This store is home to a wealth of architectural elements that have been saved from important and beautiful buildings including ornate carved timber pieces, stained glass windows, columns, mouldings, ceiling panels and other building remnants such as chimney pots. There’s also architectural models, furniture and musical instruments.
Feature objects in the exhibition
Architectural model of three shopfronts
These model buildings are part of a collection of amazingly detailed and historically accurate commercial buildings that recreate 1890s King Street, Sydney. Artist Jack Montgomery made the models for the Australian Broadcasting Commission in the 1960s.
King Street is one of the oldest Sydney streets. Named after Governor King, it has been a major east–west route across the city for about 200 years. The models reveal a lost collection of trades, shops and entertainment. There are warehouses, tobacconists, hotels, confectioners, theatres, barristers, solicitors, auctioneers, druggists, silk merchants, fish and oyster merchants, and bread and biscuit bakers. King Street was also a retail mecca and the clothing trade served as a catalyst for the city’s retail boom. Drapers, milliners, haberdashers, tailors, men’s mercers, glovers and shoemakers were the ubiquitous tradesmen and retailers of the day, with many people living above their shops.
King Street’s night-life was a magnet for Sydneysiders and had something of a reputation for debauchery and drunkenness, not surprising since it boasted 22 hotels. The 1887 Royal Commission into Intoxicating Drink was alarmed by King Street and noted: ‘Among the ordinary customers at these bars are to be found men of all ages and classes; some of them are said to be frequented by supers and ballet girls from the neighbouring theatres, and it is believed that in several cases they are little better, if any, than houses of assignation.’
Learn more about the Architectural model of three shopfronts on the Powerhouse website
Volunteer Insights and Talking Points
The models were made during the 1950s by Jack Montgomery who was a model maker for the ABC. They were later owned and displayed by Sydney City Council before being acquired by the Powerhouse Museum.
In the 1880’s Sydney was taking on its modern form as a business and professional centre, with architecture to match. This lost city catches Sydney at a cross roads in its history. A bustling variety of people and activities began to make way for a more specialised, more inhibited city. Much of 1880s King Street is still recognisable, much is long gone.
The models were made by Jack Montgomery of the ABC for a TV documentary about King Street.
The City of Sydney Archives give construction date of 1956 although this seems unlikely given that television transmission only began in 1956. There is also an Archives record confirming that the models were in the possession of Sydney City Council in 1977.
Question to engage general visitors:
Did you know the Watsons Bay tramway ran down King Street until its closure and replacement by buses in 1960.
Question to engage younger audiences:
Have you ever made a model of a house or building? Do you know what these models are made of? You can make models from paper, cardboard, matches, Lego….
Question to engage enthusiasts:
Do you know who King Street was names after?
King Street was named after Governor Phillip Gidley King, the third Governor of NSW
Collection of fictile ivory reproduction panels
Fictile ivories are plaster of Paris reproduction casts of intricately carved ivory objects. The Museum has a collection of hundreds of examples, with pieces that range from ancient tablets to medieval caskets.
In the late 1800s, some Australian museums and galleries acquired plaster copies of rare treasures to show to their geographically isolated visitors. Between 1884 and 1887 the Museum purchased over 650 plaster-cast reproductions of artworks of antique boxes, diptychs, writing tablets, plaques, medieval caskets, chess pieces, mirror cases and book covers. Many are intricately carved and filled with scenes of biblical history, saints’ lives, popular romance stories and classical legends.
The casts in our collection were first made by John Obadiah Westwood. Rubber-like moulds of Gutta-percha were carefully prepared from the originals and copies were then cast in plaster of Paris. These were then hand-painted, often with such skill that it was difficult to distinguish the copy from the original.
It was John Obadiah Westwood’s (1805–93) idea to create an accessible collection for students and scholars to study. Later, many of these casts were acquired by London’s South Kensington Museum to educate British artisans. Primarily a British entomologist, Westwood travelled around Europe in the 1850s, searching through church treasuries and museums for ivory carvings.
