Names

Camelot collection

IDs

HHT00015

http://museum.collection.hht.net.au

Descriptions

A collection of over 40 furnishing items from 'Camelot', a John Horbury Hunt designed house at Narellan in south-west Sydney. The collection includes wallpapers, blinds, rugs, a hassock, a curtain, tassels, candle shades, a portiere curtain, a table cloth and assorted curtain and blind hardware. Although some furnishings date to the mid-20th century, most date to the period 1890 to 1910.

The house known as Camelot was formerly called Kirkham, the name originally coming from a residence built for John Oxley in 1810. By the 1880s, the property was owned by the Hon James White, NSW parliamentarian and racehorse breeder. White commissioned architect, John Horbury Hunt, to build a new house as well as a two-storey gardener’s lodge, a smokehouse and an aviary. The main house, built c1888, with its superior exposed brickwork, complex roofscape, gables, ridges, conical towers and forest of chimneys was described by architectural historian JM Freeland as a 'French inspired fairy castle'. The name of the property was changed to Camelot around 1900 following its purchase by the Faithful Anderson family. The Faithful Andersons remained in residence until 1979 after which the furnishings were dispersed and the house had a series of different owners.

The majority of Camelot furnishings, which date to the period 1890-1910, provide an example of refined middle to upper class taste in Sydney of this period. Highlights include Axminster rugs, Edwardian period wallpapers, a Sundour curtain and Aesthetic-period roller blinds with Japan-inspired designs. Some of these furnishings show signs of wear but are generally in good condition and are unusual survivals in Sydney’s harsh environment.

Subjects

Aesthetic movement; Blinds; Carpet & rugs; Curtains; Hardware; House furnishings; Wallpaper

Coverage Spatial

Narellan, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Coverage Temporal

1890

1960

Dates

2012-05-30 23:44

2011-07-25 15:15