PART 3

CONCISE REPORT

226 227 TECHNICAL COLLEGE TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. OVERVIEW 1.2 The creation of In 1878, Sydney Mechanics School of Art, the Engineering CARVINGS The creation of Sydney Technical College (STC) was a local response Association of Trades and the Trades and Labour 1. OVERVIEW to the need for advancement, education and practical training to Council of New South Wales joined forces to establish the Technical cater for the sweeping social change ensuing from globalisation, and Working Men’s College (which became known as Sydney industrialisation and urbanisation in the second half of the 19th 2. ARCHITECTURAL INFLUENCES Technical College) in 1878. By 1881, over 1,000 students had BUILDINGS A, B AND C century. The buildings associated with the original institution enrolled in over 50 of the courses offered by the College which incorporated some of the new idiom, skills and technology with a covered subjects as diverse as Applied Mathematics and Steam 3. CARVED ORNAMENT distinctly Australian flavour. Engines, Simple Surgery, Freehand Drawing, English Grammar BY MARGARET BETTERIDGE and Reading and Natural Philosophy. The College motto ‘manu et 4. THE SYDNEY TECHNICAL COLLEGE 1.1 Technical education mente’ implying ‘hand and mind’ appropriately reflected the shared COMMISSION disciplines and applications of art and industry. Technical education in New South Wales had its origins in the Mechanics’ Institutes and Schools of Arts movement which The College had been established, not by the colonial government 5. ANALYSIS OF THE ARCHITECTURAL flourished throughout England and Scotland from the early 19th for the purposes of education, but by those closely associated with FEATURES ON SYDNEY TECHNICAL COLLEGE century. These community organisations established buildings to the technical trades who understood the need to train competent house libraries and reading rooms and venues for lectures, meetings workmen for jobs associated with the growth and development of and adult education. the colony. It relied on membership fees and government subsidies 6. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE to help defray its expenses, but with its increasing popularity, The Sydney Mechanics School of Arts was founded by a Scottish expanding programs and lack of resources, government soon emigrant, Henry Carmichael, in 1833 in response to the need to 7. BIBLIOGRAPHY realised it had to do something. It responded by establishing a provide an educational and recreational organisation for working Board of Technical Education in 1883 to assume control over the people and a place where artisans and tradesmen could gather to administration and to develop 8. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS share ideas and knowledge and maintain some currency in their disciplines. To get it started, Carmichael organised a public meeting, ‘a state system of technical education for the improvement which was attended by around 200 people and Major Thomas of the industrial youth of the country of all classes in those Mitchell was appointed its first President. By 1837, the School had branches of practical knowledge which relate to their callings its own purpose-built premises at 275 which housed a in life’ 1 lending library and a venue for public lectures. By 1865, it was able The relationship between the Board and the Department of to expand it programs to include classes in mechanical drawing run Public Instruction, to which it reported, eventually failed, with the by engineer and educator, . Mechanical drawing was Department creating its own Technical Education Branch in 1889. considered the basis for ‘good design’ and an important discipline However, one of the Board’s final contributions was to secure the to further the potential of industrial and manufacturing outcomes. site for a permanent home for the new Sydney Technical College Selfe’s classes proved popular in a landscape devoid of organised which had been operating its classes from numerous premises formal training for tradesmen. throughout the city.

1 Vice-regal speech, Opening of Parliament 9 Oct 1883 cited by J A Hone in The Practical Man as a Hero Technical Education in New South Wales in the 1870s and 1880s, Australian Cultural History, no 8, 1989, p73

228 229 2.ARCHITECTURAL INFLUENCES

2.1 The British Museum of Natural History There can be no doubt that a major influence on Kemp’s designs for Sydney Technical College was a blend of contemporary architectural trends – and in particular the recent completion of the British Museum, Natural History (now the Natural History Museum), in South Kensington, London, designed by Alfred Waterhouse, with

Examples of school buildings designed by William E Kemp from left, Redfern Public School (now the plethora of naturalistic carved ornament to the exterior; and a The Victoria and Albert Museum adopted the Romanesque in style in red brickwork and terracotta, Centre for National Indigenous Excellence), Newtown North Public School 1889, Concord Public competition to design the new building for the Victoria and Albert conjoining art and industry. School Museum (whose judging panel included Alfred Waterhouse). London’s British Museum of Natural History, completed in 1881 in Romanesque style, set a .. He used the vehicle of public exhibitions to promote his benchmark which inspired William Kemp in his designs for Sydney Technical College. The British Museum, Natural History was completed, not to the message and demonstrate the application of art to industry 1.3 The acquisition of a site original Renaissance-inspired design by Francis Fowke on account and Royal patronage to garner support from government. of his sudden and untimely death – but in the Romanesque style, From 1883, the Board had agitated for the purchase of a portion transported from Medieval Europe, and distinguished by round Between 1851 (London) and 1889 (Paris), there had been thirteen (3.5 acre or 1.5 hectacre) on land subdivided by John Harris on arches and massive vaulting and transitional between Roman and international exhibitions and expositions, showcasing the latest his Ultimo estate. At the time, Ultimo was considered to be remote Gothic. in industrial, technological, scientific, artistic and agricultural from the city, but Minister John Carruthers, whose portfolio included achievement. The public’s exposure to so much advancement led education and public instruction, along with government architect Waterhouse collaborated in his design with Richard Owen, the to their desire to own its outcomes to improve their quality of life. James Barnet and others inspected the site, first from the top British Museum’s Superintendent of Natural History Collections, These beneficiaries of progress in turn sustained a huge movement of Anthony Hordern’s tall building at Haymarket from where the who ‘took the liberty to suggest that many objects of natural history for manufacturing which hitherto had been compromised by the lack surrounding landscape and its connectivity could be appreciated – might afford subjects for architectural ornament’4 determining of appropriate education and technical training. and then to the site where that the Romanesque style as he knew it in Germany, lent itself to the incorporation of naturalistic architectural ornament on the The architectural brief for the South Kensington Museum Mr Carruthers, like many others, had not realised that the building associated with the living and extinct zoological, botanical (renamed the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1899), founded as Ultimo site was so close to Haymarket and George Street, and paleontological exhibits inside. Not only was Owen’s view an a consequence of the Great Exhibition of 1851, was devised to and when he had walked to the spot, he admitted at once its expression of John Ruskin’s principles of truth in ornament derived showcase the world’s leading artistic traditions of art and industry. It central character and grand superiority to all the other sites Alfred Waterhouse’s designs for decorative ornament of living and extinct species of animals, realised from nature – his ‘Temple of Nature’ embodied his ideology of the in terracotta, drew inspiration from the Museum’s collections and mission. included an aesthetic requirement that the external facades should that had been proposed for a College.”2 order in Nature, at a time of heightened scientific debate about be executed in red brickwork with stone dressings or red brickwork

