barossa history
Shimmering Designs:
A Barossa Foilwork Legacy
words by
luke rothe
During the 1930s’ Great Depression, families adopted thrifty practices to survive. Recycling materials became a necessity, along with resourcefulness and ingenuity.
‘The tinfoil wrappers of sweets need never be thrown away; they can all be used’ – The Australian Worker, January 1930.
‘Foil Art’ utilised tin foil chocolate wrappers, whereby the foil was repurposed to form text and designs.
Using these ideas the Lowke family of Light Pass created ‘Home Sweet Home’ and covered a glass pickle jar with chocolate foil triangles to create a decorative vase.
However, it was Hugo Ahrens (1905 – 1993) of Tanunda that turned the technique of foilwork into a local art form.
Hugo proudly signed and dated most of his works, leaving a fascinating historical record. Initially pencil was used, then embossing, type written labels or ink stamps. A 1940s picture displays ‘Ahrens’ in very small foilwork in the lower left corner.
The age of early undated works can sometimes be estimated by examining the backing paper used inside the frame; usually newsprint or magazine pages, such as a John Martin’s 1939 catalogue page.
A signed picture, ‘Hugo Ahrens, 1933, Tanunda’ is the earliest known example, which used plain silver foil and black paint, applied to celluloid, and mounted in a picture frame.
Two 1936 examples show Hugo had developed his technique; applying coloured foils, decorative flower and bird motifs, and Gothic style font, direct to the glass – a style he used for the next 50 plus years.
Glycerine-based cream was used to paint text and designs in reverse onto the back of the glass, then Hugo spray painted the surface black. Once the paint dried the glycerine was removed. Coloured foil was applied to the exposed clear glass, and a shimmering effect was seen when viewed from the correct side.
The foilwork frames featured anniversary greetings, religious messages and inspirational quotes, sometimes written in German. Hugo sold these decorative frames through local craft shops and country shows.
Pictures were also made to order. A 21st birthday greeting from 1937 reads “Birthday Wishes to Harold Zobel”; and foilwork serving trays were made as wedding gifts featuring the bridal couple’s names or initials.
Hugo’s wife, Emily (nee Hoffmann), also created foilwork frames. In 1950 she exhibited a ‘floral picture made entirely of coloured tinfoil’. This work, along with other examples held by her family, show detailed flower designs and scenes, without any text.
Mervyn Schutz, a painter in Nuriootpa during 1940s also produced foilwork pictures, although it appears that he used only one elaborate design – The Lord’s Prayer.
Mervyn’s technique differed from Hugo Ahrens. Foil letters were carefully cut and glued individually to glass, while other text was reverse painted in gold, copper and silver. Painted flowers and polychrome transfers on a black background were added to create a striking appearance.
Only a couple of The Lord’s Prayer pictures by Mervyn Schutz are known to exist, while hundreds of Hugo Ahrens foilwork pictures still decorate homes in the Barossa and beyond.
