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Painted Room

Location 42 Amess Street,, CARLTON NORTH VIC 3054 - Property No B7155 File Number B7155 Level State

[1/1] B7155 Painted Room

Statement of Significance

The single fronted brick cottage was built in 1905. It has an unusual high parapet and cast-iron freize on the verandah, but the most extraordinary aspect of the house is the painted decoration of the main lounge room, probably dating from the original construction. All the walls and ceiling have been painted out with decoration that is startlingly elaborate for such a small cottage, and features a relatively early use of Art Nouveau elements, and a range of techniques.
The walls are panelled, each with elaborate borders with a three-dimensional effect, Celtic inspired roundels in the larger panels, and Art Nouveau tendrils in the smaller panels, with an elaborate three-dimensional foliated frieze just below the cornice. The ceiling has a wide elaborate border with panels that feature baroque cartouches flowers in the corners, painted in an unusual delicate flat style. The panels on the sidesof the ceiling feature painted landscape scenes, and there is another scene above the corner fireplace signed 'E Buckatsky'. The tone of the decoration is generally warm light brown and deep buff, with light blue and the colours of the painted scenes providing the main contrast.
The house and particularly the painted room at 42 Amess Street, North Carlton is significant for aesthetic and historical reasons to the State of Victoria.
The decoration of this room is aesthetically important for its highly elaborate and unusual character, and use of Art Nouveau elements. The subdivision of the walls into panels is a highly unusual practice, as is the incorporation of a wide range of painting techniques and styles into the one scheme. While the panels and frieze are designed to give a three-dimensional effect, the ceiling decoration is painted in a different flat style, possibly reflecting the influence of the 'aesthetic' movement of the 1880s.
The painted room is also historically important for being in a quite modestly sized house. Most elaborate 19th or early 20th century decoration that survives in Victoria is to be found in grand mansions and public buildings. It is remarkable that this room was so elaborately decorated in the first place, and equally remarkable that it has survived.
Classified: 04/02/2002