Briony Neilson
@brionyneilson.bsky.social
Historian of 19th-century France—juvenile incarceration, prisons, settler/penal colonies (esp New Caledonia)
Book: "Dangers of Youth" www.mqup.ca/dangers-of-youth-products-9780228024330.php
Based in Sydney, Australia
Book: "Dangers of Youth" www.mqup.ca/dangers-of-youth-products-9780228024330.php
Based in Sydney, Australia
Oh for a comforting, well-contained fire.
At this time of year, in this part of the world, talk of "fire" means something quite different – bushfire hotspots... Just look at them all 🫣
At this time of year, in this part of the world, talk of "fire" means something quite different – bushfire hotspots... Just look at them all 🫣
November 27, 2025 at 12:10 AM
Oh for a comforting, well-contained fire.
At this time of year, in this part of the world, talk of "fire" means something quite different – bushfire hotspots... Just look at them all 🫣
At this time of year, in this part of the world, talk of "fire" means something quite different – bushfire hotspots... Just look at them all 🫣
A family member spotted and plucked this honest-to-goodness four-leaf clover today. Definitely means good luck for everyone.
November 21, 2025 at 1:16 AM
A family member spotted and plucked this honest-to-goodness four-leaf clover today. Definitely means good luck for everyone.
A blue bird perched on the branch of a weeping cherry tree – woodblock print by Utagawa Hiroshige, ink and colour on paper, 19th century (The Met)
November 20, 2025 at 4:11 AM
A blue bird perched on the branch of a weeping cherry tree – woodblock print by Utagawa Hiroshige, ink and colour on paper, 19th century (The Met)
Twilight at the most magical boathouse in Sydney - built in the 1890s on the Parramatta River as part of the Thomas Walker Convalescent Hospital
November 16, 2025 at 10:39 AM
Twilight at the most magical boathouse in Sydney - built in the 1890s on the Parramatta River as part of the Thomas Walker Convalescent Hospital
Another fluffy encounter
– this time with a rather goofy-looking corella
– this time with a rather goofy-looking corella
November 16, 2025 at 9:39 AM
Another fluffy encounter
– this time with a rather goofy-looking corella
– this time with a rather goofy-looking corella
So many treats to choose from at this place!
November 14, 2025 at 8:07 AM
So many treats to choose from at this place!
The magnificence of the Mer de Glace glacier in the French Alps in 1911 – autochrome by Léon Gimpel (Musée d'Orsay)
November 14, 2025 at 6:58 AM
The magnificence of the Mer de Glace glacier in the French Alps in 1911 – autochrome by Léon Gimpel (Musée d'Orsay)
Meanwhile over on eBay: this collection of vintage miniature cigarette boxes for your dollhouse
November 13, 2025 at 4:27 AM
Meanwhile over on eBay: this collection of vintage miniature cigarette boxes for your dollhouse
Cracked the big time.
November 12, 2025 at 12:35 PM
Cracked the big time.
Édouard Vuillard, La Villa Les Écluses, Saint-Jacut, Brittany, 1909 (distemper on paper laid down on canvas, High Museum of Art)
November 12, 2025 at 3:46 AM
Édouard Vuillard, La Villa Les Écluses, Saint-Jacut, Brittany, 1909 (distemper on paper laid down on canvas, High Museum of Art)
And delighted now to share this new research article by Charlotte Legg and me that explores settler colonial identities, shared affinities, racial politics and transimperial forms of whiteness in New Caledonia and Australia in the early 20th century. Open access: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
November 10, 2025 at 11:54 AM
And delighted now to share this new research article by Charlotte Legg and me that explores settler colonial identities, shared affinities, racial politics and transimperial forms of whiteness in New Caledonia and Australia in the early 20th century. Open access: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Not the ugliest everyday urban landscape
November 10, 2025 at 8:51 AM
Not the ugliest everyday urban landscape
Wagner's overture to Die Meistersinger translated into visual art – a riotously colourful page from Annie Besant and C.W. Leadbeater's 1905 theosophical book "Thought-Forms"
November 10, 2025 at 6:34 AM
Wagner's overture to Die Meistersinger translated into visual art – a riotously colourful page from Annie Besant and C.W. Leadbeater's 1905 theosophical book "Thought-Forms"
