LJ Harvey: A distinctively Australian style

LJ Harvey, Australia 1871-1949 / (Screen with kookaburras and landscape) (detail) 1931 / Carved Queensland beech panel with supports in silky oak / 108.5 x 42.8 x 30.5cm / Purchased 1988 with the assistance of the Reverends David and Bruce Noble / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art

LJ Harvey, Australia 1871-1949 / (Screen with kookaburras and landscape) (detail) 1931 / Carved Queensland beech panel with supports in silky oak / 108.5 x 42.8 x 30.5cm / Purchased 1988 with the assistance of the Reverends David and Bruce Noble / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / View full image

Native to the eucalyptus forests of eastern Australia, the call of the laughing kookaburra is recognised by all, and just happens to be LJ Harvey’s favourite bird. During his career, Lewis Jarvis (LJ) Harvey (1871-1949) produced several carved screens (or room-dividers) to protect the face of someone sitting by a fire — and our screen depicts kookaburras on one side and a landscape on the reverse.

Harvey used to feed and study the Kookaburras at his house in Hill End (now West End) in Brisbane — and he modelled the birds frequently, using them to also decorate his ceramics (see Jackie tobacco illustrated). The reverse side of the screen depicts Tamborine Mountain, Harvey’s favourite retreat in which to study nature.

RELATED: LJ Harvey and his school

Harvey, a woodcarver, sculptor, potter and teacher lived in Brisbane in the first half of the twentieth century. His work is of national significance, primarily as a result of the pottery course he established at Brisbane’s Central Technical College (now Queensland University of Technology), which developed into the most extensive school of art pottery in Australia.

Artistically conservative, Harvey developed a distinct regional style based on European neo-Renaissance and Australian motifs, together with ceramic hand-building techniques and his classes, and the work of many of his students, meant his influence spanned more than three decades.

‘Jackie tobacco’ 1930

LJ Harvey, Australia 1871-1949 / Jackie tobacco c.1930 / Earthenware, modelled kookaburra, with detachable head, on pedestal, in the style of Martin Bros, England. Glazed naturalistic colours and integral carved wood base / 24 x 12 x 10.5cm (complete); base: 19.5 x 10 x 10.5cm; lid: 6 x 11 x 4.5cm / Gift of the Reverends David and Bruce Noble in memory of their mother Elsie Harvey Noble through the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation 2008 / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art

LJ Harvey, Australia 1871-1949 / Jackie tobacco c.1930 / Earthenware, modelled kookaburra, with detachable head, on pedestal, in the style of Martin Bros, England. Glazed naturalistic colours and integral carved wood base / 24 x 12 x 10.5cm (complete); base: 19.5 x 10 x 10.5cm; lid: 6 x 11 x 4.5cm / Gift of the Reverends David and Bruce Noble in memory of their mother Elsie Harvey Noble through the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation 2008 / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / View full image

‘Screen with kookaburras and landscape’ 1931

LJ Harvey, Australia 1871-1949 / (Screen with kookaburras and landscape) 1931 / Carved Queensland beech panel with supports in silky oak / 108.5 x 42.8 x 30.5cm / Purchased 1988 with the assistance of the Reverends David and Bruce Noble / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art

LJ Harvey, Australia 1871-1949 / (Screen with kookaburras and landscape) 1931 / Carved Queensland beech panel with supports in silky oak / 108.5 x 42.8 x 30.5cm / Purchased 1988 with the assistance of the Reverends David and Bruce Noble / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / View full image

LJ Harvey, Australia 1871-1949 / (Screen with kookaburras and landscape) 1931 / Carved Queensland beech panel with supports in silky oak / 108.5 x 42.8 x 30.5cm / Purchased 1988 with the assistance of the Reverends David and Bruce Noble / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery

