Each of the editioned plates has been designed to be displayed on a wall but they also come packaged in a beautifully formed wooden box designed by the furniture designer, Peter Costello. The box serves a twofold purpose: on the one hand it provides a secure means of transporting and storing the platters; on the other hand, the inside of the box has been used to provide a lyrical account of each of these rare plant species written by the Tasmanian-based botanist, Alan Gray. Renowned graphic designer, Lynda Warner has been responsible for designing the graphic elements of the project including the textual information that appears on the bases of the plates.
This exhibition sees the completion of the project with the launch of the final platter, Telopea truncata (Tasmanian Waratah).

Jonathan Holmes
February, 2005

Only 100 of each edition will be made: they are signed by both artists, numbered and packaged in specially designed wooden boxes. The plates come with a wall mounting clip. Each plate has a certificate of authentication from the Hobart Office of KPMG.

$6000.00
(includes GST, Packaging and postage)

Full Edition Sets of six plates, signed, numbered, and individually boxed are available from:

Southern Ice Porcelain P/L
ABN 14 098 155 661 Centre for the Arts University of Tasmania Private Bag 57, GPO Hobart 7001 Tasmania Australia.

This unique and very rare plant belongs to the same family as the Waratah and the Banksia. It is found only in one small locality, in rain forest on the Bathurst Range, near Cox Bight in far south western Tasmania. The late C. D. (“Deny”) King, a local tin miner, discovered the plant there in 1965 and it was subsequently named and described by Winifred M. Curtis in 1967. King’s Lomatia is a small spindly tree or sparsely branched shrub to about 3-5 m tall. The dark green, shining, compound leaves are lobed and somewhat prickly toothed and bear some resemblance to the leaves of a Holly plant. The flowers are borne in loose or dense racemes at the tips of the branches and consist of four curved petal-like segments which are usually a rich crimson or burgundy in colour; each segment bears a yellow anther and the four segments together enclose an embryonic fruit. The fruits are astounding as no seed is ever set thus the plant is effectively sterile. The plant spreads or renews itself by a system of rhizomes and suckers, or by the thin branches leaning to the ground, thereby forming a layering process. Genetic studies and other research strongly suggest that this lone population is but one plant - a clone - and has been perpetuating itself for at least the past 43,600 years. If so, this is probably the oldest living plant on Earth. King’s Lomatia has been horticulturally propagated but the plants thus produced rarely live long. It is considered to be critically endangered, the chief threats to its existence being fire or soil borne diseases.

Edition Five Lomatia tasmanica, 2004
Maker Les Blakebrough
Medium Southern Ice Porcelain, ceramic enamel decals & burnished gold lustres
Dimensions 300mm dia.
Illustration Lauren Black
Medium Watercolour and pencil on Arches 300gm paper
Dimensions 375mm x 360mm, Magnifications 110mm x 380mm

This is a rare, shrubby daisy which is confined to only two known localities in Southern Tasmania, Mts Wellington and Dromedary, the two separated by the River Derwent. It is found on rocky slopes in sub-montane shrubberies, usually on rough boulder slopes between 650 - 1000m in altitude. The plants may be from 2 - 4m high with the narrow, glossy leaves crowded in bunches at the ends of the numerous branches. Some specimens are neatly pyramidal, others rather more straggling. The newer leaves are sticky-resinous and when bruised emit a fairly strong aroma, some likening the smell to that of Friar’s Balsam. The small, bright yellow “daisy” flowers are borne in about late November to January each year. They are usually not spread evenly over the entire shrub, but are massed in a patchwork of large clusters, contrasting sharply with the green of the leaves. When in flower the plants are easily recognisable in the shrubbery alongside the Mt Wellington Pinnacle Rd., from about The Springs to the Chalet. The seeds are wind-borne and, being so easily distributed, it is puzzling as to why the species is not much more widely occurring. It is listed as Rare under Schedule 5 of the Tasmanian Threatened Species Protection Act, 1995. There are approximately twelve other species of Brachyglottis, all of which occur only in New Zealand.

Edition Three Brachyglottis brunonis, 2003
Maker Les Blakebrough
Medium Southern Ice Porcelain, ceramic enamel decals & burnished gold lustres
Dimensions 300mm dia.
Illustration Lauren Black
Medium Watercolour and pencil on Arches 300gm paper
Dimensions 385mm x 370mm, Magnifications 110mm x 340mm