Australian Dictionary of Biography

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Rhoda Wager (1875–1953)

by Anne Schofield

This article was published:

Rhoda Wager (1875-1953), jewellery designer, was born on 10 March 1875 at Mile End Old Town, London, one of five children of George Wager, warehouseman, and his wife Jane Annabella, née James. Brought up at Bristol, she attended the local art school, then studied drawing and painting at the School of Art, Glasgow (1897-1903). She exhibited metalwork and jewellery at the Glasgow Art Club in 1901 and at Cork, Ireland, next year. From 1903 she was a member of the Glasgow Society of Lady Artists and showed regularly with them. Returning to Bristol, Miss Wager taught art at St Mary's girls' school. She spent her holidays making jewellery under Bernard Cuzner, a talented silversmith who had designed Liberty & Co. Ltd's 'Cymric' jewellery in 1899.

Late in 1913 Rhoda went to live on her brother's sugar plantation in Fiji. Settling in Sydney in 1918, she resumed jewellery-making. On 24 January 1920 at the registrar general's office she married a 41-year-old widower Percival George, a marine surveyor and son of Julian Rossi Ashton.

A member of the Society of Arts and Crafts of New South Wales, Rhoda Wager later joined the Melbourne and Brisbane societies, showing annually at their exhibitions. Her jewellery was displayed and sold on commission at Farmer & Co. Ltd's city store. At 42 Martin Place, her studio had a display section which attracted clients from the Australia, Carlton and Metropole hotels. She was soon able to employ an assistant Walter Clarence Clapham and in 1928 was joined by her niece Dorothy Wager. About 1930 Rhoda moved premises to the State Office Block, Market Street, and later to Rowe Street and Victoria Arcade Chambers. She retired in 1946.

A review of her hand-wrought jewellery at the Dunster Galleries, Adelaide, in 1925, stated that her 'work is wrought from beginning to end. Each flower, stem and leaf or berry is made separately and soldered on bit by bit'. The 170 pieces exhibited included 'brooches with pearls, corals, black onyx and calchedony; earrings of lapis lazuli and amethysts; chains and pendants of opals and turquoise'.

Occasionally, she advertised in women's magazines and in December 1929 her work was illustrated in Art in Australia. Rhoda's favourite stones were opals and yellow sapphires, for they caught the sun; she used Australian motifs such as gum leaves in her foliage decoration. A tiny, silver plate bearing the name 'Wager' was soldered on her work when practicable. World War II restricted her to making wedding and engagement rings. Over twenty-five years she produced some twelve thousand pieces of jewellery, all meticulously recorded in her sketch-books (1921-46).

Generous, lively and witty, she was passionate about her art; strong-willed and determined, she was a clear-headed, industrious businesswoman. Moving to Queensland in 1951, Rhoda Wager died childless in Brisbane on 2 December 1953 and was cremated with Anglican rites. Her work provides a link with the English Arts and Crafts Movement, and with jewellery designers like Cuzner and Sybil Dunlop.

Select Bibliography

  • I. Anscombe and C. Gere, Arts and Crafts in Britain and America (NY, 1978)
  • C. Gere, Victorian Jewellery Design (Lond, 1972)
  • C. Gere, European and American Jewellery 1830-1914 (Lond, 1975)
  • Art in Australia, Dec 1929
  • Observer (Adelaide), 29 Aug 1925
  • D. M. Wager, The Biography of Rhoda Wager (manuscript, 1980, privately held)
  • Autobiography (manuscript, 1981, privately held).

Citation details

Anne Schofield, 'Wager, Rhoda (1875–1953)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/wager-rhoda-8944/text15719, published first in hardcopy 1990, accessed online 29 March 2024.

This article was published in hardcopy in Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 12, (Melbourne University Press), 1990

View the front pages for Volume 12

© Copyright Australian Dictionary of Biography, 2006-2024

Life Summary [details]

Alternative Names
  • George, Rhoda
Birth

10 March, 1875
London, Middlesex, England

Death

2 December, 1953 (aged 78)
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Cultural Heritage

Includes subject's nationality; their parents' nationality; the countries in which they spent a significant part of their childhood, and their self-identity.

Religious Influence

Includes the religion in which subjects were raised, have chosen themselves, attendance at religious schools and/or religious funeral rites; Atheism and Agnosticism have been included.

Occupation