pdf 2 MB - The Twentieth Century Heritage Society of NSW Inc.

Spring 2010
www.twentieth.org.au
ISSN 1440-639X
The Queen Mar y
and the
North Head Reveals its Historic Treasures
Ar t of Deco
Elizabeth Bay and Potts Point – a brickie’s mecca
Nature Appropriated: Australian Flora and Fauna in decorative art
Also: Australian Flora and Fauna in decorative art, news, events and more.
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FROM THE EDITOR
FROM THE VICE-PRESIDENT
The energy that was present earlier in the year, with a very successful walk conducted by our esteemed President Roy Lumby
(more on that at page 12) and a very successful presentation by internationally recognised speaker and author Dr Erika Esau
(more on that at page 3) has not abated, as evidenced by one of the liveliest AGMs I can remember in some time.
At our recent AGM we heard the announcement of a record surplus by our redoubtable Treasurer David Drage, witnessed the
succession of Matt Stone as Secretary following the retirement of Craig Pearce, who has made a tremendous contribution over
many years to the Society, saw a very capable team continue for their second or more year on the Management Committee,
and the addition to this team of Jonathon Bryant, who I welcome aboard and look forward to working with, and enjoyed a
widely acclaimed presentation from member Nonie Hodgson, who has taken the plunge and is pursuing architectural studies!
This energy is also seen in the variety of contributions to this bumper 24 page edition of The News. Through the tireless efforts
of our ebullient Vice President David de Rozenker-Apted, we may enjoy a fascinating feature article on the Queen Mary
written by Athene Mihalakis Kovacic, Board Member of the Art Deco Society of Los Angeles beginning on page 6. This is our
first international contribution to this newsletter and we look forward to many more. We also look forward to many more
contributions from relatively new members like David Goodwin, who provides us with an interesting perspective of North Head
in his article beginning on page 10.
As mentioned briefly above, Dr Erika Esau spoke to us earlier this year and at page 3 our Vice President expands on this and a
number of other Society developments, not least of which is the exciting new corporate sponsorship from the Grace Hotel.
The Queen Mary article may well inspire you to take part in the annual
festival that takes place on board the ship, and details are at page 5.
The year really started with a bang with our President’s most successful walk
amongst the buildings of the 20s and 30s and your intrepid reporter has tried
to capture the thrill enjoyed by those who took part on the day at page 12.
On behalf of the Society, the Vice
For those that enjoy the decorative arts our President has started a
comprehensive and visually stunning account of Australian flora and fauna in
decorative art at page 14. This is a major discussion by Roy and will extend
over two editions, Part 2 appearing in our special inaugural Grace Hotel
sponsored Summer edition.
have contributed selflessly over the past
The Society’s upcoming events are shown at page 22 and I encourage you to
respond early to assist the Management Committee with their arrangements
and ensure your place.
both as Committee Member and Caterer
Before signing off I must express my appreciation for the superb contribution
to catering made by Jill Pearce, who together with Craig is retiring from the
Management Committee. Like Craig, her contribution extends over many
years, and I am especially grateful for the very high quality sustenance
provided to Management Committee members at their regular meetings!
I am truly excited with where the Society is heading and the head of steam
that appears to be forming, and encourage you all to jump on board and
take part.
President and I would like to make special
mention of two Founder Members who
fifteen years. Jill and Craig Pearce have
been tireless supporters over the years,
with Craig as our Hon. Secretary and Jill
Extraordinaire. Whilst they have stepped
down from these positions having moved
a fair way out of town, we are pleased to
know that they will continue to grace us
with their presence at Society functions
and special events.
Roy Lumby
Enjoy your read!
John Dymond
C O N T E N T S
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From the Vice President
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Gallery on the High Seas: The Queen Mary and the Art of Deco
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
10
North Head Reveals its Historic Treasures
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
12
Elizabeth Bay and Potts Point – a brickie’s mecca
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
14
Nature Appropriated: Australian Flora and Fauna in decorative art Part 1
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
22
Membership & events
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
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On behalf of the Society, we would like to thank you for
your continuing support, and especially that afforded to our
international guest speaker Dr. Erika Esau whose presentation
at the Sydney Mechanics School of Arts in March was such
a success. Apart from the excellent venue, having such an
illuminating speaker to present for the Society during her
whirlwind visit to Australia was very special, and it has been
most gratifying to receive a plethora of positive comments
from attendees.
This has spurred us on to seek out other international speakers
who may be venturing “Down Under” in the not too distant future
and this could be your opportunity to suggest someone that you
are aware of, who might be approached. There are many subjects
including Art, Ceramics, Fashion, Automobiles, Furniture and the
Decorative Arts that we would like to see covered.
Dr. Erika Esau with advance copy of book (Photo George Boeck)
Whilst speaking of successful and memorable events, we were
privileged in May to view two special properties in the company of Scott Carlin, Curator of Elizabeth Bay House and Vaucluse
House. To begin this special event, Scott had secured a private
entrée to Greenway in Wentworth Road, Vaucluse, where we
were afforded a tour of the ground floor rooms, and coffee on
the terrace, courtesy of the owner, Mrs. Ashley Dawson-Damer, a
most gracious and generous host. After this we moved on to Vaucluse House, where Scott conducted a special tour of the grounds
and interiors.
There have been some recent developments within the Executive Committee that have positive ramifications for the day-today running of the Society. Gail Conder has relieved me of the
Membership Administration, a task which with all my best intentions, fell into disarray, and she has already made an impressive
contribution.
Greenway (Photo R. Lumby)
One of the other tasks that became onerous was that of Events
Management. Joy (Joyce) Burrell put her hand up to take on the
coordination of events with both Roy and me. Joy has established
a programme extending into 2011 and has undertaken the difficult task of making the arrangements with the various presenters.
Now onto ICADS (International Coalition of Art Deco Societies):
In earlier issues of The News you would have read about our international affiliations, and in particular about the International Coalition of Art Deco Societies. Whilst we are
not an Art Deco society, in 1997 a group
of our Founder Members joined our President and me at the 4th World Congress
on Art Deco* in Los Angeles organised
by the Art Deco Society of that city. Apart
from the desire to attend such a special
and glittering event, the Society planned
Greenway, looking towards the garage (Photo R. Lumby)
* The name and trademark of the World Congress on Art Deco is the property of the Miami Design
Preservation League, Miami Beach, Florida.
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From the Vice President
A Festival and a Purpose
Poster for the 2007 Queen
Mary Art Deco Festival
2008 Grand Art Deco Ball
Vaucluse House
to apply for ‘Sponsor’ status of ICADS at a
meeting held towards the end of this Congress. We were voted into the group and have since participated
in numerous international alerts to assist in the fight to preserve
significant heritage buildings and sites.
been privileged to be asked by the ADSLA to be the international
speaker at the weekend celebration which was a splendid occasion. Other contributions in the pipeline are from Rio de Janeiro as
a pre-alert for the 10th World Congress on Art Deco* to be held
there in August 2011, and from Durban.
