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This 5 piece china set is composed of a cake plate, 2 handled cups and 2 saucers. All pieces have a tan band around their outer rims and below that a tan and black shield containing a black swan with lettering celebrating the centenary. There are what may be small kangaroo paws to the left and right of this motif.
In 1929 Western Australia celebrated the centenary of the establishment of the Swan River Colony, the first permanent European settlement in WA.
Each item displays the following wording with the black swan motif
1929
WA CENTENARY
The base of each item is stamped with
MADE IN JAPAN
The WA Centenary Celebration Period was designated as 28 September 1929 – 12 October 1929 with the main event being the 1929 Centenary Parade passing through Perth, on Wednesday 2 October, which had been declared a public holiday. After the parade there was a Naval and Military Tournament at Perth Oval and in the evening the celebrations at Perth Oval continued with the Centenary Ball. There would have been celebrations in Busselton on that day but these were probably outdone in 1932 when Busselton celebrated its 100 years!
Avenues of trees were planted in Kings Park in commemoration of the event and the people involved in the celebrations. The Perth Branch of the Royal Mint produced a range of commemorative medals, most of which were given to Western Australian school children.
Many locations in Western Australia had buildings or locations that became known as Centenary memorials and Busselton joined in with this spirit when on 16th December 1929 G.W. Barnard MLA unveiled a Drinking fountain celebrating the centenary, on the corner of Queen and Prince St, that had been erected by the Druids Lodge.
Image 025869PD from the State Library of WA showing the 16 December 1929 opening of the Drinking fountain, the corner of Queen and Prince St, Busselton which was unveiled by G.W. Barnard MLA and erected by the Druids Lodge
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