Who Came to Tea at the Old Kinchega Homestead?

This book comprises a study of ceramic tableware and teaware remains from the outback pastoral homestead, The Old Kinchega Homestead, in western NSW, Australia, occupied from 1870 until 1955. This homestead is on the Kinchega Pastoral Estate which was a major player in Australia’s important wool industry. These objects were excavated from the homestead and collected from its refuse area by the Kinchega Archaeological Research Project. The book includes detailed analyses of these artefacts, and of the tableware and teaware sets they constitute, for information on the changing dining and tea-drinking practices at this homestead. The micro-histories of these objects and these practices provides fresh perspectives on the changing social networks, social aspirations and social values of the inhabitants of this homestead. The research focuses particularly on the women who lived in this male-dominated outback pastoral context, in this remote region of the British colonial and post-colonial world, during this important period in Australia’s history.