Our President Roy Lumby has provided all the research and support material in order to lend our weight to the conservation (preservation) attempts to persuade local authorities and developers to
think again. Since then many of us have attended various congresses including Napier; New York,
where the Society was represented
by Craig (our Hon. Secretary) and Jill
Pearce (our “Caterer extraordinaire”)
Melbourne; and Montreal in 2009 attended by Committee Member Larisa
Sarkadi. The next exciting Congress
venue is Rio de Janeiro in August
2011, about which we will tell you
more via email and post.
Last but certainly not least is the start of something big! Some of
you would know about the series of illustrated talks billed as “Tea
& Tales” that Roy Lumby has been giving at The Grace Hotel in
Sydney. I was fortunate to attend one of these earlier in the year
and during the tour of the building,
began to realise that there were promotional opportunities to explore.
(Photo R. Lumby)
Expanding on the relationships that
have been forged with members of
group
ICADS, we have embarked on a pro- The
(Photo R. Lumby)
gramme of articles or items of interest, written by key members
of each group. We are thrilled to say the response has been great,
with the first offering, Gallery on the High Seas The Queen Mary
and the Art of Deco from Los Angeles appearing on pages six to
nine.
This first contribution has a special meaning for Roy and me, as
we attended the inaugural Queen Mary Art Deco Festival held on
board at Long Beach, California back in September 2005. Roy had
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The happy outcome is a commitment
from The Grace to support the newsletter by way of promotional inserts,
advertisements and advertorials. The
hotel management is very much
aware of the heritage significance of
the place and all content will blend
that aspect with the commercial imperatives.
This is very exciting for both parties and will also mesh with ICADS
Members via the exchange of newsletters and email flyers, and
through the extended links that the Society has established with
other groups around the world.
For the past five years, the Art Deco Society of Los Angeles
(ADSLA), in partnership with the Queen Mary, has produced
the “Queen Mary Art Deco Festival,” a four-day “cruise” on
this glorious ship, featuring lectures, dances, tours, a classic
car show and Art Deco bazaar. Taking place over Labor Day
weekend (the weekend prior to the first Monday in September), this event recreates the Golden Age of trans-Atlantic
travel, allowing guests the chance to celebrate the Queen
Mary’s legacy, while contributing to the massive restoration
Presentation of 2008 Donation to the Queen Mary for conservation
works. Representing the Queen Mary are, left to right, John Adamson
& Jay Primavera; and from the ADSLA, Rory Cunningham – President,
John Thomas – Vice President, and Sharlene Choy – Board Member.
effort required to save this piece of history.
All profits from the weekend’s signature Grand Ball are
donated by the ADSLA to the Queen Mary, specifically
earmarked for the preservation and restoration of the remaining artwork aboard. The ADSLA was instrumental in
the restoration of the Observation Bar, contributing both
money and consultative expertise. Our current projects are
the stabilization and restoration of “Unicorns in Battle,”
which hangs in the Queen’s Salon, and the restoration of
“Birds of the Old World/Birds of the New World,” located
in the Grand Salon.
YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS
ARE WELCOME
You can find more information on the Queen Mary Art Deco
The editor would love to include
your letters, essays or photos. In
fact, anything related to the subjects of architecture, art, design or
conservation.
Festival and preservation efforts at www.adsla.org
Until we speak again…
Yours sincerely
David de Rozenker-Apted
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elegant, stylish, understated overall look envisioned as a counterpoint to the Normandie’s high glamour. In the end 30 artists were
selected—including some famous names from the Royal Academy,
but for the most part working decorative or commercial artists,
and relatively unknown. The best art and the most elaborate decorations were, naturally, lavished on the First Class public rooms,
but all of the ship’s rooms were laden with decorative elements—
fabulous textiles, shimmering glass, and everywhere wood: gorgeous, glowing wood.
Gallery on the
High Seas:
Time’s breathless account of the maiden voyage expounded on the
Queen’s most significant design feature, and the one that placed
her firmly into the British school of art and design:
The Queen
Wood, Wood, Wood. Soon passengers were chattering and bandying compliments about the feature of the
Queen Mary most of them at once liked best, the frank
and “shippy” use of every imaginable kind of wood in
her walls, panels, bas reliefs and sculptures. Among
more than 50 kinds of wood, alert fanciers assisted by
Cunard handbooks were soon spotting avoidire, petula,
zebrano, bubinga, makore, tiger oak, patapsko, peroba,
pomla, blackbean. Some of the wood had been sprayed
with aluminum glaze and gleamed like silver. Definitely
and handsomely the keynote of the Queen Mary’s modernistic decoration is wood, wood, wood.
Mary and the
Art of Deco
By Athene Mihalakis Kovacic
Board Member, Ar t Deco Societ y of
Los Angeles
Photography by J. Christopher Launi
In the 75 years since her launch, the RMS Queen Mary has
been hailed as many things: the fastest ship on the seas,
the ship of choice for royalty (of both the hereditary and
Hollywood variety), the most elegant hotel and glamorous
nightclub afloat, war heroine, enduring icon of a glorious
past. One important characterization, however, is often
overlooked: A floating embodiment of the modern art and
design aesthetic known as Art Deco.
Construction of the Queen Mary (nee Hull 534) began December
1, 1930, at John Brown & Company Shipbuilding and Engineering
shipyard in Clydebank Scotland, at a time when all things seemed
possible. The future was bright, money grew on trees, and artists
and designers worldwide were energized and inspired by the modernist design aesthetic that had emerged five years earlier from the
Paris Exhibition. The great shipping lines were in a building frenzy,
applying these engineering and design innovations to a new generation of ships specifically envisioned as rivals to the most fashionable hotels of the era. These ships would be not only marvels of
technology, but marvelously beautiful, turning mundane, tedious
travel into the most glorious adventure imaginable.
In spite of the financial collapse caused by the Great Depression, which halted construction on the Queen Mary in December
of 1931 and necessitated a merger of the two British shipping
lines Cunard and White Star, economizing on any aspect of the
ship was never considered. With a loan guarantee from the British Government, the revitalized company restarted in earnest in
early 1934, spurred on by a sense of national pride—and as a response to the launch of the ship that would be the Queen Mary’s
arch-rival: France’s stunning Streamline Moderne flagship, the S.S.
Normandie. From her innovative hull design, to her breathtaking
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interiors (which by all contemporary accounts were unrivaled)—
spacious, elegant, and chic, decorated by teams of France’s most
talented artists—the Normandie was a floating testimonial to the
élan and sophistication of France.
Likewise, the Queen Mary was viewed by her makers—and her
countrymen—through nationalistic eyes as the incarnation of the
spirit of Modern Britain (a notably more conservative country during the years between the wars than freewheeling France). As a
result of this strong traditional streak, the Queen Mary’s public
rooms reflect a very British approach to the modern movement:
more cautious, less aggressive, and ultimately less groundbreaking, than those aboard the Normandie. Nonetheless, the Queen
Mary is considered the pinnacle of Maritime Deco, a more refined
cousin of Streamline Moderne, and a style that, ironically, became
a popular reference for hotels on land.