evolutionary theory which followed the publication of Charles with terracotta dressings.7 Minister Carruther’s concurrence was the catalyst for the purchase Darwin’s Origin of Species in 1859. of the site and in March 1891, in the midst of a construction In 1880, when Sir John Robertson, premier of New South Wales, Here was just one example of Cole’s notion of the applied arts at site, the first classes began at Ultimo. By September that year, amalgamated all school construction under one departmental To ensure the scientific accuracy of the flora and fauna, Owen work. Much of the decoration inside the museum was executed by Architectural ornament on Sydney Technical College The Sydney Illustrated News was informing its readers of the head, he appointed Kemp to fill the position. Kemp continued in provided scientific illustrations and specimens of both living and students from the government art school, whose workshops were on this position throughout the economic downturn during the 1890s ‘nearing completion of a noble pile of buildings which was destined extinct species which Waterhouse adapted as pencil drawings and the same site. beauty and an appreciation of ‘art for art’s sake’. William Morris, when the Department of Public Instruction’s architectural section to become the centre of industrial life in the colonies and an designs. A French modeller, M. Dujardin, then translated these into whose name and art is indelibly linked to the late 19th century 3 was briefly amalgamated in 1894 with the Government Architect’s architectural adornment to the city’. plaster casts, from which the terracotta statues were manufactured. Aesthetic Movement, where the honest expression of decoration Branch of the Public Works Department, at which point, Kemp The results were roundly criticised in the press and by scientists as 2.3 The Aesthetic Movement was grounded in a belief of the beauty of art, craft and materials. retired. unrealistic and grotesque representations, the building “being more Not everyone admired the outcomes of England’s Victorian industrial 5 Waterhouse’s pencil drawings were used to create plaster models from which the terracotta was The internal decoration of STC incorporates many features 1.4 The Architect, William Kemp Kemp’s style is significant because it departed from the emulation adapted for a suburban tea garden than a national museum’. . progress. Many artists, designers, craftsmen and writers deplored modelled. consistent with the Aesthetic Movement philosophy which promoted The architect appointed to design the new complex for the College of Neo-Classical architecture which had thrived under Barnet’s the horrors of the machine age and the excesses of mass-production Today the Museum is regarded as an outstanding landmark of the manual crafts and the honesty of materials. , including stained was William Kemp (1831-1898). Born in Newcastle, NSW, Kemp term as government architect. Kemp was not interested in creating and capitalism. Together they fought back to reclaim the cult of Victoria architecture, designed to draw attention to itself and its and painted glass, carved wood and stone, modelled plaster and was the son of an English architect/builder who settled at Stroud a lofty College ‘temple’ where students would come to worship at contents. At the time of its completion, no other building in Britain 2.2 Applying art to industry terracotta and wrought iron. and brother of Charles Kemp, a successful businessman who for the feet of knowledge’. Nor was his palette the honey colour of the had adopted the Romanesque style on this scale; nor had the use Across the road, from London’s BMNH, in what was another “A highly decorative two storey building of face polychrome a time was co-owner, with James Fairfax, of the Sydney Morning ‘yellow block’ Sydney sandstone of Barnet’s public buildings, but a of terracotta been used architecturally in such a rich and decorative intended cornerstone of the proposed ‘Albertopolis’ at South brickwork on a rusticated stone base with terracotta tiled Herald. In 1849, Kemp was articled to Sydney architect Edmund new bold palette of polychrome expressed in a variety of fabricated manner. The Oxford University Museum of Natural History’s earlier Kensington, (Sir) Henry Cole had been spearheading a movement spandrels, and Australian flora and fauna decorations and Blacket, transferring to the Colonial Architect’s Office in 1854 where materials. We can see his style in the school buildings erected circa attempt to convey the internal function through external decoration which stimulated public imagination and invention and ‘sought to slate roof. The interior contains marble wall panelling in the he worked under William Weaver. When Weaver left government 1890s which display a different style altogether. in the same way, now paled by comparison. bring ‘the attractions and influences of art to bear on the life and to establish a private practice, Kemp joined him in a partnership. Aestheticism drew inspiration from the Medieval crafts and guilds and the elegant simplicity of entrance halls and extensive highly decorated pressed metal industry of the country’ 6 Japanse decoration (left). None was more famous for his contribution than designer, William Morris whose signature textiles and wallpapers are still popular today. ceilings and plaster mouldings.”

2 Norman Selfe, Technical Education in New South Wales, The Metropolitan College Buildings – 4 Owen, Rev R. The Life of Richard Owen John Murray, London 1894, quoted in Cunningham, C. 6 Obituary, Sir Henry Cole, The Time, 20 April 1882, accessed at http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/ 7 Victoria and Albert Museum architectural history accessed at http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/ past, present and future, Australian Technical Journal, 31 May 1898, p137 The Terracotta Designs of Alfred Waterhouse, Heineman, London, 2001, p50 people-pages/obituary-henry-cole articles/a/architectural-history-of-the-v-and-a-1873-1899-the-great-design-competition