LJ Harvey, Australia 1871-1949 / (Screen with kookaburras and landscape) 1931 / Carved Queensland beech panel with supports in silky oak / 108.5 x 42.8 x 30.5cm / Purchased 1988 with the assistance of the Reverends David and Bruce Noble / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery / View full image

LJ Harvey, Australia 1871-1949 / (Screen with kookaburras and landscape) 1931 / Carved Queensland beech panel with supports in silky oak / 108.5 x 42.8 x 30.5cm / Purchased 1988 with the assistance of the Reverends David and Bruce Noble / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art

LJ Harvey, Australia 1871-1949 / (Screen with kookaburras and landscape) 1931 / Carved Queensland beech panel with supports in silky oak / 108.5 x 42.8 x 30.5cm / Purchased 1988 with the assistance of the Reverends David and Bruce Noble / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / View full image

Tamborine Mountain

Located 62 kilometres from Brisbane and sitting on the edge of the escarpment behind the city of the Gold Coast, the Tamborine district was included in the Bunton Vale pastoral run of 1843 which was renamed Tamborine, in time the name was applied to the the plateau. From 1875 saw the first of several farms and by 1886 most of the plateau was under selection. Agriculture and dairy farming played an important role in the settlement, and soon after, tourism flourished with the earliest boarding houses established from the 1890s.

Tamborine Mountain

View from Mount Tamborine, Queensland, ca. 1917 / Negative number: 201837 / Image courtesy State Library of Queensland, Brisbane

View from Mount Tamborine, Queensland, ca. 1917 / Negative number: 201837 / Image courtesy State Library of Queensland, Brisbane / View full image

Wilson Brothers’ dairy farm on Tamborine Mountain / Image number: APA-021-01-0010 / Image courtesy State Library of Queensland, Brisbane

Wilson Brothers’ dairy farm on Tamborine Mountain / Image number: APA-021-01-0010 / Image courtesy State Library of Queensland, Brisbane / View full image

The mountain is home to both subtropical rainforest and open eucalypt forest, with the natural values of the area appreciated early. The Tamborine National Park was formally declared in 1908, made up of 12 separate sections of land it was the first in Queensland. During Harvey’s time a gravel road was eventually built from the bottom of the mountain in 1924 to cater for the increase in tourists, and in 1925 it became one of the first bitumen roads in Queensland (along with Queen Street in Brisbane’s city center) making the mountain a destination for artists.

Tamborine Mountain

Waterfall (now in the Tamborine Mountain Botanic Gardens) c.1879 / Image number: APU-049-0001-0038 / Image courtesy State Library of Queensland, Brisbane

Waterfall (now in the Tamborine Mountain Botanic Gardens) c.1879 / Image number: APU-049-0001-0038 / Image courtesy State Library of Queensland, Brisbane / View full image

Motorists attending the official opening of the new road to Tamborine Village, 1927 / Negative number: 12558 / Image courtesy State Library of Queensland, Brisbane

Motorists attending the official opening of the new road to Tamborine Village, 1927 / Negative number: 12558 / Image courtesy State Library of Queensland, Brisbane / View full image

Delve into more works by LJ Harvey

According to the Reverends David and Bruce Noble, the artist’s grandsons, the head cresting the Honesty Mirror c.1915 (illustrated) is a portrait of their late aunt, Thelma Harvey, and relates to the time she and her sister Elsie played ‘fairies’ while holidaying at Tamborine Mountain (illustrated is a photograph of Elsie and Thelma a few years before, in costumes designed by R. Godfrey Rivers). One could assume, because the mirror is titled ‘Honesty’, that Harvey’s daughter also reflected that virtue; extending the theme — the figure is crowned with a diadem of the seed pods of the annual called honesty (‘Lunaria annua’).