‘Keynote: Wood’
In addition to being the dominant design theme, these lush veneers—polished to a high-glass sheen that bathed the ship’s interiors in candle light tones—served as the backdrop for the Queen
Mary’s vast collection of art in all sizes and media.
Today the Queen Mary is a very different ship from when she first
set sail in 1936. Her years and history have all impacted her appearance. Many of her most famous rooms were destroyed in the
retrofitting required for her permanent mooring at Long Beach,
but even before that her wartime refitting and several rounds of
redecorating prior to mooring had changed the look and feel of
the original interiors. But in spite of the fact that many of her artworks have been lost over the years—the result of war, neglect,
and well-meaning but disastrous attempts at repair—the past five
years have seen renewed attention and urgency in the preservation
and restoration of the remaining artworks aboard, which include
some of this Art Deco landmark’s most recognized, and beloved
pieces.
The Famous and the Favorites
The art and decoration of the Queen Mary’s public rooms were
designed jointly under the direction of architects Benjamin Wistar
Morris and Arthur J. Davis. (Morris, incidentally, was an American
who trained at the École des Beaux Arts in Paris, and architect
of the Renaissance Revival Cunard Building on lower Broadway
in New York City.) The pairing of the American Morris and British
Davis was a deliberate act, made to assure that the ship remained
British in spirit—while still appealing to the tastes and sensibilities
of the wealthy Americans that Cunard hoped to attract as passengers.
The Grand Salon (formerly the First Class Dining Room), located on
what is now R Deck, was—and still is—one of the most spectacular
public rooms on the ship. One of the largest rooms ever constructed on a ship, it measured 143 feet long by 118 feet wide, with a
ceiling that soared 27 feet—the equivalent of two decks—high.
The stunning focal point of the room, which is still visible today, is
Macdonald Gill’s monumental decorative map of the North Atlantic, with its moving crystal ships that would allow elite passengers
to follow the ship’s transit from Southampton to New York and
back again, along both the summer and winter sailing routes.
Because the construction of the Queen Mary and her financial rescue were so closely tied to the country as a whole, Morris and
Davis sought out a wide array of British artists to submit design
ideas for all areas of the ship that would be harmonious with the
Located aft, opposite the map, is a mock tapestry by Philip Connard, titled “Merrie England,” displaying a romantic view of English history at what is today the “front” of the room orientation.
The colors of the mural are very much in keeping with the rich,
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Royal Salon
muted tones that one would see on an actual loomed piece of centuries past. Walter and Donald Gilbert also produced bronze doors
with themes of Castor and Pollox, the celestial twins.
Considered by many to be the most beautiful of the Queen Mary’s
remaining public rooms, the Queen’s Salon (First Class Main
Lounge), the second largest room aboard, positively glows, thanks
to alabaster urn-shaped lamps, three onyx fireplaces, and the spectacular “Unicorns in Battle,” the gorgeous carved and gilded panel
by Gilbert Bayes. (The Art Deco Society of Los Angeles is currently
involved in a fund-raising drive to begin restoration of this singular
work—at present it has been stabilized, but it will require an additional nine months of work and $40,000 to complete.)
The Royal Salon (First Class Smoking Room), located aft on the
Promenade Deck, is home to two of the most aggressively modern pieces on the Queen Mary: a pair of paintings by Edward
Wadsworth, “The Sea” and “Dressed Overall at the Quay.” According to ship’s lore, the decidedly surrealist style, most apparent
in “The Sea,” was not a favorite with the gentlemen who retired
there to enjoy a smoke. Instead they preferred to face the aft fireplace (an actual coal-burning fireplace), above which “Dressed
Overall” hung, flanked by the elegant, double-sided relief screens
with a more traditional marine imagery, although with a definite
modern feel.
The Main Hall and Shopping Centre, with its Art Deco floor design,
curved shop walls and burled pillars, looks very much as it did during the Queen Mary’s age. Located on the Promenade Deck by the
main staircase (upon which hangs the portrait medallion of Queen
Mary herself), it originally comprised three shops and 24 showcases, Maurice Lambert’s elegantly Deco 50-foot frieze, “Sport and
Speed,” wrapping around the cornice of the central shop.
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Gallery on the High Seas: The Queen Mary and the Art of Deco
The Verandah Grill, located aft on Sun Deck, was the intimate
“by reservation only” dining room where, for 5 shillings ($1.25
American), well-heeled passengers could enjoy a private table and
spectacular views off the stern of the ship. Designed in its entirety
by Doris Zinkeisen, (the Scottish-born costume designer and artist best known in America for her work on the 1936 version of
“Show Boat”), the room was originally carpeted in black with an
elaborate, glazed balustrade and accented with full-wall murals
framed in accents of gold. The murals, collectively known as “Entertainment,” filled with archetypal figures from theater, music
and dance, were recently restored.
Of all the areas on the ship currently open to the public, the room
that best represents the modern aesthetic that we today call Art
Deco, is the Observation Bar (First Class Observation Lounge and
Cocktail Bar). This semi-circular room fills the entirety of the forward Promenade Deck, with the bar set against the bulkhead. The
rich Chinese red of the pillars and appointments finds a dramatic
counter-balance in the cool, cast aluminum railings and detailed
finishes of the room. Above the bar, itself a sleek, clean very modern semi-circle that echoes the shape of the room, sits the artwork
that was, in its day, most beloved by passengers: “The Royal Jubilee Week, 1935” by Alfred R. Thompson. This colorful, whimsical
work commemorates King George V’s Silver Jubilee, a personal
event for many of the Queen’s pre-war passengers.
Queen’s Salon
Verandah Grill
Two years ago, the Observation Bar, which had been painted in
tones of silver and sage green (perceived as more “Deco” colors
by previous owners of the ship) was restored to its original color
palette, a vibrant and sophisticated mix of Chinese red, gold and
white. Designers and consultants, incorporating advice from the
preservation committee of the Art Deco Society of Los Angeles,
scraped back the pillars to the original paint layer for a perfect
color match. After some serious detective work, a handful of original chairs and tables were found hidden below decks in one of
the ship’s monumental holds, were re-upholstered in appropriate
fabric and returned to their rightful locations. And thanks to more
sleuthing, the five original chandeliers were located and are presently being restored and rewired, so that they can be installed in
the second phase of the Observation Bar’s restoration process.
Observation Bar
The Legend of the Name
“Prior to the naming [of the Queen Mary] Cunard ships
traditionally were given names ending in a distinct “ia”
The ship that began life as “Hull Number 534” at John Brown
& Company Shipbuilding and Engineering shipyard at Clydebank,
Scotland, has had what many would call an “exciting” life—part
triumph, part tragedy. Although now more dowager than reigning monarch, the Queen Mary remains the epitome of what Frank
Lloyd Wright called “noble architecture,” for “noble uses of noble
men.” If any structure on this earth, forged by man from iron
and steel, could be surmised to possess both heart and soul, and
to inspire those who sailed and those who only visit to a higher
nobility, it would be the Queen Mary. Come step aboard, and see
if you don’t agree.
sound, like Aquitania, Mauretania and Berengaria.