3 The Illustrated Sydney News, 26 September 1891, p10 5 Ibid, p 53

230 231 2.4 From international exhibitions to architectural drawings and models in the British Court were two Henry espoused a different view to John Ruskin’s principles native animals posed more of a problem. It is likely that carvers museums drawings of the BMNH, In the catalogue of exhibits, they are concerning ornament derived from nature, believing passionately used illustrations by artists and naturalists for inspiration. listed as that the unique Australian flora and fauna should create the basis Important too was the social and cultural context of the time. The One may have been artist John William Lewin (1770-1819) who for a national style of decoration. international exposition and exhibition movement drew enormous Item 371 Interior view, Index Museum, British Museum, was an English-born artist who arrived in New South Wales in crowds and generated excitement, wonder and interest across the Natural History, South Kensington, London 8 1800 to record ornithological and entomological life in the colony entire strata of society in each city where they were held. When Lucien Henry’s designs and modelling, from left waratah plaster panel design for lyrebird frieze from for an English patron. In Sydney, he illustrated the earliest volumes Item 372 Exterior view, Principal Front of the British Museum, his intended publication, Stenocarpus plaster panel these temporary exhibitions concluded, there was often enthusiasm of Australian natural history and undertook a number of portrait Natural History, South Kensington, London 9 to retain some of the vast array of items providing a rising middle Henry was passionate about the potential, particularly of Australian commissions before being appointed as a professional artist by class with access to ideas and taste in a permanent venue. flora, as design motifs for architectural and artistic work. Curator Governor Macquarie. This commission included opportunities to Waterhouse’s drawings had come with a Medal of Honour from and Economic Botanist at the Technological Museum, Richard travel on expeditions and record flora and fauna. His acute and Sydney was a case in point. Over a million people visited the 1879 the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1878 and judges here saw fit to Thomas Baker who was Henry’s greatest champion, wrote in practical, rather than purely scientific, observations of the Australian Sydney International Exhibition held in the in the award them First Degree of Merit. Domain. Attention was focussed on the world’s scientific, artistic 1911 that landscape mean that his legacy as an early natural history artist was profound. and technological achievements on a huge scale and the excitement It is impossible to say now, or to give the name of individuals it generated inspired some to consider the value of technical who idealised or conventionalised the Lotus, Acanthus, education in fostering improvement and furthering trades and skills. Honeysuckle or Iris, but in this young country of a little over a century’s growth, a few of the artists’ names may Designs by Lucien Henry, from left decorative wrought iron and enamelled garden gate, frontispiece be mentioned who have introduced our native flora in for the proposed book Australian Decorative Arts, design for a public park fountain, chairs, table and Lucien Henry in 1871 [Charles dado. Deering McCormick Library of Special decorative arts…Mr Lucien Henry, the first teacher in Art A large collection of Waterhouse’s pencil elevations and detailed drawings for the decorative terracotta Collections, Northwestern University was par excellence a designer from nature…In Mr L Henry, menagerie to adorn the building survive in the collections of the BMNH. Library, Chicago] Among the plates produced for the book was a design for a ‘Door Drawings of Australian fauna by artist, John Lewin certainly had an artist possessing real genius, and for Australian Technical College, Art’. The Romanesque style The 1879 Exhibition coincided with the arrival in Sydney of a his originality in design and other fields of fine and Applied The work of English ornithologist John Gould (1804- 1881) is also Henry’s classes proved popular and his students’ work, exhibited at doorway draws inspiration from the main door to the BMNH and Frenchman, Lucien Henry, whose legacy would consolidate respect Art will live long in the annals of New South Wales technical th the modelled panels on the door interpret Waterhouse’s ideas for considered here as a possible reference. Gould studied taxidermy for the unique qualities of Australian flora and fauna in decoration. As the 50 Anniversary of the School of Arts in 1883, received acclaim education. (His works) are a splendid proof of the fertility of decorative panels. at Windsor Castle where his father was foreman of the gardeners, the Centennial celebrations drew nigh, there was a growing demand as the most interesting work in the whole exhibition. But Henry’s his brain, for they cover original designs from our native fauna becoming taxidermist to the Zoological Society of London in 1827. in the practical arts and trades and an emerging sense of national vision was to provide through technical education, tuition in subjects and flora in architecture, ironwork, wall-papers, glass, stained His drawings of birds and animals were produced as lithographs by identity. Henry’s profound influence on the application of Australian like geometry and perspective, practical knowledge and ‘hands on’ windows, jewellery, china, chandeliers, electric lights, tiles, his wife and commanded much attention in England and Europe experience which would benefit the community, not just create a motifs to design is a legacy enjoyed and appreciated today. 11 horology &c. and provided him with the opportunity to travel to Australia where pleasant pastime. His opinion accorded well with the newly formed he spent two years recording birds and mammals. These works, Board of Technical Education who appointed him the first instructor As he sent his students forth to apply his teaching, Henry was also which included over 3,000 coloured plates, were published 2.5 Lucien Henry in the Department of Art at Sydney Technical College. hard at work in the public domain, applying Australian motifs to between 1840 and 1863 and provided the most comprehensive The Sydney 1879 International Exhibition was held in the Garden Palace in the grounds of the Botanic Born in France, Henry had studied art and architecture under architectural and interior decoration. . Among the many projects survey for students. Gardens. At its conclusion, many exhibits were assembled for the Technological, Industrial and Sanitary Museum, only to be lost when fire destroyed the building in 1882. Viollet-le-Duc before serving a period in exile in New Caledonia for he oversaw where the design of the large stained glass windows his part as a communard in the Paris uprising in 1871. Following in celebrating the centenary of the founding of An important outcome of the exhibition was the resolution of amnesty in 1879, Henry arrived in Sydney where he was appointed the colony in 1888 and a number of collaborations with engineer Lucien Henry’s design (far right) draws parallels to Waterhouse’s concept for the entrance to the the trustees to endorse a report prepared by BMNH with every surface embellished and ornamented. a judge in various artistic disciplines for the 1879 International Norman Selfe on a lift car design for the Anthony Hordern’s Building prominent surgeon, Dr Alfred Roberts arguing for the need for the Exhibition. One of the classes for which he was appointed a judge at Haymarket, designs for electroliers, lift cars, metal ceiling panels Although not realised in this way, it is interesting that Henry establishment of a technological museum. The Trustees enlisted was the class of lithography, photography and architectural designs, and decorative items for the Hotel Australia. He also submitted considered a design which might apply to the College. No records Professor Archibald Liversidge, then on leave from the University of so there can be no doubt that his attention would have been drawn numerous designs for Sir Henry Parkes’s grand State House in have been located to date which suggest that his involvement in any Sydney, to act as Commissioner for the Paris Exposition Universelle to the Waterhouse drawings of the naturalistic ornament on the Centennial Park (not completed). design for the College including its fittings and decoration extended 1878, to undertake a study of technological museums in Europe British Museum Natural History. beyond this concept. It seems strange that for all his passion and John Gould (left) and illustrations of rosellas (centre) and Thylacines (right) and the United Kingdom to furnish them with a report, including Henry deeply believed in his conviction of the value and importance his working relationship with the College, he appears to have had plans, drawings and lists of collections on his return. In 1881, Henry started teaching modelling at the Technical and in developing an Australian national style, devoting himself between no part in its realisation. Working Men’s College, adding drawing the following year. He 1889 and 1891 to compiling 50 large format plates and 50 hand­ The 1879 Exhibition presented an opportunity to initiate local advertised that the subjects for drawing would be ‘from nature, foliage coloured illustrations for a book to be titled Australian Decorative exposure to, and the collection of, a vast range of current applied Lucien Henry’s classes in modelling used plaster casts, prepared by his assistant George Macintosh, and animals (Australian)’ and that his classes were ‘for the purpose Arts, as the foundation of a national school of decoration and artistic and scientific works and technological items from across who succeeded Henry when he returned to France in1891, departing prior to the completion of the 2.6 Other source material of affording to young Australian artists to bring into practical use their College. dedicating it to the youth of Australia. the world, as the foundation for the purposes of informing and knowledge of drawing and [the classes] should be attended by young What other resources might have been consulted in the preparation educating students through classroom study, practical workshops Henry’s book adapted many traditional classical architectural men employed in architectural and pottery works. 10 of designs for the sandstone carvings on Sydney Technical College? and comparative study. It is significant to this study that, among elements, including capitals, piers, entablatures and interior details, Native flora was relatively easy to obtain as cut specimens but the items sent out from England for display with a collection of embellishing them with native plants and animals.

