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Sydney International Exhibition certificate of award to G.M Simpson Dalby for wool

Date1879

Object number00001719

NameCertificate

MediumPaper

DimensionsOverall: 570 mm

ClassificationsEphemera

Credit LineANMM Collection Purchased with USA Bicentennial Gift funds

Terms

DescriptionA certificate presented to G M Simpson Dalby at the Sydney International Exhibition in 1879. The certificate reads 'Sydney International Exhibition, 1879. Certificate of Award. To G.M Simpson Dalby, Queensland. Fine combing wool, ram hoggets' fleeces. Commended. P.A. Kunius, Executive Commissioner'. The Sydney International Exhibition was the first of its kind in Australia and Sydney rose to the occasion by building an ornate building known as the Garden Palace in what is now the Domain. Over 200 metres long, the building was destroyed by fire in 1882 in only 40 minutes. Along with the destruction of the building, many significant colonial documents were lost and hundreds of First Nation cultural artefacts. HistoryIt was a huge undertaking but colonial Sydney was ambitious and on 17 September 1879 the doors opened to the first International Exhibition in the southern hemisphere. In a feat unheard of today, the main pavilion was constructed in eight months with men working 24 hours a day to complete construction on the jewel of the exhibition's crown, the Garden Palace. Designed by architect James Barnet, the building covered over 200 meters with a central dome of 65 metres height. There would be 34 counties represented at the seven-month exhibition and around 14,000 exhibits. Sydneysiders embraced the event and flocked to the area which covered much of the Botanic Gardens and the Domain. The Garden Palace, in all its flamboyant enormity, became a feature on the landscape and once the exhibition shut down it remained as government offices and the repository for many artefacts and artworks destined for new cultural institutions. Devastatingly on 22 September 1882 a fire broke out in the vast wooden building and within 40 minutes it and its contents were destroyed. SignificanceInternational exhibitions were a hugely expensive but popular undertaking in the last decades of the 19th century. Hosting such an event was a prestigious opportunity and for Australia it was a chance to promote itself on a world stage. No expense was spared and over one million local visitors attended the seven month event.