Asian porcelain head

Traces of porcelain

Quietly resting amongst fragments of reconstructed vases and ginger pots, this small Chinese-styled ceramic head is a reminder of the strong presence of Asian labourers and shopkeepers in the frontier towns of the north. After the Chinese pearlers had been banished from Shark Bay, whilst most went to the goldfields, many came to Cossack as traders and shopkeepers, running laundries, working as ship cooks, carpenters and market gardeners, providing services and fresh vegetables to the town. A few continued in pearling. With a direct, and closer route to Singapore, Cossack quickly became a multicultural place with a prominent Asian quarter. This enduring presence is marked by headstones in the town’s cemetery.

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Cossack Museum

WA's first pearling port

Located on the beautiful banks of the Harding River, the Cossack Museum is housed in the old courthouse, now resurrected from the abandoned port town of Cossack. As Perth was developing into the state...

Address:

Corner of Perseverance Street & Pearl Street
Cossack WA
Australia

Tel:

(08) 9182 1122

Email:

bookings@nyfl.org.au

Open Hours

February to March Sat to Sun 10am - 3pm; April to October 7 days 10am - 3pm; November to December Sat to Sun 10am - 3 pm

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Pearl Shell buttons

Although pearling had begun in Shark Bay in the 1860s, where small pearls were extracted from the small, Pinctada albina, when the much larger Pinctada maxima shell was discovered in Nichol Bay it was...