8 The Index Museum was conceived by Richard Owen to be a central area devoted to specimens 11 . The waratah in applied art, pt 1, Technical Gazette, vol 1,pt 2, August ‘selected to show the type-characters of the principal groups of organised beings’. 1911, p27

9 Sydney International Exhibition 1879 Official Catalogue of Exhibits, British Court, J M Johnson and Sons, London 1879.

10 Technical or Working Men’s College, Sydney Calendar, 1882, p11. 232 233 3. CARVED ORNAMENT 3.2 Figurative carving 4. THE SYDNEY TECHNICAL 4.2 William Priestly Macintosh While Australian flora was prolific as carved ornament, while COLLEGE COMMISSION One of the students who had attended Lucien Henry’s classes 3.1 Flora and fauna Sydney buildings are adorned with heraldic representations and was William Priestly Macintosh (1857-1930). Born in Scotland, Lucien Henry was not, however, the first to advocate the use of figurative carvings, there are few examples of Australian native 4.1 Sculptors and masons Macintosh arrived in Sydney in 1880, having learnt the sculptor’s Australian flora and fauna as architectural ornament. Aligned with fauna. Lucien Henry’s departure for France in 1891 coincided with the craft and studied anatomy. The following year, he enrolled in one of emerging nationalism and sense of national identity as the colony completion of the first building of the STC complex. Although this Lucien Henry’s first modelling classes at the Sydney School of Arts celebrated its first century, there was a growing acceptance of, and study was unable to locate evidence to associate him with any where he was awarded first prize for his work. There can be no doubt appreciation for the local flora and fauna which the first arrivals direct involvement with the design or execution of the architectural that it was through Henry that this new immigrant was exposed to had found so curious. Local and overseas manufacturers began decoration on the STC buildings, his philosophical stand and the potential of native flora and fauna as decorative motifs. to include it as decoration for the local market and its intrinsic teachings certainly informed its inspiration and at least one of his values were beginning to be recognised for their potential to define Waratah capitals, , Stanmore studnets was involved in its creation. authority and power. Explorer and botanist Alan Cunningham’s Rowe’s use of birds and foliage in spandrel panels on Sydney statue by Tomasso Sani on the Lands Henry’s successor, George Macintosh13, had been appointed to Department Building, features a The contractual documentation for the municipal home of Sydney’s Hospital (circa 1882) appear to feature exotic species. Australian naturalistically carved spray of Australian conduct modelling classes at STC, becoming an assistant art civic elite, Sydney Town Hall, is believed to include the earliest flora is however abundantly carved amongst acanthus leaves in the wildflowers. teacher and caster in 1890. His exhibited work had earnt him a reference to the incorporation of Australian flora and fauna in its typanum, completed by Rowe’s successor, John Kirkpatrick bronze medal in modelling and casting from the Science and Art Australian flora often featured as ornament on gate piers into parks ornamentation. in 1983. Department at South Kensington in London. Like Henry, whose and gardens, appropriately interpreting landscape components. cause for national identity he passionately championed, Macintosh encouraged students to study objects, models and casts in three dimensions and to draw from them, rather than in two dimensions. Carved on the eve of the 1888 Centennial celebrations on the George Street façade of Sydney’s GPO, the traditional heraldic animals which feature on the Royal coat of arms, the lion and unicorn, have Students had access to plaster relief models from which to copy, been replaced by a kangaroo and emu. This is the earliest known carved heraldic ornament of this learning how to apply ornament to architectural features including depiction. panels, spandrels, strip courses, freize panels and capitals for

interior and exterior decoration. Reference to live casting of fish, William Priestly MacIntosh reptiles, flowers, fruit and leaves was mentioned in the Centenary of Technical Education in New South Wales (p 47). Building work in Sydney was plentiful in the 1880s, with numerous public domain projects underway. MacIntosh was soon employed on contractual commissions to create architectural carvings and

Typanum, , 1893 (photo by Michael Nicholson) ornamentation on government buildings. In 1888, Macintosh had a chance to put his skills into practice, joining forces with Sometimes, native flora was mixed with exotic species, including James Fillans, the son of the noted Edinburgh sculptor, to work laurel and acanthus leaves, creating a uniquely Australian as a subcontractor for builders Messrs Waine and Baldwin. Their The sandstone carving of Sydney Municipal Council’s coat of arms on the east façade of Sydney Town interpretation of Neo-Classical ornament. This technique was Hall, George Street, Sydney is flanked by naturalistic carvings of waratah leaves and flowers and dates job was to carve the statuary and carved ornament on the Lands from the early 1870s. used on numerous buildings designed by colonial architect, James The Palace Garden Gates on Macquarie Street, Sydney carved floral swags erected 1888 celebrtaion Department in Lofts Street, then the most ambitious project in Barnet, including the Lands Department at the corner of Bridge and The incorporation of carved sandstone ornament of Australian of centenary of founding of Colony designed by James Barnet described their the colony. Not only were carving and heraldic arms required, but Loftus Streets, Sydney. composition in 1903 ‘interspersed with ordinary floral subjects are representations of some of our flora (waratahs, flannel flowers and the firewheel flowers) into native flowers and fruits – the Flannel Flower’ ‘The Native Tulip’ or Waratah also the ‘Wheel of Fire 48 ornamental niches had been prepared for statues of Australian Tree’ ..fruit of the ‘Flame tree’…. and the Honeysuckle’ (Banksia). 12 many of colonial architect James Barnet’s buildings created a explorers to fulfil the wishes of premier, Sir Henry Parkes. local architectural language for significant government buildings. The skill of master carvers like Thomas Vallance Wran in producing realistic likenesses of animal Nowhere is the Australian identity so definitely expressed than in subjects is perfectly illustrated on this heraldic carving on the Chief Secretary’s Building. his extension to the General Post Office on George Street, Sydney Photo M Betteridge where for the first time, the colony’s symbolism alludes to an English heritage and local identity through heraldic ornament. Plaster relief model of Strelitzia flowers and leaves, used by Lucien Henry in his modelling classes Carved in 1887, the heraldic assemblage incorporates the Royal Arms, the badge of NSW and the unofficial Advance Australia Arms These classes were the only formal training for local carvers and incorporating a kangaroo and an emu. sculptors in Sydney at the time. The only other way to learn was as The Lands Department statue carvings by MacIntosh and Fillans, from left Flinders (1890), Sturt an apprentice to a mason. Not all stonemasons excelled in carving Architect Thomas Rowe, architect of The Founders Wing at (1890) Banks (1891) and Mitchell (1892). MacIntosh and Fillans completed most of their work and the disparity in the standard was a combination of lack of skill between 1890 and 1893. By 1902 they had installed 12 statues and 1 attributed. Newington College, Stanmore, constructed between 1874 and and the cost for work which was probably considered decorative, 1880, incorporated waratah capitals to columns which line the An earlier set of gate piers, also on the boundary of the Botanic Gardens, Sydney was created for but not always essential. colonnade. Barnet’s design. Incorporating waratahs, ferns and strelitzia, it was carved by Hanson and Sharp in NSW State badge surrounded by a waratah wreath and a mixed floral bed within the tympanum, 1873. Lands Department, Loftus Street, Sydney. 12 Annual Report of the Botanic Gardens, 1903 13 In some literature, George Macintosh has been credited with carving the sandstone flora and fauna on the STC buildings. A survey of his personal papers in the Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW and official documentation in State Records NSW could find no evidence that George Macintosh was associated with the execution of any work on these buildings.