With today’s easy access to the world’s art at our fingertips via the Internet, we forget how isolated Australia was from the rest of the world. The Museum fulfilled an important role in teaching not only technological skills, but a historical appreciation of the applied arts.
Over 650 plaster cast reproductions were acquired by the Museum between 1884 and 1887
Learn more about the Collection of fictile ivory reproduction panels on the Powerhouse website
Volunteer Insights and Talking Points
This is a plaster cast of the ivory original from the South Kensington Museum, now the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (Museum numbers: 220-1865 to 220C-1865).
Making plaster copies is a centuries-old tradition that reached the height of its popularity during the 19th century where many institutions and museums were actively building collections of casts of architectural details and of works of art, as well as of fixed monumental work.
This object is a set of four small plaques. Probably fixed originally at the corners of the front of a gospel book. Each little plaque contains a figure of one of the four evangelists writing, mending his pen or dipping it into his ink-pot.
Between 1884 and 1887 the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences acquired over 650 plaster cast reproductions of European Medieval carved artworks into its collection.
Question to engage general visitors:
Did you know that while the tusk of the elephant is correctly considered to present the purest characteristics of ivory the tusks of other animals, such as the walrus, the hippopotamus, and the narwhal are included in the list of animals who provided the raw material for ivory carving.
Question to engage younger audiences:
Have you ever made something using a mould? e.g. plaster sculpture, jelly, ice
Question to engage enthusiasts:
Do you know how to go about making a cast for an original object?
A – To make a plaster cast, a negative mould has to be taken of the original object. The initial mould could be made from one of several ways. A flexible mould could be made by mixing wax with gutta-percha, a rubbery latex product taken from tropical trees. These two substances formed a mould that had a slightly elastic quality, so that it could easily be removed from the original object. Moulds were also made from gelatine, plaster or clay, and could then be used to create a plaster mould to use for casting.
Model buildings by Greg Mackay, Corporate Graphics
This is a collection of seven, white acrylic architectural scale models of buildings and facades which had been erected in Macquarie Street, Sydney, largely by Governor Lachlan Macquarie during the early colonial period. The models are: Hyde Park Barracks; Female School of Industry; Royal Mint Sydney Branch (southern wing of Sydney General Hospital; Legislative Council Chamber (northern wing of Sydney General Hospital); gates, pavilions and walls of the Hyde Park Barracks; Sydney General Hospital central wing; and the Iron Free Church. Of the buildings represented in this collection only the Hyde Park Barracks and the northern and southern wings of the Sydney General Hospital remain today (2017).
Learn more about the Model buildings by Greg Mackay, Corporate Graphics on the Powerhouse website
Volunteer Insights and Talking Points
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‘Ladies Boudoir’ door panel from Capitol Theatre
Door panel, ‘Ladies Boudoir’, lead/glass, designed for the ‘Ladies Boudoir’ of the Capitol Theatre, Melbourne, by Marion Mahony Griffin/ Walter Burley Griffin, Australia, 1921-24.
Rectangular internal door panel, art deco style, composed of leaded coloured glass (orange, blue, white, green, red and black); gold lettering painted onto white glass ‘LADIES BOUDOIR’.
Learn more about the ‘Ladies Boudoir’ door panel from Capitol Theatre on the Powerhouse website
Volunteer Insights and Talking Points
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Model of a set of cedar entrance doors made by Robert Lang
This magnificent model of red cedar and pine panelled entrance doors, which stands at about 86 cm high, was made around 1892 by Robert Lang, an apprentice carpenter and joiner studying at the Sydney Technical College in Ultimo.
Making sample works in a small size enabled the students to achieve all the detail and precision of producing the full-size doors without the expense of using extra materials and the inconvenience of transporting them. Apprentices in trades such as coach building also made small versions of the full-size vehicles items they would eventually produce.