There are several plausible stories… The most enduring
suggests that it was no more than a misunderstanding.
Cunard had intended to maintain the tradition and
call their new liner “Victoria.” A small delegation from
the Line, headed by Sir Ashley Sparks, was granted
an audience with King George V to seek his official
approval. Sir Ashley began by stating: “Cunard would
like to name the ship after England’s greatest queen….”
Queen Mary allegedly smiled and replied: “I would be
delighted.”
Excerpted from: “RMS Queen Mary: 101 Questions and Answers About the Great
Transatlantic Liner,” by David Ellery. © David Ellery 2006. First published in Great
Britain by Conway, an imprint of Anova Books, www.anovabooks.com
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North Head Reveals its Historic Treasures
A lot more than the appeal of Sydney’s best views attracted
members to North Head for a Sunday of historic sight-seeing
and some interesting examples of how Art Deco found its
way into the design of one of Australia’s former school of
artillery military installations. It was a good opportunity to
view one of Australia’s most prominent headlands with its
unique flora and fauna sanctuary, aboriginal history and
links to the early colony.
Loser program. We were then shown The barracks gateway
the large parade ground and officers’ containing the Gatehouse
Visitors Centre
mess before starting our scenic walk
to North Fort, which included some particularly interesting native
flowers and the Banksia Scrub, ending with a spectacular view of
Sydney and Middle Harbours.
North Head encompasses 58 hectares of bush land. There are
around 80 buildings on the site, which can be divided into complexes comprising the Barracks and North Fort. The most central
group of buildings is the Barracks, a collection of Art Deco buildings arranged around a large parade ground built in 1936.
North Fort is now home to the National Artillery Museum. A memorial to the Royal Australian Artillery with guns, photographs,
books, research files, paintings, memorials, and medals, the Fort
tells the story of Australian Gunners which goes way back to the
earliest days of the Sydney colony. The Museum has active members working as guides and restorers of guns and equipment. Many
museum volunteers are veterans from several Australian wartime
conflicts.
The North Fort complex is located at the southern-most end of the
site and contains the Royal Australian National Artillery Museum.
The views from North Head of Sydney and Middle Harbour are arguably the best around, and take your breath away if you haven’t
seen them before.
Our guide for the gun installation was Norm, who led us down a
steep set of stairs to the entrance of the wartime coastal fortification. At the bottom of the stairs, Norm pointed to a 303 bullethole in the yellow doors leading to the tunnel where an intruder
was shot trying to force entry during
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The number 3 Quarantine cemetery monuments
Inside the tunnel dropping 60 metres
Inside the large 9.2 inch gun emplacement with dummy shells
One of the anti-aircraft guns that defended Darwin from Japanese attacks
the war. The tunnel dropped down 60 metres, but there was no
sensation of this happening except for a drain running the length
of the tunnel on both sides with fast-flowing water.
Royal Australian Artillery Historical Company. Every year there is a
service on the anniversary of the attack on Sydney by the Japanese
midget submarines. Nearby is a memorial walk with the names engraved into the pavers of those who served in all three Australian
armed services. On the way back to the Barracks, we passed the
hanging swamp, which was filled with water from recent rains.
The Fort consisted of two 9.2 inch coastal guns, which could rotate
360º and had a range of 27 kilometres. The guns were supported
by two search light elements and three 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft
guns. Today the guns are gone, but in the Museum is one of the
anti-aircraft guns that defended Darwin against Japanese aircraft
attacks during World War II.
We were introduced to our guides who took us first to the large
ballroom, cafeteria and artillery barracks where the lower artillery
ranks ate, slept and socialised. The Artillery Regiment left North
Head in 1989. The buildings today are let out to private companies,
with the best known being the 10 Network’s Australia’s Biggest
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National Artillery Museum guide Norm discusses an attempted break-in to
the battery tunnel during the war
The barracks parade ground
What is not well known is that North Head is not a part of the
Sydney Hornsby plateau geology, but is a tied island connected to
the mainland by a sand bar at Manly. In 2003 the Sydney Harbour
Federation Trust took over the site, and we met up with members
of the dedicated staff of volunteers who conduct tours of the Barracks and Museum. The volunteers are responsible for monitoring the locally endangered long-nosed bandicoot and other native
birds, plants and animals endemic to the area.
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One of the guides, Roy discusses the history of the Barracks
The Defence of Sydney memorial was erected by the Warringah
Australia Remembers Trust in 1995, in honour of all those who
served in the defence of Sydney during World War II. It was funded
by the Commonwealth and built by the volunteer members of the
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It was a very interesting and visually stimulating day for all our
members who attended and we are grateful to our Sydney Harbour
Trust and North Fort Artillery Museum Guides who introduced us
to the many treasures of North Head.
David Goodwin
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Elizabeth Bay and Potts Point – a brickie’s mecca
Here in Kingsley Hall we see the beginning of Sodersten’s extended fascination with brick detailing.
Characteristic of his buildings is a concentration of
decorative work at the top of the building, shown
to remarkable effect in this building.
Our esteemed president, Roy Lumby, sets off on
the first walk of 2010, whilst some members of
the touring party are already collecting images
If one delights in the many and varied ways bricks may be
used to decorate a building, I have found the spot for you.
If you admire the work of Sodersten, thrill to the application
of Art Deco with other building styles and don’t mind seeing
some Seidler works, then you will be in paradise.
The explosion of development in Elizabeth Bay and Potts Point in
the 1920s and 1930s led to a concentration of building styles akin
to the predominance of Art Deco in Napier, New Zealand.
We were blessed with magnificent weather for the Society’s first
educational walk of the year, and an air of anticipation swept the
crowd gathered in a postage stamp sized reserve at St Neot’s Avenue, Potts Point.
We must have had more than 40 in the touring party, and heads
were turning up and down Macleay Street as this mass of humanity surged along the street, snapping wildly whilst peering upwards
as if the sky was about to fall.
Devotees of Sodersten’s work were given the opportunity to study
the evolution of his architectural style, all in the space of several
kilometres. The concentration of examples of his buildings is extraordinary.
One may start with a sample of his 1920s experimental phase in
the Cheddington building at 63 Elizabeth Bay Road, with its Georgian Revival overall proportions, its exuberant Spanish Mission style
entry zone and hipped roof.
Up at 1a Barncleuth Square we find the start of his settling into the
Art Deco mode with Kingsley Hall, also designed in 1929, albeit
here mixing it with a touch of Gothic. This is a fascinating building, especially when looked at from a distance through the lens
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of a camera with a good zoom! The
use of different coloured bricks along
the top storey is really something to
behold….
Sodersten’s masterful use of
brick detailing and impressive
Art Deco finishes at the top
of Birtley Towers makes this
a truly outstanding building
and one of the great achievements of Art Deco residential
architecture in Australia
Consistent throughout this period,
up until the Second World War, is the
masterful use of bricks as a decorative element. This is in evidence
at Werrington, completed in 1930, and Wychbury, completed in
1934, both in Manning Street, and arguably is demonstrated to
greatest effect at Birtley Towers, designed in 1934.