234 235 4.3 The Technological Museum Their work, for head contractors Messrs A Brown and Son (and to the museum’s acquisition of a large collection of applied arts, 5. ANALYSIS OF THE ecclesiastical buildings in the Gothic style, with an occasional use of Messrs Adamson and Dow for finishing work) was duly noted in the including many works by Technical College students whom he the Romanesque – the style which Kemp would apply to the College In June 1890, Messrs Fillans and Macintosh (sic) tendered to ARCHITECTURAL FEATURES ON press occasionally lectured. Given the substantial amount of botanical buildings. supply the carvings as per Kemp’s plan and schedule (not located). SYDNEY TECHNICAL COLLEGE content in the decorative ornament, it seems surprising that there is Fillans, whose premises on Missenden Road, Camperdown and “The new Sydney Technical College occupies a large space No evidence was located during this study to suggest that Henry no mention of any contribution from Maiden or Baker. MacIntosh who was operating from Hereford Street, Forest Lodge, of ground at the corner of Harris and Mary-Ann Street The subjects of this study, Sydney Technical College Buildings A collaborated with Kemp on the design for the College, although it pooled resources and presumably labour, to undertake these ….when completed it will certainly be one of the prominent The choice of subjects for the carved ornament does not reflect, and B and the former Technological Museum (C), were constructed clearly demonstrates his influential teachings on Australian design concurrent projects. The scale of the Lands Department project, and buildings of Sydney. The front of the main building, which like the BMNH’s ornament, any determined interpretation which between 1891 and 1893, to the design of William Kemp. The style sources. There is no mention of current student involvement at that its location adjacent to the office of Sir Henry Parkes, presumably is particularly handsome, is ornamented with Romanesque correlates the functions of the museum in its pursuit of the of architecture is consistently ‘Federation Romanesque’ unified by time. Nor did it become evident through extensive research that J meant that their attention was primarily directed to delivering the carvings in white stone, a peculiar feature of which is that the economic value of Australian native plants. polychrome brickwork, carved sandstone ornament, decorative H Maiden, Technological Museum curator (from 1891) and later Carved sandstone bird (left) and a cat eyeing a small bird (right) on AMC carved ornament to the satisfaction of Parkes and his colonial carving represents Australian flora, with the figure of some terracotta panels and green-slated roofs. The combination of these director of the Botanic Gardens or R T Baker the most passionate architect, James Barnet. representative fauna in the middle, such as brush turkeys, features, along with other details including ornamental stained devotee of Henry’s teachings, who came post completion as opossums, jackasses, lyre-birds and the like”. This is a unique 4.4 Postcript glass and wrought ironwork establishes an Aesthetic Movement Maiden’s curatorial successor (from 1894) were involved with the In their quote, Fillans and MacIntosh suggested replacing the idea, and it is pleasant to see its beautiful effect, which will no style and philosophy to the decoration. The carvings are part of this carvings, architectural ornament or selection of materials which specified trachyte frieze with sandstone which could be more easily As this report was being finalised, a discovery was made which doubt lead to much deserved imitation”.15 and design language, despite the inconsistencies in subjects and style. were popularly used by numerous architects of the day. Had Maiden carved, thereby reducing the cost substantially to £289.12.0 to requires further investigation to finalise the comparative study of the “...the stone dressings which possess the merit of utilising the Occasionally, the flora and fauna is duplicated but rarely do two and Baker had a say, it is likely that more attention to the scientific include: carvings. It began with a reference in Trove to a newspaper article fauna and flora of the country admirably conventionalised by about a catastrophic fire in Sydney. flowers, birds or animals appear the same. Each is a unique carving and botanical accuracy of the carvings might have been demanded. 10 caps first floor windows £63.15.0 the sculptors Messrs MacIntosh and Fillans (who designed and and one must assume that not only were different carvers engaged On October 2 1890, a huge fire broke out between Castlereagh and 4 ditto £18.5.0 executed this portion of the work) in the carved ornament of for the 3 buildings, but on each commission (with the exception of 16 Pitt Streets, Sydney, destroying the premises of publishers Gibbs, the caps and other features of the construction.” Carved capitals featuring foliage and flowers and a possum (left) and kookaburra holding a snake in its Building B), a number of different hands and styles are evident. It is 5.1 Sydney Technical College insignia 4 ditto responds (half pillar) £15.11.0 Shallard and Co, and their printing and lithographic works. The fire beak (right) on AMC. assumed therefore that carving was not predetermined by drawings, eventually claimed a number of other business and reduced the City 8 ditto £34.12.0 Two years after the completion of the Technical College, its but probably inspired by drawings and the figurative work modelled Bank and Henry Bull & Co’s Warehouse on the corner of Pitt Street This discovery invites reconsideration of the attribution to William companion, the Technological Museum fronting Harris Street, was on site. The carvings of reptiles and some of the birds display 4 ditto £18.5.0 and Moore Street (now Martin Place) to ash.17 Priestley MacIntosh and James Fillans. Comparison of the quality completion at a cost of £25,000 and was ready for occupation. exceptional realism and competency. nd According to records of the Annandale Methodist (now Uniting) and precision of their carving on the Lands Department and 2 caps 2 floor £7.12.0 There began a long and sustained relationship between the two Church “the ruins of the fire ravaged head office of the City Bank statuary associated with the suggests some The following analysis of the sandstone carvings on Sydney 2 responds to ditto £5.15.0 institutions, with the Museum acquiring collections for students and Henry Bull Warehouse became a for all enterprising discrepancy. It is possible that subcontractors working for them may Technical College Buildings A, B and C has considered them as to study. 2 pier caps in loggia 1 £1.10.0 builders but particularly for the Annandale Methodists who bought also have been engaged on work associated with Thomas Rowe. a group with an individual stylistic language in their detail. The Curiously though, it would appear that, unlike the BMNH, no the remains of Bulls premises and arranged for the demolition historical research in the preceding section informs this analysis. It 2 caps in hall £5.15.0 attempt was made to correlate ornament to the functionality or contractor - a Mr Newlands to transport the fire blackened stones to establishes that the designs by Alfred Waterhouse for the decorative 1 pediment £7.12.0 subject disciplines Kemp’s principal contact for architectural design Johnston Street where, it is said, he erected them without charge”18 ornament to the British Museum of Natural History in London in the development would most likely have been the Trustees’ nominee, 1870s were a significant influence on William Kemp’s subsequent 2 terminals to 8 “string £5.15.0 An unsourced quote 1889 mentions “Thomas Rowe’s artistic stone Archibald Liversidge, and his brief to emulate good design and architecture for the three buildings. The display of Waterhouse’s warehouse of Messrs H Bull & Co the stone carvings of which 4 bosses £2.0.0 the use of materials which showcased the practical application drawings in the Sydney 1879 International Building would have are characteristic of the flora and fauna of the colony”19 Another 20 patera £17.5.0 of modern technical process. It would appear that MacIntosh and attracted the attention of local architects, artists, sculptors and reference mentions that the facade of the Annandale Methodist (now Fillans worked on their commission without any direct involvement modellers. The preparation for the exhibition coincided with French 2 single caps in pediment £1.0.0 Uniting) Church, built 1890) features a parrot, koala, gumnuts and a Sydney Technical College insignia on Building A from the College’s modelling instructors or staff. Nor does there born artist, Lucien Henry’s arrival in Sydney and heralded a new kookaburra eating a snake.20 2 double do “ £2.0.0 appear to have been consultation with museum curators, Joseph era in design and ornament as Australian eyes were opened to The carved strapwork interlinked initials ‘STC’ represent Sydney Maiden (1892-93) or his successor Richard Thomas Baker (1854­ An inspection of this site revealed considerable similarity between the design potential of the unique world around them. Henry’s Technical College are referenced to medieval design. The lettering 2 responds do “ £1.0.0 1941). Maiden, an economic botanist lectured for the Working the carvings on Sydney Technical College and those on the former appointment in 1881 to a lecturing position in art, design and script and the adaptation of a traditional metalworking technique Men’s College before his appointed to the position of curator of the Annandale Methodist Church and warrant further study. modelling at the College provided his students with a fresh approach for hinges and clasps uses a short belt to join the letters. It is Trachyte 2 caps £217.12.0 Technological Museum, a post he held until 1894 when he became to the inspirational values of native flora and fauna for a national consistent with Aesthetic Movement design and the appreciation for superintendent of technical education and subsequently director of style of art. Among the students attending Sydney Technical College handcrafted skills. The setting against a background of waratahs is 2 responds for ditto £77.15.0 the Botanic Gardens in 1896. at this time were artists, sculptors (including William Priestly a distinctly Australian vernacular touch. £52.5.0 MacIntosh) , modellers and architects, whose work was influenced Baker arrived in Sydney in 1879 and was appointed to the in no small way by the attention to the possibilities of naturalistic £347.12.0 position of science and art master at Newington College. In 1888 design. he was appointed assistant curator to Maiden, and curator of the Above caps in Syd sandstone Technological Museum in 1898, continuing Maiden’s work on the The commission for the design of the Sydney Technical College was instead of trachyte -£72.00 economic properties of Australian flora. Baker’s interest in art led awarded to the NSW Government Architect’s Branch and assigned Carved animals are located at the base of the stone moulding of the arches STC (left), AMC (right) TOTAL £289.12.014 William MacIntosh’s large marble allegorical statuary group representing Arts and Crafts on the York to William Kemp. Kemp’s early training had been undertaken with Street façade of Sydney’s Queen Victoria Building was one of two he was commissioned to complete Edmund Blacket whose large body of work included predominantly for the City Council and were his most important and prestigious commission. 14 SRNSW 10/14286 Department of Technical Education Correspondence Files 1890 15 The Illustrated Sydney News, September 26, 1891, p10 17 The Sydney Mail, Saturday October 4, 1890, p1

