The Hall Carpet
Dated 2009
The carpet in the hall, a space which was originally used for public events in the House, is a new carpet dated from 2009 and is 10.1 metres in length and 5 metres wide. The carpet almost fills the entirety of the room and has a dark grey background. The surface area of the carpet is filled with the image of a large, fertile tree, beginning with a narrow medium brown trunk found at the base of the carpet when facing away from the glass French doors. Moving up and away from this narrow base are the branches of the tree which weave and wind their way out to the furthest sides of the carpet and to its uppermost top. The branches are covered in healthy leaves shown in three distinct designs. One displays the underside of a leaf and its vein-like patterning, while the other two varieties are shown in a light and dark green respectively. The tree is covered in abundant red fruits, in bunches of three, shaped like round apples or berries, and alongside these are dark cream seed pods, oval in shape but cracking open to reveal a white and black interior. Finally, we are presented with eleven black crows perched and shown in profile throughout the branches of the tree, from top to bottom, eight of which have their wings open and outstretched.
The carpet installed here was designed in collaboration with a carpet designer and a heritage architect. With no photographic evidence of the carpet that was in the House prior to 1896 when Lady Lamington removed it, a new carpet was designed in 2009 utilising a theme from the ‘Tree of Life’ wallpaper found in a 1907 photograph of the Hall. The British vegetation and elements found in the original ‘Tree of Life’ wall hanging, which included an oak tree, a peacock, pheasant and roses, are replaced with native Queensland characteristics. A gum tree, the fruit of the lilly pilly and grevillea seed pods replace the flowers while the native Torresian crows supplant the birdlife found in the original.