A few years later, Sodersten toured Europe and North America,
was impressed by the European Modernism movement taking hold
there, and started experimenting again. A result of this experimentation is captured in the design of Marlborough Hall at 4 Ward
Avenue, completed in 1938.
Cheddington – an eclectic work exemplifying Sodersten’s early
experimental phase
One can see that this precinct is so replete with architectural examples from the 1920s and 30s that an interesting tour may be had
whilst simply concentrating on one architect. In fact fine examples
of 1920s and 1930s apartment living abound in this area. Needless to say, Roy had an excellent grasp of every one of them and
the walk was, as usual, both informative and entertaining.
If you have any interest in this period, I cannot recommend this
walk too highly.
I would also like to mention that excellent notes which may be used
for a self-guided tour are already available on the Society’s web site at
www.twentieth.org.au.
John Dymond
Spr i ng
2010
Werrington, 1930, (on the corner) and Wychbury, 1934, (to its right), are
excellent examples of advanced brick detailing and confident use of the
Art Deco style
The
N ews
Malborough Hall reflects Sodersten’s changed thinking following a tour of
Europe and North America and his exposure to European Modernism
Spring
2010
13
Nature
Appropriated:
Australian Flora
and Fauna in
decorative ar t
Figure 2. Lucien Henry, photographed in 1871
(Reproduced in Steven, p.14)
Par t 1
by Roy Lumby
Australians have often discussed the need for a distinctive
national identity. This article explores one of the paths taken
towards that goal - the appropriation and exploitation of what
is indigenous to the country to create a readily identifiable
“Australian” design idiom. This article introduces a vast and
fascinating topic time-frame in the century spanning the
1850s and the 1950s.
One of the early instances where Australia’s flora and fauna appeared in local decorative art was the art of jewellery making. At
the beginning of the 1850s, a number of English and European
jewellers were attracted to life in Australia. Although, as might be
expected, their work showed a clear European origin, the jewellers also began to respond to their new home. Thus plants such as
banksias, ferns and palm trees and animals such as emus, kangaroos, cockatoos, koalas, possums and species of lizards found their
way into precious brooches, pendants and the like (Figure 1). By
the next decade, colonial jewellery was winning acclaim abroad.
For instance, a gold bracelet and brooch exhibited at the International Exhibition of 1862 in London won acclaim and the comment,
“The piece bore witness to the tendency of colonial goldsmiths to
the reproduction of plants in forming designs.”1
Ironically, perhaps, one of the earliest people to encourage the
use of Australian flora was a Frenchman, Lucien Henry (Figure 2).
Henry (1850-1896) was born in the south of France. He studied in
Paris at the end of the 1860s. He was transported to New Caledonia because of the part he played in the Paris Commune of 1871,
and arrived in Sydney during 1880 after his release from prison.
Here he took up the position of instructor of modelling at the Mechanics School of Arts, and then became the first lecturer in art
when the School of Arts was taken over by the Board of Technical
1 Anne Schofield, “Australian Flora and Fauna in 19th and early 20th century jewellery,” The
Australian Antique Collector, 43rd edition, January-June 1992, p.27.
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Education and the Sydney Technical College was formed. Henry
returned to Paris in 1891.2 This coincided with the completion of
the Technical College’s new building in Ultimo. Designed by William Kemp, it featured Australian flora and fauna in its decorative
program (Figure 3).
One of Henry’s interests was the development of a national school
of applied design and he explored the possibilities of floral motifs
as a basis of architectural decoration. In an article published in
the February 1888 edition of Australian Art, Henry wrote “if the
attention of the architects was turned in that direction, I have no
doubt that before the lapse of another twenty-five years we should
see in this city and its suburbs public and private buildings decorated with Australian flora and fauna which would present enough
original character to form the starting point of a National Art”.3 He
believed that as a civilisation developed the decorative arts “manifested” above any of the other arts the “characters of the races”
- decorative arts were
essential for the foundation of the higher
artistic expressions.
They “have been
proved to constitute
the substrata of civilisation, the rich soil
from which the other
Figure 1. Circa 1885 brooch by Evan Jones of Sydney,
arts draw their sap, featuring an Aboriginal flanked by an emu and kangaroo
without which they (Reproduced in Schofield, p.27)
could not rise above
the ground and grow and tower into the blue sky”.4
2 Refer to Ann Stephen (editor), Visions of a Republic: the work of Lucien Henry (Sydney,
2001).
3 Bernard Smith (editor), Documents on Art and Taste in Australia 1770-1914 (Melbourne,
1975, 1990), pp.237-38.
4 Smith, p.242.
Spr i ng
2010
Figure 3.Sculptural embellishments on the former Sydney Technical
College in Ultimo, 1891 (Photograph by author).
It is worth noting, however, that Henry arrived into a country
where local artists and craftsmen were already conversant with
flora and fauna and were incorporating them into their work: “…
Australian symbols were perceived … in a simple and straightforward manner, not yet laden with cute nationalist symbolism, nor
touched with nostalgia. They were natural, and to the younger
generation, more easily understood than anything from the Old
World.”5 Henry produced designs for many objects ranging from
wallpapers and jewellery, which drew on local fauna as well as his
beloved waratah, to furniture and architectural elements such as
columns (Figure 4).
Apart from Henry, there were a handful of local protagonists who
believed that the use of native flora and fauna was a crucial way for
designers and craftsmen to create an Australian identity for their
work. Richard Thomas Baker was one. He joined the Technological
Museum, later to become known as the Museum of Applied Arts
and Sciences, in 1888 as an assistant curator to the botanist J H
Maiden. His work included describing and naming plant species
and preparing surveys of eastern Australia’s flora.
In September 1898 Baker was promoted to the position of Museum Curator and Government Economic Botanist. He too was
“passionately fond” of the waratah to the extent of promoting it
as the country’s national floral emblem, and actively encouraged
people to base their designs on it and other species of plants, and
he wrote “[t]his utilisation of the native flora has laid the foundation of what will eventually become a distinctly national form of
decoration – an achievement that has probably no parallel in any
modern country”.6 In the early years of the twentieth century, Baker observed that the waratah was the most popular floral decoration7 although other plants such as the flannel flower, Stenocarpus
(the Firewheel tree), Banksia, and ferns were almost as suitable.
Baker compared the superiority of the waratah to the traditional
plant-based decorations:
When one sees what designs the old Egyptians produced
from the simple Lotus flower, the Greeks from the Hon5 Beverley Kingston, The Oxford History of Australia. Volume 3 1860-1900 (Melbourne, 1988),
p.222.