Stranded in Germany with the outbreak of WWI Theo enrolled at the Fine Arts Academy. And here's where the story turns dark: during WWII he became an official war artist for the Nazis. In the 1950s he returned to Melbourne for a few years but later returned to Germany to claim a govt pension. 3/3
November 10, 2025 at 3:33 AM
Stranded in Germany with the outbreak of WWI Theo enrolled at the Fine Arts Academy. And here's where the story turns dark: during WWII he became an official war artist for the Nazis. In the 1950s he returned to Melbourne for a few years but later returned to Germany to claim a govt pension. 3/3
The subject is Theo Scharf, child prodigy artist born in Melbourne to a Bendigo-born mother and a German-born concert pianist father. Just before 1914, after a successful show in Melbourne, young Theo travelled with his mother to Munich to further promote his art. 2/3
November 10, 2025 at 3:33 AM
The subject is Theo Scharf, child prodigy artist born in Melbourne to a Bendigo-born mother and a German-born concert pianist father. Just before 1914, after a successful show in Melbourne, young Theo travelled with his mother to Munich to further promote his art. 2/3
I also enjoyed this exhibition. Though one work that caught my eye and whose story was not fully told – for reasons that will become clear in this thread – was this one: 'The boy with the palette' painted by Violet Teague in 1911. 1/3
November 10, 2025 at 3:33 AM
I also enjoyed this exhibition. Though one work that caught my eye and whose story was not fully told – for reasons that will become clear in this thread – was this one: 'The boy with the palette' painted by Violet Teague in 1911. 1/3
A true delight to see James Findlay's brilliant new book "Caught on Screen: Australia’s Convict History in Film and Television" launched with the fanfare it deserves at Sydney Uni last night, with ringing endorsements from Michelle Arrow and Mike McDonnell. Congratulations James!
November 7, 2025 at 12:55 AM
A true delight to see James Findlay's brilliant new book "Caught on Screen: Australia’s Convict History in Film and Television" launched with the fanfare it deserves at Sydney Uni last night, with ringing endorsements from Michelle Arrow and Mike McDonnell. Congratulations James!
Greg Dening on why essays on historical method should open with a research diary – from 'Islands and Beaches: Discourse on a Silent Land. Marquesas, 1774–1880' (1988)
October 28, 2025 at 5:56 AM
Greg Dening on why essays on historical method should open with a research diary – from 'Islands and Beaches: Discourse on a Silent Land. Marquesas, 1774–1880' (1988)
A man selling bunches of waratahs outside Sydney Cricket Ground in 1926 (Fairfax media archive, National Library of Australia)
October 22, 2025 at 11:23 PM
A man selling bunches of waratahs outside Sydney Cricket Ground in 1926 (Fairfax media archive, National Library of Australia)
Where would *you* most like to be in Aus right now?
October 22, 2025 at 5:17 AM
Where would *you* most like to be in Aus right now?
Either this is a little girl posing with a very large apple OR an ordinary-sized apple posed with a teeny tiny little girl – photo taken somewhere in New South Wales in the 1930s (Fairfax media archive)
October 22, 2025 at 3:21 AM
Either this is a little girl posing with a very large apple OR an ordinary-sized apple posed with a teeny tiny little girl – photo taken somewhere in New South Wales in the 1930s (Fairfax media archive)
Prisoners in the prison library at Sydney's Long Bay Gaol surrounded by books in July 1963 (Fairfax Archive)
October 20, 2025 at 4:07 AM
Prisoners in the prison library at Sydney's Long Bay Gaol surrounded by books in July 1963 (Fairfax Archive)
The mind-boggling age and beauty of this Ginkgo digitata fossil from 170 million years ago found in England (Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle)
October 19, 2025 at 6:17 AM
The mind-boggling age and beauty of this Ginkgo digitata fossil from 170 million years ago found in England (Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle)
The expressions on the faces of these people – especially the woman at bottom right – as they ride the roller coaster at Sydney's Luna Park on 27 December 1948 (photo by R. Donaldson, State Library of NSW)
October 15, 2025 at 3:27 AM
The expressions on the faces of these people – especially the woman at bottom right – as they ride the roller coaster at Sydney's Luna Park on 27 December 1948 (photo by R. Donaldson, State Library of NSW)