16 Building and Contractor’s News, August 22, 1891, p 148 18 PhD thesis, , Architecture in NSW 1840-1900, H G Woffenden, 1966

19 http://www.annandale.unitingchurch.org.au/pdf/HeritagePoster.pdf

20 Annandale Uniting Church - Local Heritage at a Glance (PDF) 236 237 5.2 Datestone finials CAPITALS, BUILDING A PIERS 5.5 Terracotta

The merits of terracotta as a include its strength Museum where the tiles are applied to the entire façade and within and durability, its resistance to , fading, air pollutants their design, moulding and modelling is used to highlight sculptural and vegetative growth. Its functional applications belied its elements. On Kemp’s building, the terracotta is purely decorative decorative potential. The use of vitrified terracotta on Kemp’s and it is clear that his interpretation and application is inspired, not buildings did not follow the style used on the British Museum of imitative. Natural History which was clad in contrasting natural and coloured clay tiles and embellished with sculpted ornament. Instead, the

Gate piers, Building C decorative terracotta which adorns Sydney Technical College and the Technological Museum highlighted the natural red-brown clay colour The brick gate piers on Building C are dressed with carved Capital, Building A in repeating moulded patterns. It was produced by F.Liebentritt sandstone caps, the rectangular domed tops incised with a diamond & Sons who specialised in the manufacture of architectural ‘Terra pattern above thick intertwined scrolling, overlaid with leaves and Cotta, Baker’s Oven Tiles, Horticultural Ware, and Chemical stems, between stylised acanthus leaf corners. A similar foliate Appliances’. Trading as Cumberland Pottery and Tile Works, the design is illustrated in Cunningham, C. The Terracotta Designs of Datestone on Building B business had been started by German-born Paul Liebentritt near Alfred Waterhouse. John Wiley London 2000 plate 87, p 154 for Enfield (now Chullora) and continued independently by his son, The oval datestone similarly features interlinked numerals for the BMNH, 1875. John Frederick. The firm won numerous awards including a medal ‘1891 A.D’ the year of completion of Kemp’s new home for Building C (Technological Museum) circa 1893 in the Horticultural Society Exhibition 1868; a silver medal in the Sydney Technical College. It is framed within a cartouche or oval Detail of finial, Building A Centenary Universal Exhibition 1888; and medals in the Agricultural escutcheon, derived from heraldic and ecclesiastical ornament as 5.4 Stained glass Society Exhibition, 1878 and 1898.21 an architectural device for an inscription. The floral wreath, some The top of this final from Building A appears as possibly a stylised Sydney Technical College’s courses were oriented to producing leaves of which resemble Banksia or Waratah leaves, set above the interpretation of pineapple skin carving while the flattened leaf tradesmen and women with sufficient practical training and skill The choice of terracotta was a brave departure for a young architect, cartouche and terminates in tied foliage. forms might possibly be staghorn fern fronds – as opposed to an and theoretical knowledge to sustain a career. The commercial for the properties of clay with their diverse shrinkage, colour, rate of interpretation of the more traditional acanthus leaf. production of architectural stained and coloured leadlight glass was drying and firing temperature issued posed many technical problems undertaken by firms like Goodlet and Smith, who is 1889 made – but it was indeed a material which lent itself to the execution of the large windows designed by Lucien Henry for Sydney Town Hall. ornament consistent with Aesthetic Movement principles. It was also Inside STC, the English Aesthetic Movement influence can be seen an appropriate material for the aptly named Technological, Industrial Detail of carved capital, Building A in the windows (left) featuring trades (printing, engineering), while and Sanitary Museum to use, more so than any preconception that Each capital has been profusely yet individually carved with floral the richly coloured stained glass panel (centre) featuring a bouquet the natural colours of the clay, bricks and slate reflected the earthy and foliate decoration. The design does not follow a traditional of Australian wildflowers suggests a more local influence. The panel tones of the Australian natural landscape. Classical style, but presents a selection of elaborate scrollwork, on the right was made by Sydney Technical College student George Terracotta tiles and modelled ornament on the British Museum, Natural History in London Lucien Henry’s idea in creating a national style explored ways of substituting traditionally accepted motifs with local examples which conveyed similar gravitas. intertwined elliptical tapering leaves with pronounced venation and Hume 1900-1907. serrated edges and floral ornament resembling a Hellebore. 5.6 Stone and brickwork COLUMNS, BUILDING A None of the four capitals are the same: the design. The one above Although dressed, natural and carved sandstone is used on Kemp’s features ferns at the corners overlaid with scrolling ornament, sprays buildings, the predominant material is polychrome brickwork. The of elliptical tapering leaves with pronounced venation and serrated colour differential relies on a number of different factors, including edges and clusters of fruit. the composition and source of clay, the type of sand used for moulding, the kiln temperature at firing and minerals present. Photos by Margaret Betteridge 2012 Leadlight window, ‘Printing’, Sydney Technical College (top 5.3 Finials, columns, capitals and piers left); medallion of stained glass Australian FINIALS, BUILDING A wildflowers in Building A (top right); stained Tall projecting columnar finials rise from the gable ends, seen in glass window panel with Australian wildflowers by similar form below on the image of Building C. They terminate George Hume PHM A643 in naturalistically carved stonework with symmetrically arranged (below) flattened botanical detail. The strong contrasting texture and colour of the building materials used in Buildings A, B and C create the architectural definition of features