6 R T Baker, The Australian Flora in Applied Art (Sydney, 1915), p.12.
eysuckle, and the Acanthus leaf – flowers and leaves
which possess few of the qualities for conventionalisation such as are found in the Waratah, it will be readily
admitted how fortunate Australians are in possessing
so fine a floral specimen as the Waratah for decorative
purposes. The individual flowers are capable of almost
innumerable treatment in ornamentation, whilst the
bracts give the artist a splendid field for line work in the
setting of these, and to all must be added the delightful
irregularity of the leaf form, with its pronounced reticulations of the venation, both offering sufficient material
for producing a rococo, foliaceous effect.8
Waratahs found their way onto a miscellany of diverse objects:
column capitals, Wunderlich pressed metal ceilings, carved stone
pediments and tympani on the facades of buildings, wrought iron
panels and bronze plaques, plaster objects, jewellery, silver, wallpaper, leadlights, wood carvings, book bindings (Figure 5), and
ceramics. Royal Doulton sent the artist Louis Bilton to Australia
to observe and sketch the flora so that it might be adapted to
ceramic wares. Even at the beginning of the century the Doulton
pieces were rare, as production was limited. Doulton also made
tiles with waratahs on them. However, the British manufacturer
was not without competition, for waratah-bedecked vases and
other items made and decorated in Japan were available in Australia. Other manufacturers were just as adventurous. For instance,
Royal Worcester collaborated with accomplished artist Marian Ellis
Rowan (1847-1922)9 to produce a line of ceramics during the early
twentieth century, at the instigation of Sydney jeweller William
Flavelle. A range of ceramics featuring flowers, birds and other
Australian wildlife (Figure 6) was created and successfully captured
the Australian market.10
After Federation, which firmly entrenched local fauna as symbols
of the nation (Figure 7), there was a minor flourishing of woodcarving, with native fauna and flora embellishing all manner of furnish8 Baker, p.16.
9 Refer to Margaret Betteridge, “The Use of Australian Flora in Decorative Arts,” The
Australasian Antique Collector, 19th edition, 1979mpp.44-50.
10 See John Sandon, “Royal Worcester and Ellis Rowan, a special collaboration,” The
Australian Antique Collector, 47th edition, January-June 1994, pp.27-31.
7 Baker, no pagination
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15
Nature Appropriated: Australian Flora and Fauna in decorative ar t
ings. Serious artisans
as well as hobbyists
all expressed national
sentiment in their
craft. The gum leaf
became a favoured
motif, leading some
to consider the works Figure 6. Royal Worcester coffee cups with
a local adaptation of Australian flowers after Ellis Rowan designs,
the Art Nouveau, or 1913-14 (Reproduced in Sandon, p.28)
‘Gum Nut Nouveau’.
Significantly, two of the major carvers were not Australian born
at all. The Prussian Robert Prenzel arrived in Melbourne in 1888
and Canadian John Kendrick Blogg came to Melbourne in 1877,
and both took to native motifs and timbers with enthusiasm in the
first decades of this century (Figure 8).11 People were also able to
finish the inside of their homes with nationalist decoration, and
plaster products such as ceiling panels and wall vents were available that bought flora and fauna right into the house (Figure 9).
The outside also received attention in this wave of nationalist pride
(Figure 10). It is not surprising, then, that the publishers of popular
periodicals were encouraged to express this mood in their graphics. The covers of The Lone Hand that were created by May Gibbs,
for instance, exemplify this (Figure 11).
The Society of Arts and Crafts was founded in 1906. It was given
vice-regal patronage and supported by people such as R T Baker.
Many of its members were professionally trained, either locally
or abroad. It aimed to promote and encourage various arts and
crafts and develop the use of Australian materials and motifs, and
it seems that the work of members produced between 1910 and
the mid 1930s adhered to these aims.
Stylised flora and fauna remained popular motifs,12 as these vases (Figure 12)
made between 1913 and 1923 show.
The Society received some important
and official support from the Art Gallery of New South Wales, which had
started to collect decorative art by 1880
as part of a belief that there was a real
need to develop an appreciation of art Figure 7. National coat of
arms above the main ento catalyse local industry and artistic trance to Old Parliament
endeavour. However, early purchases House, Canberra (Photoall originated in Europe. The Techno- graph by author).
logical Museum, from its foundation
in 1880, had similar aims motivating its collection of decorative
and applied art, which by 1906, under the direction of Baker, had
accumulated over 200 pieces. In 1901 the Art Gallery Trustees ratified the commitment to procuring applied and decorative art and
continued to obtain European work. By 1910, however, the Gallery began to purchase items from the New South Wales Society of
Arts and Crafts.13 It pursued an uneven policy of collection in the
following years, at one stage even considering transferring its decorative art collection to the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences.
By 1934 it had largely ceased collecting decorative art, which coincided with the death of Sir John Sulman, President of the Gallery
Trustees from 1919, who had been instrumental in maintaining
interest in local work
Figure 4. Lucien Henry’s design for a cast iron verandah post and
a balustrade (Reproduced in Steven, p.185)
Figure 9.
Cockatoos embellish this plaster
ceiling lining (Reproduced in Fraser
and Joyce, p.103).
Figure 8.
John Blogg gum leaves (Reproduced in Hooper
Figure 10.
Terracotta
kangarooshaped finial
on the roof
of a house
in Melbourne
(Reproduced
in Fraser
and Joyce,
p.44)
Figure 11.
May Gibbs cover for The Lone Hand, 1915 (Reproduced
in Holden, p.59).
Figure 12.
Vases in the possession of the Art
Gallery of NSW. Left to right vase
with cicada and gum leaf by Edith
Bell Brown, circa 1913; vase with koala by Vi Eyre, 1923; and vase with
cicadas by Delia Cadden, 1917 (Reproduced on the cover of The Australian Antique Collector, 43rd edition, January-June 1992).
11 Toby and Juliana Cooper, ‘Collecting Australiana’, This Australia, Winter 1982, pp.47-48.
Figure 5. Waratah book binding by W A Gullick, circa 1915 (Australian Flora in Applied Art, p.1, reproduced in Bogle, p.48)
16
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12 Deborah Edwards, “The Australian Decorative Arts Collection at the Art Gallery of New
South Wales”, The Australian Antique Collector, 43rd edition, January-June 1992, p.33.
13 Edwards, pp.30-33.
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17
Nature Appropriated: Australian Flora and Fauna in decorative ar t
Apart from groups such as the Society of Arts and Crafts and dedicated individuals, the interest in Australian flora and fauna waned
after World War One. One indication of this was in the naming
of Canberra’s suburbs, where native flora were discarded for the
prosaic names that are still with us today. The more adventurous
turned to modern art for inspiration. The most popular strand
was the Art Deco style,
which arrived into this
country from Europe by
way of America during
the second half of the
1920s. The architecture
associated with this style
has the most accessible
references to local flora
and fauna of the interwar period.
Indigenous wildlife and
flora were used extensively in the United
States and Canada during the 1920s and 1930s
to provide a regional or
governmental identity
to the large numbers of
relatively uniform build- Figure 13. Decorative screen above the
ings constructed during main entrance to the Marine Building in
Vancouver, 1929
this period. The Marine (Photograph by author).