The doors are one of three student pieces made by Robert Lang and thought to be particularly worthy by his college teachers at the time. As well as the doors, Lang made two samples of continuous stair railing. These were all selected in 1892 by the New South Wales Department of Public Instruction’s Technical Education Branch for inclusion in displays at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition (Chicago World’s Fair). The Fair was organised to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the arrival of Columbus in the New World. Robert received two certificates from the Exposition.
Learn more about the Model of a set of cedar entrance doors made by Robert Lang on the Powerhouse website
Volunteer Insights and Talking Points
This magnificent and very well executed model of cedar-panelled entrance doors, which stand about 86 cm high, were made in about 1892 by Robert Lang, an apprentice carpenter and joiner, studying at the Sydney Technical College, in Ultimo. It is one of three of his student pieces thought to be particularly worthy by his teachers at the time.
Robert Lang went on to have an impressive career as a cabinet maker working for various firms around the Hunter Valley of New South Wales as well as undertaking a number commissions making church furniture including pews, lecterns and pulpits.
Making the doors in a small size enabled the students to achieve all the detail and precision of producing the full-size doors without the extra expense of more materials and the inconvenience of transport and extra working space.
One of Robert Lang’s most significant pieces was the staircase in Admiralty House, Kirribilli, in Sydney, under the Government Architect, Walter Liberty Vernon.
Question to engage general visitors:
Why do you think students made small scale models?
Question to engage younger audiences:
What do you think this is made of?
Question to engage enthusiasts:
What are the unique characteristics of this model?
‘The Delphic Sibyl’ window designed by Sir Edward Burne-Jones
This magnificent stained-glass window entitled ‘Sibylla Delphica’ was produced in about 1900 in the workshops of Morris & Co. at Merton Abbey, southwest of London. It was designed by the innovative and influential manufacturer William Morris.
The window is an example of work from the Arts and Crafts Movement (spanning the 1850s to the 1930s), which was born in industrialised England out of enthusiasm for the ‘morally superior’ work of the medieval craftsman. The movement was led by John Ruskin, the great Victorian philosopher and art critic, and the influential designer William Morris.
While the Arts and Crafts Movement drew on different cultures and periods, its members were united in their opposition to poor design standards and the dehumanising effects of industrialisation. They mostly hand crafted objects in small workshops, explored traditional techniques and materials, and intended to make beautiful objects available for all.
William Morris set out to produce only the finest quality furnishings for discerning customers including furniture and stained glass. This window is a later version of one made in England for the chapel of Jesus College, Cambridge, in 1872. Morris was most likely responsible for the pale painted botanical patterned background and stylised canopy of vines that frame the figure of Sibyl. The Ancient Greeks believed that sibyls were oracles.
Learn more about ‘The Delphic Sibyl’ window designed by Sir Edward Burne-Jones on the Powerhouse website
Volunteer Insights and Talking Points
This magnificent stained-glass window entitled, ‘Sibylla Delphica’, was produced in about 1900 in the workshops of Morris & Co. at Merton Abbey southwest of London after designs by the pre-Raphaelite painter, Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones.
The window is an example of work from the Arts and Crafts Movement (1850s-1930s), which was born in industrialised England out of enthusiasm for the ‘morally superior’ work of the medieval craftsman. The movement was led by the great Victorian philosopher and art critic, John Ruskin, and the influential designer, William Morris.
While the Arts and Crafts movement drew on different cultures and periods, its members were united in their opposition to poor design standards and the dehumanising effects of industrialisation. They mostly handcrafted objects in small workshops, explored traditional techniques and materials and intended to make beautiful objects for all.
William Morris was a poet, writer, politician and conservationist as well as being an artist, designer and manufacturer, whose products underpinned a successful, long-lasting business. His innate ability to unify form, colour and pattern and his boundless creativity made him the most innovative and outstanding pattern designer of his generation.
Question to engage general visitors:
Do you think this window was hard to design?
Question to engage younger audiences:
What do you think this is made off?
Question to engage enthusiasts:
What aspects of this work depict medieval craftsmanship?