RELATED: LJ Harvey’s ‘Bed of Peace’ 1919 made for Elsie Harvey

‘Honesty Mirror’ c.1915

L.J Harvey, Australia 1871-1949 / Honesty Mirror c.1915 / Queensland cedar, carved with allegorical representation of Thelma (crest). Also carved with birds and pendant swags on the bottom / 75.5 x 42cm / Gift of the Reverends David and Bruce Noble in memory of their mother Elsie Harvey Noble through the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation 2008 / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art

L.J Harvey, Australia 1871-1949 / Honesty Mirror c.1915 / Queensland cedar, carved with allegorical representation of Thelma (crest). Also carved with birds and pendant swags on the bottom / 75.5 x 42cm / Gift of the Reverends David and Bruce Noble in memory of their mother Elsie Harvey Noble through the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation 2008 / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / View full image

‘Carved silky oak Art Nouveau frame’ c.1910-15

L.J Harvey, Australia 1871-1949 / Elise, Thelma and George Harvey dressed for the coronation pageant 1911. Costumes designed by RG Rivers c.1910-15 / Photograph in carved silky oak Art Nouveau frame / 32 x 25.6cm / Gift of the Reverends David and Bruce Noble in memory of their mother Elsie Harvey Noble through the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation 2008 / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art

L.J Harvey, Australia 1871-1949 / Elise, Thelma and George Harvey dressed for the coronation pageant 1911. Costumes designed by RG Rivers c.1910-15 / Photograph in carved silky oak Art Nouveau frame / 32 x 25.6cm / Gift of the Reverends David and Bruce Noble in memory of their mother Elsie Harvey Noble through the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation 2008 / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / View full image

‘Marble plaque: Spirit of night’ c.1920s

Harvey’s marble plaques (illustrated), are the finest of his sculptural works. Generally Harvey could not afford the time or expense necessary for their execution and so they are also the rarest of his works. His many cast plaster plaques attempt to emulate the effect of marble.

Works by LJ Harvey feature in the Australian Art Collection at the Queensland Art Gallery.

Edited extracts from Glenn R Cooke, former Curator (Queensland Heritage), QAGOMA. Additional research and supplementary material by Elliott Murray, Senior Digital Marketing Officer, QAGOMA

LJ Harvey, Australia 1871-1949 / Marble plaque: Spirit of night c.1920s / Marble relief in original timber frame / 12.2 x 8.5cm / Gift of Lawrence King 1993 / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art

LJ Harvey, Australia 1871-1949 / Marble plaque: Spirit of night c.1920s / Marble relief in original timber frame / 12.2 x 8.5cm / Gift of Lawrence King 1993 / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / View full image

Featured image detail: LJ Harvey (Screen with kookaburras and landscape) 1931

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    LJ Harvey and his school

