This photograph, because it is black and white, draws the viewer’s attention to the structural characteristics of these large and exotic flowers usually noted for their rich red colour. The fine details of the plants are further emphasised by the wide tonal range of the glass plate negative and the tightly framed composition.
The waratah (Telopea speciosissima) was named by Robert Brown in 1810 from specimens he collected in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales. Sir James Smith, botanist and founder of the Linnaean Society in England called the waratah, ‘the most magnificent plant which the prolific soil of New Holland affords.’
R.T. Baker, director of the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences from 1898-1921, argued the case for the waratah as the floral emblem of Australia in an article titled, ‘The Majestic Waratah’, in the Sydney Morning Herald on September 24, 1910. The waratah was proclaimed the official floral emblem of New South Wales on October 24, 1962.
The waratah was among the most popular Australian floral motifs adopted by artists and designers, Lucien Henry among them, in the late nineteenth century. The Powerhouse Museum holds a significant collection of objects incorporating waratahs, some of which can be viewed on the Powerhouse Museum collection index.
Photography by Kerry & Co, Tyrrell collection.
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