May Gibbs Finding Aid Archive
May Gibbs – Her Life, Work and Nutcote
May Gibbs (1877-1969) was one of Australia’s most well-known and loved illustrators. Her gum nut babies are iconic and familiar to generations of children and adults. Gibbs travelled to England in a quest to develop as an artist and there became an early supporter of the suffragettes. She struggled as a woman artist in her attempts to develop a commercial career in art. May Gibbs was one of the few women in her generation to become a commercial success. Her major success was in the creation of illustrations and stories for children.
Information based on the Hardie Grant Publisher website in relation to the seminal book, May Gibbs: More Than a Fairy Tale authored by Robert Holden and Jane Brummitt (2011)
The work of May Gibbs has attracted many collectors. One of these is Jane Brummitt. She had a lifelong passion for May Gibbs’ work fostered by her aunt, the wife of May Gibbs’ brother Ivan. In addition to collecting material by and about May Gibbs, Jane campaigned to save May Gibbs’ Sydney home, Nutcote, located in Neutral Bay, New South Wales. Brummitt remained a committed follower of May Gibbs by collecting and documenting her work, available in this archival collection which spans the years 1877-2021.
Arrangement and overview of the collection
Tania McCartney, children’s author and illustrator, examined the material in this collection then created this finding aid to facilitate access. McCartney is the author of many children’s books, including a picture book about May Gibbs entitled, Mamie (Sydney, NSW: Angus&Robertson, 2018). Through her examination and description of this collection, McCartney enables detailed insights into May Gibbs – her life, work and Nutcote.
Jane Brummitt spent many years sourcing and collecting material for this collection from across Australia. Brummitt created the original arrangement of the collection by the item’s date. The first of over 3,000 items in this archive is dated 1877 and the final item is dated 2021. A collection of undated material is also included and kept together. Interaction of many individuals prominent during and after May Gibbs’ life are documented in this archive.
There is a small collection of ephemera and material relating to the published book, May Gibbs: More Than a Fairy Tale—an Artistic Life by Robert Holden and Jane Brummitt (Hardie Grant Books, 2011).
Extensive documentation of ‘Saving Nutcote’, the Sydney home of May Gibbs, includes individual and group efforts, correspondence, newspaper articles, flyers, brochures, photographs and other material.
Contemporary material is included within this collection of historical items.
There is a substantial collection of tributes upon May Gibbs’ death in 1969.
May Gibbs’ artwork before and during her work for children
There are many examples of May Gibbs’ early and later artworks created for audiences other than children. These cover a wide variety of topics and were published in journals, newspapers, books and other publications.
Nutcote material
There is an extensive collection of articles, letters, correspondence and other material which relate to the Nutcote property once occupied by May Gibbs. The campaign to retain the property as a museum is documented in detail. There are four photograph albums relating to Nutcote that cover the years 1950-2013. These include pictures of Nutcote, Sydney Harbour, artwork, events, people and the house and garden. Related items include correspondence, events, programs, meetings, invitations, and other material.
There is a large but incomplete collection of the newsletter, Nutcote News (1988-2021); a large collection of cartoon strips from the series ‘Bib and Bub in Gumnut Town’; and a collection of various illustrations.
Physical arrangement of the collection
The collection is housed in labelled archival folders then stored in a standard four-drawer filing cabinet. Artworks are stored in one drawer of a map cabinet. The collector’s (Jane Brummitt) arrangement of material by date has been retained. The date range of material is from 1877 to 2021. Arrangement and information about the items includes the following: folder number; folder title (year); date range, type of material (photograph, newspaper, etc) and notes (additional description). Archival folders are briefly labelled and numbered consecutively from 1-59. This finding aid provides the detailed description of the contents of each folder including the date range, type of material such as newspaper articles, clippings, photographs, sketches and a description of the content.
Researchers are able to conduct an online search of this finding aid to locate dates, names, locations, types of material and other items of interest.
See:
MAY GIBBS – Her Life, Work, and Nutcote
See also:
The Gumnut Legacy of May Gibbs – NCACL
NCACL’S May Gibbs Legacy Collection – NCACL a blog written by Tania McCartney
May Gibbs titles held in the NCACL collection
Tania McCartney’s Artwork Framework
Posted by: NCACL | Published: 15 May 2025
