These panels, depicting Australian scenes, were made in the 1890s in Scotland. This period saw transport engineering reach a pinnacle with the construction of bridges and liners of unprecedented size and scale. At the peak of its eminence as a manufacturing and engineering economy, demonstrated by Glasgow's shipyards and the celebrated Forth railway bridge, Scotland was also notable for its prowess in applied art and design.

The marriage of craft and commerce in this era produced the Arts and Crafts movement in architecture, art and design. Glass was an especially prominent medium for the Arts and Crafts movement. In Britain and Australia numerous studios produced painted, gilded, stained, embossed and cut glass as architectural decoration and advertising. These panels are excellent examples and are of particular significance because they were produced to decorate ocean liners, one of the leading transport technologies of the day.

The rail bridges over the Hawkesbury and Huon rivers were great engineering feats of their time and of tremendous importance for Australian travel and transport. The Hawkesbury bridge was designed by the Union Bridge Company of New York, USA, as a result of a world-wide competition. The construction of these bridges was the subject of great celebration, and they became popular subjects for photography.

The panels were made in Glasgow and have been attributed by Elspeth King of Glasgow Museums to the now-defunct studio of W & J J Keir, a fine art and design studio that flourished alongside that of Charles Rennie Mackintosh in Glasgow in the 1890s. The Keir studio is best known for the stained glass windows of Glasgow Cathedral.

The panels were created as decoration for P & O or Orient Line ships which plied between Britain and Australia. Many of these liners were produced at Glasgow's Clyde shipyards.

The panels were based on contemporary photographs. The PHM Tyrrell collection contains similar contemporary views of the Hawkesbury Bridge. Object 85/1284-479, 'Harbour from North Sydney' by the Charles Kerry Studio, records an identical view to that depicted in one of the panels.

The panels were purchased by the vendor from a private collection.

Glass panels (3), views of Sydney Harbour, Huonville Bridge and Hawkesbury Bridge, stained glass, made by W & J J Keir, Glasgow, Scotland, 1890-1900

Three hand-painted stained glass panels framed for back-lit viewing. The three images are framed by gold circles surrounded by floral motifs.

The first panel depicts views over Sydney Harbour from a North Sydney vantage point used by the Charles Kerry studio and other photographers. Ships are depicted on the harbour and the city of Sydney is in the distance.

The second panel depicts the railway bridge over the Huon River in Tasmania. The view of Huonville shows the five-arched bridge that was erected in 1876 and remained in place until 1926. The Picnic Hotel is shown in the background. The township of Huonville lies to the south west of Hobart.

The third panel depicts the railway bridge over the Hawkesbury River, New South Wales.

Made: W & J J Keir; Glasgow, Scotland; 1890 - 1900

2006/137/1

1890 - 1900

505 mm

405 mm