Frances Kay, Art Curator (Allport)
State Library of Tasmania
The Allport Furniture Collection was begun in the early twentieth century by Henry Allport, a Hobart lawyer, who was interested in furnishing his Sandy Bay home with British period furniture. Although Henry's collection of books, photographs and fine art was primarily concerned with Australian and Tasmanian history, he and his wife shared an interest in British decorative arts and undertook several trips to England for the purpose of purchasing antiques to display in their home.
The furniture in the Allport Collection was produced between approximately 1680 and 1830, a period regarded by Henry Allport and other connoisseurs of his time as the golden age of British decorative arts. The elegant style and craftsmanship of this era are well illustrated by the superb examples in this collection. Many pieces are constructed from materials selected for their innate beauty such as burr walnut and mahogany, and feature refined and intricately carved decorative details. Examples of ingenious design in which one piece of furniture transforms into another are abundant.
While there is a greater appreciation today of the special qualities of different furniture styles from other eras and cultures, Georgian furniture of eighteenth century Britain still holds its place as a benchmark of quality in design and craftsmanship.
