A Folly for Mrs Macquarie

Art and SculptureA Folly for Mrs Macquarie Armillary Sphere Sundial Boy Extracting Thorn Earth Mother Hope Clayton Birdbath Huntsman and dogs I WISH Memorial to Henry Kendall Sensory Fountain Slit-Drum Thai Bronze Lions Wurrungwuri (This Side Of The Water)

In this sculptural work A Folly for Mrs Macquarie by Fiona Hall (October 2000), the artist draws together in this contemporary `folly’, some historical, geographic and cultural aspects of a period in Sydney during the time of Governor Macquarie and his wife, Elizabeth.

This artwork sits on a manicured lawn section of Sydney Royal Botanic Garden, looking out to Mrs Macquarie’s Point and through to the heads of the Harbour. Indeed, the artwork implies an element of folly, with the optimistic act of superimposing old world traditions onto foreign surroundings.

Lachlan Macquarie and his wife governed in Sydney from 1810 to 1821. They arrived with a pattern book for buildings in the Neo-Classical style and a desire to transform the colony. This part of the harbour foreshore was landscaped in the Picturesque manner fashionable in Britain at that time. A sketch from the period indicates that Mrs Macquarie had a folly constructed.

Source: City of Sydney⁴

Whilst the design elements of this artwork echo those early aspirations, they remind us that there was much folly in the way Britain chose to colonise Australia. In the domed roof of the artwork, are the Norfolk Island pine fronds, that references the colonists’ regard for the tree. However the brittle timber of the pines put paid to the hopes that the trees would make excellent ships’ masts.

The formal elements that are expressed in the neo-classical gothic style favoured by the Macquaries, include a range of references — from indigenous and introduced plant species, early colonial tools, and high on the dome, the clasped dagger from Macquarie’s crest and fencing.

Represented in the dome ceiling, are the interlocking animal bones of native species that would once have inhabited the site. In the Gothic-like windows representing the barbed wire that divided up the land.

There is the sunken seating, that provide a place for us to pause, sit and contemplate this work and the history it represents, whilst enjoying the views over the harbour.

A Folly for Mrs Macquarie
Fiona Hall

Lachlan Macquarie and his wife governed in Sydney from 1810 to 1821. They arrived with a pattern book for buildings in the Neo-Classical style and a desire to transform the colony. This part of the harbour foreshore was landscaped in the Picturesque manner fashionable in Britain at that time. A sketch from the period indicates that Mrs Macquarie had a folly constructed.

The design elements of the folly echo those early aspirations for the colony, but are also mindful that there was much folly in the way in which Britain chose to colonise Australia. The dome roof of Norfolk Island pine fronds for example refers to the colonists’ regard for this tree (Mrs Macquarie presided over the planting of one near there in 1816 which became known as the ‘wishing tree’). However the pine’s brittle timber dashed hopes that it would make excellent ship’s masts. The bone ceiling refers to animals which once lived in this area, and the Gothic ‘windows’ represent the barbed wire used to claim and divide up the land.

The finial is from the Macquarie family crest while the folly floor indicates the direction of Britain from this site.

Installed: October 2000

Artist
Fiona Hall is a prominent artist based in Adelaide, South Australia. Her works encompasses photography, sculpture, painting, installation, garden design and video. She transforms the ordinary everyday objects to address a range of contemporary issues such as globalisation, consumerism, colonialism and natural history.

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Art and SculptureA Folly for Mrs Macquarie Armillary Sphere Sundial Boy Extracting Thorn Earth Mother Hope Clayton Birdbath Huntsman and dogs I WISH Memorial to Henry Kendall Sensory Fountain Slit-Drum Thai Bronze Lions Wurrungwuri (This Side Of The Water)

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