Decorative terracotta tiles created a strong const to the natural sandstone and pale coloured bricks Mary Ann Street façade of Building A 1.1 Terracotta Sands Directory for the period 1891-1893 lists brick manufacturers Capital and detail, Building A The front of STC on Mary Ann Street features a Romanesque and masons active during this period. Further study of these firms 21 Information about F Liebentritt accessed at http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/collection colonnaded entry, the central arches supported on dark olive/grey database Archive 93/299/53 may reveal additional information relevant to the three bulidings. polished Bowral trachyte columns.

238 239 5.7 Ironwork BUILDING A TRADITIONAL MOTIFS FERNS AND FRONDS NATIVE BIRDS

Wrought iron fence railings, gates and pier lamps adorning STC AN16 AN13 AN44 The carvings generally lack traditional motifs associated with stone While the leaves of Banksia and Waratah predominate, palm fronds FAUNA Avian carvings seem to have been inspired in large part by the and the Technological Museum were a commercial production as carving expressed on most public buildings in Sydney prior to this and ferns are well represented across the buildings. Several carvings depict animals which are not native to Australia drawings of artists like John Gould and Neville Cayley whose works time. Acanthus leaves can be found as scrolling forms and on the would have been widely available and current. The selections distinct from a bespoke design. AN14 CE24 CN35 and cannot be explained for their association with plant species. gate pier on Building C as corner detail, which has similarities to include iconic bird species and raptors (Kite, Eagle, Falcon) and CE33 CN34 a Waterhouse design. More curious is the one-off carving of the varieties of Parrots and Rosellas. All are carved with sufficient

Scrolling ornament is the Scrolling forms terminate in Intricate patterns of scrolls grotesque mask on A24. attention to the differences in beaks, plumage, and feet to be background motif Banksia flowers branch out from a central sufficiently recognisable. gather to intertwine with each AW24 BUILDING C, GATE PIER other. BN7 AN20 BE3 Cabbage Tree Palm Fan Palm Fern

BUILDING B

BE5 BE2 BE3 FRUIT Squirrel Jaguar (attributed) Fruits and seed capsules are carved into the scrolling designs, not

always in combination with the birds or possums whose diet would Cockatoo Kookaburra Lyrebird MARSUPIALS Decorative ironwork on Sydney Technical College Grotesque mask Acanthus include them. The iconic Australian native animals are represented on the carvings A number of seabirds are also featured on the carvings. AN20 AN9 CE21

Further evidence that there was no collaboration between architect BN8 AN8 CS20 BN6 CE22 and the College or Museum could be interpreted by studying the CORNER DETAIL wrought iron work to the exterior of the buildings. Lucien Henry BUILDING C Other frieze carvings have designs which extend over the corners, had prepared a design for a pair of bronze ornamental gates with CE31 CS19 GATE PIER with no attempt to denote a change in plane. Waratahs circa 1891. At the time of construction, STC was not only BN7 AN44 Fruit and foliage of Lassiandra Fruit of Lilly Pilly Capsules of the Smooth-barked Apple teaching art and modelling with an emphasis on the use of Australian Platypus Koala Brush-tail Possum motifs, but the College was also training students in blacksmithing. BE2 AN15 CE33

Examples of Peter Griffiths and Albert Amos’s work demonstrates the Gull Egret ability of students to create individual works. AQUATIC PLANTS AND WATER BIRDS A number of carvings on Building C incorporate aquatic plants, SYMMETRY sometimes in combination with water birds. PREDATORS The symmetrical placement of birds, foliage and mammals occurs A number of carvings suggest that relationships between the birds CE22 CE22 Wallaby Pademelon Tree Kangaroo Some carvings have corner details which Others, like this capital use foliage to seal the and animals may be predatory and facial expressions read as on all three buildings. On some carvings like B10 and C14, terminate in a scrolled form, resembling a edge of the corner and turn the design over two the carvings are replicated. On others like B2, the carvings are crocket. planes. menacing on the part of predator.

symmetrically placed, but each animal is carved in a different REPTILES AN13 BE5 pose. Carvings of scrolling foliage like C12 appear symmetrical, but Lucien Henry’s design for decorative gates with waratah finials (left) was never executed, but NATIVE FLORA Reptiles are well represented on the carvings on Buildings A and B. examples of STC student Peter Griffiths’ work Banksia PHM B306 (centre) and Flannel Flowers PHM individual carvings of foliage, fruit and floral details are randomly The predominant flora chosen for the carvings can be identified as They are all very well and realistically modelled to a high standard B310 (right) have survived to illustrate the adaptability of this medium. expressed. Banksia, Waratah and the Firewheel Tree, with flowers and leaves and appear to have been modelled from life. AE5 BE2 CE28 naturalistically carved, often incorporating stems, leaves and blooms Egret with fish in its beak. Duck BW11 AN37 AN39 in scrolling designs. These three iconic species were favourites of 5.8 Sandstone carving Lucien Henry who incorporated them in many of his designs. Other Bird may be attacking a juvenile Tasmanian Tiger may be chasing a bird native flowers featured include Lily and Native Hibiscus EXOTIC SPECIES The sandstone carvings on Buildings A, B and C display different While the carvings generally represent Australian native species of characteristics. They are united by their naturalistic style and their AN13 BW10 AN11 COMPETENCY leaves or stylised leaves with similarities to Australian species, there Frilled-neck Lizard Shingle-back Lizard Goanna or Monitor Lizard use of Australian native flora and fauna. However, the subject AN11 AN39 are a number which illustrate exotic flowers and leaves, including There is a disparity between the competency in carvings, with matter is diverse, the carving style varies not just between the Hellebore and Ivy. some realistically modelled and carved (eg A39). Some however, 3 buildings, but it suggests the hands of a number of different lack accuracy and are ill-defined for species identification. Their masons. A number of observations can be made: AN7 CE25 CE26 interpretation may indicate a lack of access to, or knowledge of live Banksia Waratah Firewheel Scrolling ornament specimens. All three buildings rely on carved scrolling ornament to unify the BN6 BN7 AN8 elements of their individual designs, but no one style is consistent across the three buildings. Building B is the only building where Passionflower Geranium Oak leaves there is consistency in carved scrollwork using palm fronds across the designs.

