1890s Australian Natives' Association 'Advance Australia' Blackwood Elbow Chair

An Australian Natives' Association 'Advance Australia'…
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An Australian Natives' Association 'Advance Australia' blackwood elbow chair, 1890s, formerly of the Ballarat East branch of the A.N.A., of large upright form typical of ceremonial chairs of the period with a high padded back with turned supports above the padded arms and upholstered seat, the moulded crest carved in relief with a prototype Australian coat of arms of a crossed shield with emu and kangaroo supporters against eucalyptus leaves and nuts above a frieze lettered in gold 'Advance Australia / Ballarat East branch no. 50 A.N.A.', 151 cm high, 61 cm wide, 60 cm deep

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  • Blackwood - One of the best known and most widely used Australian timbers, blackwood (acacia melanoxylon), is a member of the Acacia (wattle) family and grows in eastern Australia from about Adelaide in South Australia, as far north as Cairns in Queensland.

    The largest, straightest and tallest trees come from the wet forest and swamps of north-west Tasmania where it is grown commercially.

    Blackwood timber colours range across a wide spectrum, from a very pale honey colour through to a dark chocolate with streaks of red tinge.

    The hardwood timber has been commonly used in the production of furniture, flooring, and musical instruments in Australia from the late 19th century. However, the straight grain timber is not the most prized or valuable, that honour falls to blackwood with a wavy, fiddleback pattern, which is used both in the solid and as a veneer. Fiddleback was only used on the finest examples of furniture.
  • Turning - Any part of a piece of furniture that has been turned and shaped with chisels on a lathe. Turned sections include legs, columns, feet, finials, pedestals, stretchers, spindles etc. There have been many varieties and fashions over the centuries: baluster, melon, barley-sugar, bobbin, cotton-reel, rope-twist, and so on. Split turning implies a turned section that has been cut in half lengthwise and applied to a cabinet front as a false decorative support.
  • Elbow Chair - Another name given to a dining chair with arms, more commonly called a carver chair.
  • Frieze - An architectural term denoting the flat, shaped or convex horizontal surface of furniture, between the architrave and the cornice, usually found on a cabinet or bookcase, or on desks and tables where it may include drawers, the area between the top and the legs. In ceramics, the term refers to the banding, of usually a repeating pattern, on the rims of plates and vases.

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