    Lewis Jarvis (LJ) Harvey (1871−1949) was the single greatest influence on visual culture in Queensland in the first half of the twentieth century, this important artist and teacher, and his students, highlights why Harvey was such an inspirational figure. Harvey was a distinguished modeller, woodcarver, potter and teacher active in Queensland during the first half of the twentieth century. While Harvey was a prominent figure within Queensland’s Arts and Crafts Movement, his work was nationally significant, and he inspired the largest school of art pottery in Australia. LJ Harvey LJ Harvey ‘Vase: the Rock’ 1930 Harvey trained under JA Clarke (1840−90) at the Brisbane Technical College and taught at that institution (and the subsequent Central Technical College) from 1902 until his retirement in 1937, during which time he trained generations of students. He then established his own craft school in Horsham House in Adelaide Street, where he taught until his death — dramatically enough, during a meeting of the Royal Queensland Art Society. While Harvey considered himself a sculptor, and is appreciated locally for his woodcarving, his claim to national significance rests on the pottery course that he established at the Central Technical College, initiating the first classes in August 1916. These developed primarily as popular hobby classes in the 1920s and 1930s. Harvey supplied a series of structured exercises which, with their commonality of form, decoration and glazing, established the most distinctive school of art pottery in Australia, of which the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art has an extensive collection. LJ Harvey ‘(Screen with kookaburras and landscape)‘ 1931 The artistically conservative culture of Queensland, where modernist ideas were slow to penetrate, meant that Harvey developed a distinct regional style based on the use of neo-Renaissance motifs and handbuilding techniques. Harvey subsequently gave private classes, as did many of his students, and the influence of his techniques and designs are spread over more than three decades. Harvey’s most consistent potters (some for periods of up to 25 years) were the women who came to his classes as a social outing. The catalogue to the 1983 Queensland Art Gallery exhibition ‘LJ Harvey and his School’ includes brief biographies of 48 women who were Harvey’s students, but with further research it became clear that the exhibition had only skimmed the surface, we now have a record of some 1000 people who were influenced by Harvey’s example, mostly from Brisbane, but also from regional Queensland and interstate. LJ Harvey ‘Jackie tobacco’ c.1930 LJ Harvey ‘Vase: (The fox and the grapes)’ c.1920s The difficulty with attributing Harvey School works, apart from the signatures, is the consistent quality of execution and the uniformity of style — Harvey’s thorough teaching technique makes it difficult to identify individual makers. While the individual accomplishment of the pottery is considerably varied, the number of potters identified demonstrates, unequivocally, how thoroughly Harvey School ceramics permeated the social and cultural fabric of Queensland in the first part of the twentieth century. Individual potters include Alice and Sarah Ellen (Nell) Bott, Evelyn Buggy, Bessie Devereux, Val McMaster, Daisy Nosworthy, the decorator Martin Moroney, and the sculptor Daphne Mayo, renowned for her 1930 tympanum above Brisbane City Hall, and her 1932 Queensland Women’s War Memorial at Anzac Square. Although Harvey’s contribution has been largely hidden from public view in thousands of Queensland homes, he was the single greatest influence on visual culture in Queensland in the first half (and arguably the whole) of the twentieth century and a figure of national significance. Glenn R Cooke is former Research Curator (Queensland Heritage), QAGOMA Evelyn Buggy ‘Dragon bowl’ 1940 Nell Bott ‘Vase: (art nouveau)’ 1924 Elisabeth Monz ‘Coffee set’ 1929 Marjory Clark ‘Covered jar’ 1929 Featured image: Arts and Crafts Society of Queensland Exhibition, c.1933
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    Go back in time with Brisbane’s two finest craftsmen