Building in Vancouver
(Figure13) provides a striking instance of how conventionalised
bird forms, juxtaposed with an equally conventionalised “sunset
over the Pacific”, could stamp a regional identity on an otherwise
conventional Art Deco office tower. The architects of the Northern Life Tower in Seattle (Figure 14) took this a step further and
turned the whole building into a metaphor for a mountain. In the
words of one of the architects, “And over the Lake … stood the
Incomparable, the Great Rainier of both heaven and earth sweeping upward in strength and power, forest blue-black at the base,
softened at the timber line and paled by the haze up into the eternal whiteness of the snow crown in the skies. Why not grade the
brickwork like the shading water of the lake or the black to white
sweep of the great mountain? After all, inspiration interprets environment and this would be better done if environment were the
mother of inspiration.”14 A romantic and engaging blend of architecture and animal decoration appeared in Oregon’s Timberline Lodge
(Figures 15 and 16), a ski
lodge sited on an actual
mountain completed in
1936 as part of a Federally funded unemployment relief project.
Kenneth McConnel was
one of the very few architects practicing in
Sydney between the
wars who actually published something on the
nature of architectural
decoration. In a 1930 article he wrote, “… I must
say that in Australia we
Figure 14. Building as a metaphor for
have a great many beaumountain: the Northern Life Tower in
tiful motifs in our flora
Seattle, now dwarfed by recent develand fauna capable of
opment (Photograph by author).
adaptation, and we are
very much to blame that we have not already conventionalised
these and added them to our architectural vocabulary.”15 For all
this, the best that he was able to come up with was the two koalas perched precariously above Macquarie Street on the façade of
BMA House (Figure 17), completed in 1930. Several years later the
influential sculptor Rayner Hoff embellished the main entry of Emil
Sodersten’s City Mutual Life Building in Hunter Street with bronze
banksias, flannel flowers and other flora (Figure 18). And Hennessy, Hennessy and Co’s 1939 Prudential Building in Martin Place,
14 A H Albertson, “Inspired by Nature”, The American Architect, February 1930, p.34.
Figure 15.Rendering of Timberline Lodge by architect Linn Forrest
(Reproduced in Rose and Gleason, p.24).
15 Kenneth McConnel, ‘The Trend of Present-Day Architecture in Sydney and Abroad’,
Architecture, 1 June 1930, pp.424-427.
since demolished, included minute koalas in the role of balusters
for the handrail of the main stair. Koalas also made a discrete appearance on the main entry of Singleton High School. Elsewhere
across Australia a few isolated examples appeared, such as the
Institute of Anatomy (Figure 19) in Canberra, which was decorated
with Australian flora and a profusion of Australian fauna (Figures
20 to 23). It was designed
by W Hayward Morris in
association with Robert
Casboulte and its elegant
stripped classical architecture forms a fitting and
earnest background for
these delightful embellishments. The Australian War
Memorial in Canberra includes decorative bosses in
the form of animal heads
lining the sides of the
central Court of Honour
(Figure 24). These were
designed by W Leslie Bowles and executed by W M
Swan. In Melbourne examples include Harry Norris’
Burnham Beeches in the
Figure 17.One of the pair of glazed
Dandenongs, completed
terracotta Koalas made by Wunderlich
Ltd near the summit of BMA House in
in 1933 (Figure 25), Marsh
Macquarie Street, Sydney
and Michaelson’s 1939
(Photograph by author).
Australasian Natives Building in Elizabeth Street, Melbourne, which includes a few discrete
koalas, emus and kangaroos, and Marcus Barlow’s 1932 Manchester Unity Building in Swanston Street, Melbourne.
Flora, fauna and the indigenous were thought to be respectably
representative of Australia to an overseas audience in the late
1930s. Australia was represented by pavilions at the New York
World’s Fair, designed by Stephenson and Turner, and the Golden
Figure 18. Rayner Hoff’s relief sculpture on the porch of the City Mutual
Life Assurance Building in Hunter Street, Sydney, 1936
(Photograph by author).
Figure 19.Principal façade of the Institute of Anatomy, Canberra
(Photograph by author).
Figure 16. Carved wood relief by Erich Lamade above a dining room
fireplace in Timberline Lodge
(Photograph by Don Condit, reproduced in Rose and Gleason, p.45).
Figure 20. Institute of Anatomy: goannas and wild flowers form the
capital of this pilaster
(Photograph by author; sculptor not ascertained).
18
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2010
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19
Nature Appropriated: Australian Flora and Fauna in decorative ar t
Gate Exposition in San Francisco, both held during 1939. Amongst
the displays at both expositions were paintings by Margaret Preston depicting wild flowers (Figure 26), whilst the pavilion in New
York (Figure 27), which received a great deal of praise in the English and American architectural press, was also enhanced by Adrian
Feint’s paintings of tropical fish and birds on glass.16 A pavilion
was erected as part of the New Zealand Centennial Exhibition of
1940 (Figure 28), also designed by Stephenson and Turner, and
here Feint’s mural of “a delicately painted slender gum tree with a
decorative arrangement at its base of rocks, ferns, and a lyre bird”
and an “attractive panel in oils of Australian birds” graced the entrance (Figure 29). Elsewhere a mural by Douglas Annand consisting of a photomontage and “design in colour” depicted ingenious
art of the Australian aboriginal and natives of New Guinea, and
in another part of the building he “surpassed himself in an excellent arrangement of Australian birds, animals, and a huge decorative device with conventionalised heraldic shields, representing the
Australian States.”(Figure 30)17
Figure 21. Institute of
Anatomy: stylized frillnecked lizards form an architrave around the main
entrance to the building
(Photograph by author;
sculptor not ascertained).
Figure 26. One of Margaret
Preston’s still life paintings exhibited at the New York World’s
Fair, 1929 (Reproduced in Edwards, Margaret Preston,
p.171).
Figure 27. Australian Pavilion at the New York
World’s Fair (Reproduced
in Shaw, p.78)
Figure 29. Adrian Feint
working on the mural to
be placed above the cinema entrance in the Australian Pavilion at the New
Zealand Centennial Exhibition (Reproduced in Ure
Smith, no pagination)
Figure 22. Institute of
Anatomy; koala plaque at
the rear of the building
(Photograph by author;
sculptor not ascertained).
During the 1950s Australia’s flora and fauna continued to appeal
to designers and craftsmen. In 1956, the Olympic Year, the Australian National Travel Association was active in promoting Australia as an attractive proposition for tourists and migrants. Important
designers such as Douglas Annand produced posters which made
much of native flora and fauna and his poster featuring a striking
black swan (Figure 31) is characteristic of the period in that one
powerful image convincingly links the concept underlying the advertisement and its text. Flora and fauna still found their way onto
consumer goods as well, as the Geraldton wax flowers (Figure 32)
on this archetypal kidney-shaped dish of the late 1950s shows.
To be continued.
Figure 28. Australian Pavilion at the New Zealand
Centennial Exhibition in Wellington (Reproduced in
Shaw, p.75)
16 Sydney Ure Smith (ed.) Australian Art Annual 1939 (Sydney, 1939), p.96
17 Smith, p.98.
Figure 30.
Douglas Annand’s
sketch for the mural
over the entrance to
the art gallery in the
Australian Pavilion
at the New Zealand
Centennial Exhibition (Reproduced in
Ure Smith, no pagination).
