Susanne Vilhelmine Gether (1857–1943) was a Danish–New Zealand woodcarver associated with

The Society of Arts and Crafts of NSW The Society of Arts and Crafts of NSW is a guild of artists in New South Wales, Australia established in 1906. It could be the oldest Australian craft organisation. The society continues as Craft NSW. History The society was founded by six practi ...

and the role of women. She left Denmark with Kate Busck and arrived in New Zealand in 1890 and founded a studio for woodcarving in Dunedin. She became a citizen and then left for Sydney where she taught carving and weaving and helped found the society. She left in 1911 with May Barron and died back in Denmark.

Life

Gether was born in

Nexø Nexø, sometimes spelled Neksø, is a town on the east coast of the Baltic island of Bornholm, Denmark. With a population of 3,657 (as of 1 January 2025), it is the second largest town, as well as the largest fishing port on the island. Fishing ...

or Copenhagen in 1857. Her parents were Petrea Barbara Jespersen and Jens Johan Gether. She learned about woodcarving in Denmark and about weaving in Switzerland. She arrived in New Zealand in 1890 with her musical friend Kate Busck and in 1893 she became a New Zealand citizen. She believed that gentle women needed to engage with a more useful activity than just calling on each other and wearing nice clothes. Woodcarving was, she said, "a proper pastime for the highest lady in the land". She arranged courses at her studio and for seven years she taught women about pokerwork, carving and leatherwork in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

. In 1899 she left for Sydney and ended up in King Street where she continued to teach the same skills as she had in New Zealand but she now had a Danish loom. In 1906

was founded by six practicing craftspeople in the Sydney suburb of

Mosman Mosman is a suburb on the Lower North Shore region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Mosman is located 8 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local governm ...

. Gether joined and, by the December, meetings were being held in Gether's studio. In 1907 the high profile ''

Australian Exhibition of Women's Work The first Australian Exhibition of Women's Work was a national exhibition held over thirty-nine days in 1907 in Melbourne, and in the seventh year of the country's Federation of Australia, Federation. The exhibition was a celebration of the creat ...

'' took place in Melbourne which had been organised by the Governor General's wife, Lady Northcote. The other artists associated with the Women's Work exhibition included

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Portia Geach Portia Swanston Geach (24 December 1873, Melbourne – 5 October 1959, Sydney) was an Australian artist and feminist. She was a founder and a president of the New South Wales Housewives' Association, as well as a president of the Federal Associ ...

Eirene Mort Eirene Mort (1879–1977) was an Australian artist, art teacher, printmaker, cartoonist, fashion designer and one of several founders of the Society of Arts and Crafts of New South Wales. Early life Eirene Mort was born on 17 November 1879 a ...

, Dora Serle,

Ida Rentoul Outhwaite Ida Rentoul Outhwaite, also known as Ida Sherbourne Rentoul and Ida Sherbourne Outhwaite (9 June 1888 – 25 June 1960), was an Australian illustrator of children's books. Her work mostly depicted magical creatures, such as elves and fair ...

and

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. Gether designed a dining set with six chairs for the exhibition. It was carved from

rosewood Rosewood is any of a number of richly hued hardwoods, often brownish with darker veining, but found in other colours. It is hard, tough, strong, and dense. True rosewoods come from trees of the genus '' Dalbergia'', but other woods are often ca ...

by the Society's members and over 60 pupils. The dining set was sent to the UK where it was included in the

Franco-British Exhibition The Franco-British Exhibition was a large public fair held in London between 14 May and 31 October 1908. It was the first in the series of the White City Exhibitions. The exhibition attracted 8 million visitors and celebrated the Entente Cordial ...

in 1908. Gether resigned from the NSW arts and crafts society when she discovered that lots of new members were people interested in crafts not, as she preferred, practicing craftspeople. A campaign was launched to recapture the leadership and Gether rejoined to become vice-president in 1910. However within a few months she resigned again. Gether left Sydney the following year with a piano teacher named May Barron with who she would spend the rest of her life.

Death and legacy

Gether died in Denmark in April 1943 being cared for by May Barron. Over fifty photographs of Gether carving with her students in Dunedin, New Zealand, and in Sydney, are held by the National Library of Australia. They were taken between 1890 and 1911.

References

External links

Biography at ADB
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gether, Susanne Vilhelmine 1857 births 1943 deaths 19th-century Danish women educators 19th-century Danish women artists Naturalised citizens of New Zealand Danish emigrants to New Zealand New Zealand woodcarvers Women woodcarvers 20th-century Danish woodworkers 19th-century Danish woodworkers Danish weavers