Souvenir olive wood jewellery box with fabric lining from Jerusalem

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c. 1940

Overview

Octagonal olive wood jewellery or trinket box with a decorative grain. The lid features a middle eastern motif of silhouettes of two goats, a camel and its handler beneath two date palms. This is positioned on some pale orange coloured paint representing the earth.
The word 'Jerusalem' is printed in black gothic writing underneath.
The inside of the box and lid are lined with a shiny mauve fabric - either silk or satin. The lid is affixed to the bottom of the box by two gold metal hinges. The bottom of the box is plain.

Historical information

This olive wood box, a filagree metal butterfly brooch, a second olive wood box and an olive wood napkin ring were all purchased together. The former two items came with an envelope indicating the butterfly was a gift from Evelyn to Dos.
It is believed that Evelyn was Australian Army Nursing Service Lieutenant Evelyn Hay Drummond Carmichael, who served with the 6th Australian General Hospital situated on the Gaza Ridge in Palestine at the right time.
Evelyn was born in Bald Hills, Queensland on 26 May 1912. She enlisted for service in Brisbane on 5 August 1940, aged 28 and a single nurse. Her rank was Staff Nurse and her service number was QX6375. She served in Australia at various hospitals until the end of January 1941, when she embarked for the Middle East, arriving on 19 February 1941. She was promoted to Sister on 1 December 1941. She married Supt. Ian Mackenzie Turner of the Palestine Police Force in Gaza on 14 November 1942 and her appointment was terminated two days later.

Visiting servicemen and women purchased a variety of souvenirs from Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Palestine and The Holy Land while passing through on active service during both world wars.
Some of the more common items were embroideries such as cushion covers, painted artworks on fabric, jewellery made from mother of pearl, metal and timber, and photo albums with wooden covers filled with postcards of local scenes and pressed dried flowers.
There was also a range of trinket boxes, often with hidden drawers, made from the local olive wood and a range of other olive wood items including napkin rings and even a portable book shelf.

Details

Registration number

cwa-org-119-RoW00783

Item type

Themes