Attributed as a Tasmanian Attributed as a Wombat Koala has a head resembling Devil a Rabbit 240 241 5.9 Comparative analysis with Annandale DETAIL 6. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE 7. BIBLIOGRAPHY 8. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Uniting Church carvings Both buildings incorporate similar carved animals at the termination The carvings of flora and fauna on Annandale Uniting Church of sandstone moulded arches on the main façade of their buildings. The sandstone carvings on Buildings A, B and C, designed for Baker, R T Australian Flora in Art. NSW Government Printer, The assistance of Joy Singh, Katie Hicks, Terry King, Desmond Sydney Technical College by William Kemp for the Department Sydney 1911 Corby and Milena Crawford, Heritage Group, Government Architect’s (Thomas Rowe, architect) 1889 facade display some similarities ANNANDALE UNITING CHURCH AN38 which could suggest that their execution may be related to the same of Technical Education represent some of the earliest recorded Cunningham, C. The Terracotta Designs of Alfred Waterhouse. Office, NSW Public Works; Dr Cathy Offord, Royal Botanic Gardens; carvers. Their execution is similar in style to the carvings on Sydney interpretation of Australian flora and fauna of non-heraldic nature John Wiley London 2000 Jill Chapman, Archivist, , and staff at State Hospital. used as ornament for the architectural decoration on public Records NSW and the State Library of NSW in the research, Earnshaw, B. An Australian Sculptor: William Priestley MacIntosh buildings. site investigation and preparation of this report is very gratefully Kogarah Historical Society 2004 acknowledged. PREY The carvings are significant as work associated with William Gilbert, L. The Little Giant. The Life and Work of Joseph Henry The theme of predation could be interpreted in the carving at Priestley MacIntosh and James Fillans whose carvings on buildings Maiden 1859-1925. Royal Botanic Gardens, 2001 Annandale of the cat eyeing the bird (left) and as assumed in the including the Lands Department and the Queen Victoria Building are Girouard, M. Alfred Waterhouse and the Natural History Museum. above discussion on Building A. appreciated as fine examples of late 19th century carved decoration FURTHER RESEARCH British Museum (Natural History) London 1981 ANNANDALE UNITING CHURCH BN6 on government-designed buildings. While the carvings for Building A are attributed to William Priestley Gould, J. Birds of Australia; Mammals of Australia; Marsupials and The individual carvings reflect species of Australian flora and fauna MacIntosh and James Fillans, categorical attribution for the three Monotremes of Australia; Kangaroos of Australia. Facsimile editions which are familiar to the community and are represented in a buildings is inconclusive. This is due to the varying styles of edited by Joan Dixon, 1973-1976 naturalistic and realistic manner. Stylistic embellishment is provided carving, subjects and composition and the dates when they were in the decorative placement of scrolls and foliage. Gray, A.. Gray’s Lessons in and Vegetable Physiology carved (Building A 1891, Building C 1893, Building B 1911). Vision, Blakman, Taylor & Co., New York and Chicago. 1880 No documentation could be located which resolves this anomaly The carvings have the potential to inform further, the study of Herman, M. The Blackets. An Era of Australian Architecture. and the discovery of similar carvings on Annandale Uniting Church scientific, technical and artist application of traditional skills in ANNANDALE UNITING CHURCH AN13 Angus and Robertson, 1977 (constructed 1891 but with carving from the earlier Pitt Street architecture. Kent, P. Survival of the Fittest: The Romanesque Revival, Natural façade) has raised further questions. Resolving the puzzle of how Carvings of Australian flora and fauna are not widely represented Selection and Nineteenth Century Natural History Museums. the carvings came to be determined as suitable decoration on th on prominent late 19 century and their popularity is associated Fabrications. Vol 11, No 11, July 2000 Buildings A, B and C, the rationale for the selection of content with the community engagement of the time with a growing sense Kerr, J. The Architecture of Scientific Sydney. Journal and across the three buildings and the relationship (if any) between of nationalism and identity which would reach its zenith in the Proceedings of The Royal Society of New South Wales. Vol 118 architect, Technical College administration, staff and students celebration of Federation in 1901. Parts 3&4, March 1986 (or for that matter the Museum’s Curator) is a matter for further exploration. Knapp, S. and Press, B. The Gilded Canopy. Natural History Museum, London, 2005 ILLUSTRATION It is clear that the construction of the three buildings which Similarities in the depiction of the Koala may indicate that similar comprise the original complex of Sydney Technical College owe their Minister for Public Instruction. The Technical Gazette of New South reference material (eg John Gould’s drawings) may have been used inspiration to the teachings of College lecturer, artist Lucien Henry. It Wales Vol 1Part 1 June 1911 to inform the carvings. was he who imbued his students, some of whom are likely to have Neville, R Mr J W Lewin, Painter & Naturalist, Sydney: Newsouth been involved in the construction of the buildings, his supporters Publishing, 2012 ANNANDALE UNITING CHURCH AN8 and ultimately generations of architects and artists who followed, Office of Environment and Heritage. NSW State Heritage Register. with a philosophical approach to the adaptation and substitution Accessed on line at www.heritage.nsw.gov.au of native flora as decorative and design elements as the basis for a Orr, K. The Realisation of the Sydney Technical College and ‘national style’ of architectural ornamentation. Just who carved the Technical Museum 1878-92: Aspects of their Cultural Significance. sandstone flora and fauna on these buildings remains unresolved Fabrications: The Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, but their impact was significant enough for the same approach to Australia and New Zealand. V. 17, Issue 1, June 2007 style to be continued ten years after the original installations when Building B was completed under the direction of W. L. Vernon, Romot, K. Sydney Technical College and its Architect. Vol 7 No 3 July 1985 POSSUMS Government Architect. As one of Henry’s students, J R Tranthim- The figure of a possum-like animal is represented on Building A, Fryer noted “Nature’s colouring, native flora and fauna have been Stearn, W. The Natural History Museum at South Kensington hitherto unidentified. introduced by him into the daily work of the decorator, from the Heinemann, London, 1981 potter to the architect”..”Where in the Greek Acanthus is replaced ANNANDALE AN8 Stephen, A. (Ed) Visions of a Republic. The Work of Lucien Henry. by the Australian Waratah, where the Lyrebird finds itself already Powerhouse Publishing, 2001 immortalised in stone.” While Henry’s movement did not become Van de Ven,A. Australian Flora and Fauna in Sandstone. Australiana the national idiom he intended, there is evidence that some took up Vol 7 No 3, July 1985 his cause.

Ring tail possum Unidentified

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