Furnishing the Queensland House

Cedar chiffonier with locks stamped W. & B. Brookes Brisbane, Wolston House, National Trust of Queensland, built about 1870 (Queensland Museum, 1994)

The furnishing of the Queensland house has been the outcome of practical necessity, fashion and sentiment. It has reflected the lifestyles and aspirations of the people who made their lives and raised their families in Queensland, and has evolved with the passage of time.

In common with contemporary Europe, Queensland furniture from the 1820s was largely Classical in design. Useful rather than ornamental furniture was the first requirement. The timber most commonly used was local cedar from the subtropical rainforests. The advantages were that it looked like fashionable mahogany and was light and easy to work with.

By the 1860s, greater prosperity led to more elaborate furnishings. Red cedar was the most popular timber but other local woods, such as hoop pine, bunya pine and yellow wood and rose mahogany were used.

The Rococo revival of Queen Victoria's reign was the fashion of the day, with curved shapes and naturalistic florid carving. Local cabinet-makers gradually took up the design, though often the Rococo curves are simply superimposed on the sturdy old Classical designs.

German and Chinese cabinet-makers entered the market during the second half of the nineteenth century.

Drawing room suites, F. Tritton Furniture Catalog, Brisbane, about 1906 (Queensland Museum)

Between the 1880s and the end of the century, all of the curved shapes of the previous years were stylistically rejected. The opening of Japan to American trade brought a fascination with things straight and angular, while the Arts and Crafts Movement brought a new interest in the styles of Queen Anne and George I. Art Nouveau also influenced local styles, but perhaps to a lesser degree.

Local firms, like F. Tritton, John Hicks and Finney Isles, issued their own catalogues for the first time. Notable local cabinet-makers included John Mason of Maryborough, as well as L. J. Harvey and Ed Rosenstengel of Brisbane.

Ed Rosenstengel bible chair, Brisbane 1939, (John Oxley Library)

Red cedar disappeared from fashion – just in time to save it from extinction – to be replaced by silky oak, Queensland maple, white cedar and stained pine. The timbers were often fumed with ammonia to enrich their colour to a warm brown.

As a result, the furnishings of the main rooms of a fashionable house changed with the transition from the Colonial/Victorian era to Federation.

The new fully-upholstered lounging armchair made its appearance. In the bedroom, the dressing table was a chest of drawers with a mirror attached, and a box ottoman replaced the old trunk for clothes storage. There was a real acknowledgment of our climate in the design and use of furniture. Cane, willow, bamboo and linen grass furniture entered the scene.

From this stage onwards, furniture was becoming mass-produced. Consequently it is still very difficult to make a critical assessment of the industry as a whole.