out there and we are looking for them. A book on the topic is in prospect and a website to aid the research is already on the way to being set up.

If you have any information at all, or even apple seed products made in Tasmania, please email AppleSeedResearch@7250.net or make a comment below