Summary

Framed coloured invitation to Mrs Toutcher and The Misses Toutcher (2) to witness the opening of the Parliament of the Commonwealth by the Prime Minister Edmund Barton on 9 May 1901. Invitation cites Kipling's Commonwealth Ode: Loyal she gave the greeting, royal she bowed her head, Crying 'Crown me, my Mother, and the old Queen stood and said, Blood of our foes on thy bridle and speech of our friends in thy mouth, How can I crown thee further, O Queen of the Sovereign South? Daughter no more but Sister, and doubly daughter so, Mother of many princes and child of the child I bore.

The image was designed by Tom Carrington and produced by Sands and McDougall Limited, Melbourne.

Cartoonist Tom Carrington's design shows Young Australia, fresh from battle, approaching Britannia for honour and acceptance. Toscin, a radical newspaper, disapproved: 'The spirit of blatant jingoism... has burst out in full vulgar virulence... It is a clumsy, tawdry picture ... inspired by Kipling's drivel on the Old Queen and the Young Queen'. The original watercolour on which this invitation was based is held in the Wordsworth Collection, Perth.

Description of Content

Printed invitation on card, lithograph in subdued palette of pink, blue, yellow and gold. The invitation is designed in an art nouveau style, featuring three allegorical figures rendered in simple lines representing Britan, Justice and Australia. The composition is framed by an image of an oak tree and white cliffs to the left, a flowering gum and Australian pastoral scene to the right, and British and Australian coat of arms across the bottom.

Physical Description

Printed invitation on card, lithograph in subdued palette of pink, blue, yellow and gold. The invitation is designed in an art nouveau style, featuring three allegorical figures rendered in simple lines representing Britain, Justice and Australia. The composition is framed by an image of an oak tree and white cliffs to the left, a flowering gum and Australian pastoral scene to the right, and British and Australian coat of arms across the bottom.

Significance

On 9 May 1901 the Exhibition Building hosted the opening of the first Federal Parliament, where the new federal parliamentarians were sworn in, before an audience of 12,000 dignitaries and their families. Prime Minister Barton wanted the event to be as inclusive as possible and no other public building in Australia could accommodate such a large group of people.

The Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York visited Melbourne for the event, creating great excitement as they attended receptions, processions and other functions held in their honour. Melbourne's streets and buildings were elaborately decorated, and people from all over Australia visited for the celebrations surrounding the opening. The Exhibition Building was the venue for many of the events during the week of celebrations which included the opening, a conversazione, evening reception and state schools fete.

Following the opening, the new Federal Parliament sat in Victorian Parliament House until 1927 when Parliament House (now old Parliament House) in Canberra was completed. During this time Victoria's State Parliament sat in a specially designed chamber in the Western Annex of the Exhibition Building.

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