Fine Arts

Heritage Dining Chairs, Old Parliament House

In the early 1920s, in Australia’s new capital Canberra, the building now known as Old Parliament House was designed by the Commonwealth Public Works Department Chief Architect John Smith Murdoch. Murdoch’s design was thought to be quite modern for its time. Often referred to as simplified or ‘Stripped’ Classicism, it features various square and circular motifs and is reflected not only in the building’s architecture but also in its furniture and interior fittings.

Fine Arts

Haberfield Honour Roll

The Haberfield Honour Roll is a large wooden structure consisting of seven main panels framed by intricately carved columns, created to honour locals who fought and died during the First World War – 430 names are listed on the 5 central panels, including those of 4 nursing sisters and 48 men who died in service to their Country.

Objects, Outdoor & Built Heritage

Pyrmont War Memorial

The Pyrmont War Memorial in Sydney's Union Square, erected in 1922, honors 750 local men who served in WWI. Their names are listed on the Honour Rolls on the sides of the memorial.

Objects, Outdoor & Built Heritage

Waverton Coal Loader Skip

The Mead-Morrison No. 6 skip is the only remaining carriage that was part of a complex coal-loading process, which operated for over seventy years from the early 1920s at Waverton peninsula in Sydney.

Fine Arts

Paintings by Xanana Gusmao

Xanana Gusmao is famous for his inspirational role in the struggle for independence and founding of Timor-Leste. As an artist however, he is less well known.

Fine Arts

Parramatta Madonna

Belonging to St Patrick's Cathedral Parramatta, this 14th – 15th century Bohemian painted wooden sculpture (from what is now the Czech Republic) is known as the Beautiful Madonna with Child.

Fine Arts

Rylstone Mural

In the late 1990s in the small town of Rylstone, NSW, a mural hidden for 100 years was uncovered above a fireplace in the heritage-listed Bridge View Inn.

Petersham Horse Trough

The Petersham Horse Trough, made out of precast concrete, was erected in the 1930s by the Bills Trust. A dog trough is attached at ground level on the right side. A terrazzo plaque, situated prominently at the centre-front, reads ‘Donated by Annis and George Bills, Australia’. Around 700 troughs were installed throughout Australia by the Bills Trust in the first half of the 20th century to provide relief for working horses and ‘other dumb animals’ (as set out in George Bills' will).

Fine Arts

New South Wales Land and Property Plans

ICS treated a large number of historical plans and maps belonging to the NSW Land and Property Information (LPI). The plans of towns and suburbs within the state of NSW varied in length from 40cm to 1,000cm. In total, the ICS paper conservation team spent almost 2,000 hours treating 613 plans in order to stabilise and prepare them for digitisation.

Fine Arts

40,000 Horsemen Poster

The classic Australian film Forty Thousand Horsemen was one of the most popular films of its day. Released in 1940, it aided military recruitment and lifted national pride during World War II. Evidence of the film’s success can still be seen in the form of posters and other ephemera collected by institutions throughout Australia. In March 2013 ICS was contacted by the National Film and Sound Archive about one such poster hanging in the Chauvel cinema in Sydney where it had been since the film’s release.

Objects, Outdoor & Built Heritage

Heroic Era Huts, Antarctica

ICS has had a long and major association with the conservation of the huts and contents of the sites from the Heroic Era of Antarctic Exploration (1899-1916).

Fine Arts

Christ Church, Bong Bong

In 1884 the Anglican church of Christ Church Bong Bong in the NSW Southern Highlands was given a fine decorative interior including stencil work on the ceiling and wall.

Fine Arts

Replica of Raphael’s Madonna della Seggiola

This mid-late 19th century reproduction of Raphael’s Madonna della Seggiola (Madonna of the Chair) c.1513-1514, skilfully captures a sense of the original, in both colour and form.

Fine Arts

The Fairies Tree, Fitzroy Gardens

The Fairies Tree in Fitzroy Gardens was carved and painted in 1931-34 on a dead River Red Gum tree. The tree is covered with carvings of fairies, dwarfs, gnomes, and a variety of Australian animals and birds.

Museum & Gallery Services

Mugga-Mugga Cottage Artefacts

ICS oversaw the full process of digitising more than 3,300 handwritten catalogue worksheets for artefacts related to the Mugga-Mugga Cottage in Canberra.

Objects, Outdoor & Built Heritage

Royal Botanical Gardens Statuary

A key element for the Royal Botanic Gardens was always the placement of classical statuary intended to uplift the local populace. Over the years the collection had gradually deteriorated.