Frank Rusconi

Who was Frank Rusconi?

Frank Rusconi was a quarry owner and monumental mason of Gundagai, New South Wales, Australia.

He was born at Araluen near Braidwood, New South Wales, the son of a Swiss goldminer and monumental mason. After his mother's death, the family returned to Switzerland while Frank was a child. At age 15, he was apprenticed first in Italy and then Switzerland in the marble trade.

Rusconi returned to New South Wales in 1901. He worked with his brother and father near Orange, New South Wales in a marble quarry they had discovered and developed.

He settled at Gundagai in 1905. He died nearly 60 years later in nearby Cootamundra having been an active member of the Gundagai community since settling there.

Notable works are:

the Dog on the Tuckerbox - Rusconi made the base of the Dog on the Tuckerbox monument and the rest of the object was cast at 'Oliver's Foundry', Sydney.

the Marble Masterpiece, a miniature building constructed of 20,948 individual pieces of marble. Work commenced in 1910 and was completed 28 years later. The work is on display in the Gundagai tourist office.

tombstones are at Gundagai, Orange, Cudal and Galong cemeteries; the largest and most dramatic is a pair of white marble monuments to the Ryan family at Galong,