    There is little furniture from the Arts and Crafts period in Queensland that can match the fluid carving of the art nouveau foliate motifs in this hallstand from the 1920s, the scale and workmanship bears the mark of two of Queensland’s finest craftsmen — John Merten and Lewis Jarvis (LJ) Harvey. John Merten (1861-1932) was born in Germany and records show that he was one of the most talented apprentices of his year. Merten arrived in Brisbane with his family in 1887 and commenced business as a cabinetmaker in Stanley Street, South Brisbane, and by 1888 was awarded a First Order of Merit for a walnut box and a black bean and pine writing desk at his first exhibition. The most consistent exhibition venue for cabinetmakers in Brisbane from the late nineteenth century was the annual exhibition of the Queensland National Agricultural and Industrial Association and when Merten exhibited in the ‘artisan’ section his furniture was always highly praised. Between 1888 and 1931 Merten exhibited workboxes, bookcases, sideboards, writing desks, and several suites of dining and bedroom furniture. National Agricultural and Industrial Association of Queensland Bowen Park (now known as the Brisbane Showgrounds) was the site for the first Queensland Intercolonial Exhibition in 1876, the exhibition was organised to promote the state’s agricultural, pastoral, and industrial resources, including showcasing local arts and crafts, and manufactured goods. The park was bordered by Bowen Bridge Road, O’Connell Terrace, Brookes Street and Gregory Terrace and the month of August was chosen as ideal due to its generally fine weather, it avoided any clashes with local shows, stock feed was available, and it was before the spring shearing season. Queensland resources and produce on display With the success in attracting 17,000 visitors on opening day when Brisbane’s population at the time was just 22,000, the exhibition became a permanent fixture in Brisbane’s social calendar. Brisbane’s first Exhibition Building at Bowen Hills (illustrated) used by the Queensland National Agricultural and Industrial Association was destroyed by fire on 13 June 1888 and was replaced by the current Exhibition Building and Concert Hall (Old Museum Building) (illustrated). The current building was built in 1891, however the Queensland Government took control of the building and grounds when the National Association was forced into liquidation by the economic depression in 1897. Fine Arts on display in the original Exhibition Building 1886-87 Brisbane Showground Exhibition Building, destroyed 1888 Exhibition Building (Old Museum Building) built 1891 Main arena 1896 The expanded main arena & ring events by 1906 John Merten’s connection to St John’s Cathedral During the visit to Brisbane in May 1901 by the Duke and Duchess of York, the then Prince George, and Mary (the future King George V and Queen Mary) where they laid the foundation stone of St John’s Cathedral (illustrated), Merten was entrusted with making a carved casket (illustrated) from native woods including Black bean, with a drop front, into which is slotted a watercolour illuminated manuscript address which was presented by the Government of Queensland (now in the Royal Collection Trust, UK). Merten was also commissioned to design liturgical furniture for the Victorian Gothic style Cathedral. The first stage of construction began in 1906 and took four years to complete, constructed from ‘Brisbane Tuff’ and Helidon sandstone from the Lockyer Valley Region of southeast Queensland, east of Toowoomba. Helidon sandstone was used extensively in public buildings at the time, including the Brisbane Treasury Building (construction started 1886), Brisbane City Hall (construction started 1920), and the University of Queensland (construction started 1938). Laying of the foundation stone 1901 Construction of St John’s Cathedral 1906 John Merten ‘Address casket’ 1901 Prince George at Government House 1901 John Merten & LJ Harvey ‘Hallstand’ 1920 Of particular interest here is Merten’s collaboration with Queensland’s principal Arts and Crafts practitioner, Lewis Jarvis (LJ) Harvey (1871-1949) as, at that time, carving and cabinetmaking were distinct trades. Harvey, an accomplished carver, lived on Gray Road, Hill End (now Brisbane’s West End), less than 100 metres from Merten, who resided in Hoogley Street. Harvey collaborated with Merten on two major sideboards: a neo-Renaissance style for Harvey’s wife in 1909; the other in art nouveau c.1925 (Collection: Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences, Sydney) (illustrated). It is known that Harvey also carved motifs on other examples of Merten’s cabinetwork. ‘Queenslander’ furniture The furniture that decorated the typical ‘Queenslander’ home in Brisbane during the first half of the twentieth century was essentially a simplified Arts and Crafts style. The preferred timber was silky oak and, although Black bean (Moreton Bay chestnut) is native to the Brisbane area, it was used from the 1890s in small quantities. From the nineteenth century the native forests of south east Queensland provided a resource for building and cabinet timber. The silky oak’s primary significance locally was as a cabinet timber — it achieved recognition at the Queensland National Agricultural and Industrial Association exhibition in 1901 when manufacturer, John Hicks and cabinet-maker, John Merten were awarded First Orders of Merit for bedroom suites. John Hicks established his furniture business in the 1860s in Albert Street, Brisbane and led to a series of relocations and expansions over the decades that followed. For the next forty years silky-oak became the dominant timber used to furnish ‘Queenslander’ homes for the bedroom, lounge and dining rooms. Black bean was also considered a valuable source of timber, its dark-brown to almost black timber somewhat resembles walnut. Black bean derives its name from its large bean-like seeds from flushes of yellow and red flowers during summer, however these seeds are the poisonous part of the plant, and the timber’s sawdust is also toxic. John Merten, who had the reputation of being one of the finest cabinet makers in Australia, continued to make furniture for some 50 years, while LJ Harvey is appreciated locally for his woodcarving — he was a prominent...