“Koumiss” at the Victorian Wine and Food Exhibition.

Very rare engraving of ‘Koumiss‘, the winner of a prize at the Victorian Wine and Food Exhibition. Koumiss was traditionally made from fermented mare’s milk. The milk was in Melbourne by the firm of Rocke, Tompsitt and Co.

From the original edition of The Australian Graphic.

Incredibly, this newspaper used glass for all the engraving plates which the proprietors claimed, reduced the cost by 2/3 from the traditional method of using wood engravings. They stated, that the glass plates didn’t break with the pressure of the printing press, were easy and quick for the artist to create, being able to apply their designs directly onto the glass and that the plates didn’t wear.

Only institution to hold a copy is the State Library of New South Wales.