Figure 23. Institute of
Anatomy: platypus
plaque within the
building (Photograph
by author; sculptor not
ascertained)
Figure 24. Australian War Memorial: one
of the decorative sandstone bosses in
the Court of Honour (Photograph by author).
Figure 31.
Douglas Annand’s poster for
the Australian
National Travel
Association, circa
1956 (Reproduced in
O’Callaghan,
p.35).
Figure 25. Decorative moulded panel on the exterior
of Burnham Beeches (Photographer Patrick Van Daele, reproduced in Van Daele and Lumby, p.131).
Figure 32.
Ceramic dish, back stamped
“Florena Australia”, circa
1960 (Author’s collection).
Sources
• Toby and Juliana Cooper, “Collecting Australiana,” This Australia, Winter 1982, pp.47-48.
• Deborah Edwards, “The Australian Decorative Arts Collection at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, The Australian Antique Collector, 43rd edition, January-June 1992, p.33.
• Margaret Preston. Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 2005.
• H Fraser and R Joyce, The Federation House: Australia’s own style. The Lansdowne Press, Dee Why, 1986.
• Robert Holden, Cover Up: The art of magazine covers in Australia. Hodder & Stoughton, Rydalmere, 1995.
• Kenneth McConnel, ‘The Trend of Present-Day Architecture in Sydney and Abroad’, Architecture, 1 June 1930, pp.424-427.
• Judith Rose (editor-in chief and designer) and Catherine Gleason (editor), Timberline Lodge: a love story. Graphic Arts Center Publishing Company, Portland (Oregon), 1986.
• John Sandon, “Royal Worcester and Ellis Rowan, a special collaboration,” The Australian Antique Collector, 47th edition, January-June 1992, pp.27-31.
• John Shaw, Sir Arthur Stephenson, Australian architect. The Stephenson & Turner Sydney/Hong Kong Group, 1987.
• Ann Stephen (editor), Visions of a Republic: the work of Lucien Henry. Powerhouse Publishing, Sydney, 2001.
• Sydney Ure Smith (editor), Australian Art Annual 1939. Ure Smith Pty Limited, Sydney, 1939.
• Patrick Van Daele and Roy Lumby, A Spirit of Progress: Art Deco architecture in Australia. Craftsman House, North Ryde, 1997.
• Anne-Marie van de Ven, ‘Images of the Fifties: Design and Advertising’ in The Australian Dream, design of the fifties (Judith O’Callaghan, editor), Powerhouse Publishing, Sydney, 1993.
20
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ADVERTORIAL
Taxation of Natural Resources Revisited
In the last edition of The News I explored the Federal Government’s
proposed Resource Super Profits Tax (“RSPT”), both in terms of what
the Australia’s Future Tax System review (“Henry Review”) and what
the International Monetary Fund (“IMF”) had to say about it.
We saw in the previous discussion that the RSPT was likely to extract
a more significant proportion of profits as taxes from mining than the
existing mining royalties regime where that mining was relatively
profitable, as it is now as we are in the boom phase of the cycle. On the
strength of this likely outcome the Federal Government argued that the
RSPT was “fair”. However, as Professor Mintz states in his paper1:“The Government’s original proposal for a federal ..[RSPT] …
would have significantly deterred mining investments due to the
interaction between the [RSPT] and corporate income taxes.”
That is to say, because the RSPT was to be a profits based tax and
was to be, broadly speaking, imposed on top of the existing corporate
taxation system, its application, in instances of highly profitable
mining operations, was likely to be confiscatory with regard to the
profits of highly profitable miners. This quickly became apparent once
the proposal came to be discussed in the public domain. As Professor
Mintz puts it2:“Where the [Henry Review] … is insufficient in its analysis is
with respect to the impact of both resource rent tax and corporate
tax regimes on incentives to invest in the resource industry.”
Looking at the RSPT’s replacement then, the Mineral Resource Rent
Tax (“ MRRT”), Professor Mintz continues to see problems. Broadly,
it seems that the Federal Government has now conceded too much
in drawing up a compromise solution with selected mining industry
participants. He says of the MRRT3:“… the new … [MRRT] … would also distort investment
decisions as it is limited to selected resources [coal and iron
ore only] and provides an excessive cost deduction [unused
deductions for project assets based on book value would be
carried forward at an uplift factor of the long term bond rate
increased by seven percentage points] for exploration and
development costs.”
Professor Mintz feels4 in designing any systems for taxing mining,
three key principles should be borne in mind, namely:1.as owner of the resource, the relevant government is entitled
to a full share of the resource rents;
2.rents should be shared with private producers to attract the
most efficient producers to exploit any resource; and
3.the tax should be designed well to maximize the rents for
both the producers and the government.
A rent based tax, operating is isolation, is an appropriate levy to
1 “An Evaluation of the Business Tax Recommendations of the Henry Review and the
Australian Government Response”, October 2010, Professor Jack M Mintz, p2.
2 Ibid.
3 Ibid.
4 As above, page 15
.
maximise rents. In other words, mining operations could be made
exempt for income tax but subject to a comprehensive rent based tax
such as the original RSPT. The income tax exemption would of course
have to be carefully worked out to prevent unintended consequences
arising from tax avoidance practices or other systemic abuse, but this
deliberate approach does not sit well with the Federal Government’s
desire to seize the opportunity for revenue at the peak of the mining
cycle.
Unused cost deductions do arise as a natural outcome of the long
periods of time between exploration, identification and extraction of
a mineral resource. Given this, it is appropriate that such unused cost
deductions are carried forward at a rate of interest to preserve their
value. A riskless bond rate is appropriate since the government would
fully share costs and risks with the private producer where a rent based
tax was operating in isolation as described above. As Professor Mintz
puts it5:“In the absence of corporate taxation, this form of resource
taxation would not impact on marginal investment decisions.
It would collect rents from producers and lower the rate of
return (including rents) earned on mining projects. Therefore,
if a pure rent tax were to affect investment, it would only be in
the case of producers choosing to invest in other jurisdictions
where rents received from mining investments are higher. For
marginal investments with zero rent, a pure rent tax will not
affect decisions.”
So, from an economic point of view, it appears that a pure rent tax
set at about the levels of tax and uplift factor for unused deductions
set out in the RSPT was more or less fine. The problem that needed
to be addressed was the interaction of this rent tax with the existing
corporate tax system. Unfortunately, it appears that the Henry Review
did not discuss this issue at all. Certainly, the introduction of a pure
rent tax and the consequent introduction of corporate income tax
exemptions would be both politically difficult (how to define which
minerals would be included, how to tax industrial conglomerates with
some mining functions etc., etc.) and administratively onerous (how to
design anti-tax avoidance provisions, how to issue tax rulings and other
guidance in a timely manner, how to monitor and deal with effectively
unintended consequences etc. etc.), but this does not justify ignoring
these issues all together. It would seem that the international attention
that both the RSPT and the MRRT has generated should be put to
good use and a comprehensive and transparent community discussion
should be arranged with the usual issue of green papers, white papers
and draft legislation dealing in a holistic fashion with resource taxation
and corporate taxation (including dividend imputation).
5 Ibid.
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