Priceless display for P.M.’s residence

Press, 4 February 1986, Page 12

Priceless display for P.M.’s residence

PA Wellington The Prime Minister's official will be refurnished-with pricelessfurniture dating back more than four centuries, and adorned with exquisite antique glassware, porcelain, silverware and Irreplaceable architectural watercolours. The new-found grandeur of Vogel House will last only as long as the New Zealand Inter-

national Festival of the Arts — and the Past Tense exhibition, being hosted by the Prime Minister, Mr Lange. The curator, Mr Campbell Moon, has combed private and public collections in New Zealand to bring together the finest antiques and show the art of furniture-making down the ages. Past Tense is the most extensive and exclusive display of antiques to

be brought together in New Zealand. The oldest item in the collection is a Tudor service table of 1550 — the newest is a Mies van der Rohe Barcelona chair made in 1936. The exhibition includes a collection of Waterford glass from the years 1740 to 1820, a 1780 Robert Adams table, a collection of important early silver

and procelain ornaments and vases. Past Tense also includes a collection of architects’ sketches curated by Chris Cochran and Rob Ansell. Covering New Zealand buildings designed between 1855 and 1985, they include the earliest artists’ impressions of many public and private buildings. In contrast to today’s prosaic blueprints, the earlier architectural drawings are works of art in their own right, delicately coloured and elegantly presented, with an eye to winning competitions and impressing clients rather than to assist construction. The organisers of Past Tense refuse to disclose the value of the exhibition, but Mr Moon said security would be greater than that provided for the Monet exhibition. Displays will fill the ground floor of Vogel House and visitors will also be able to look at the gardens. The exhibition will open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily from March 6 to March 24. The entrance fee is $3. Souvenir catalogues will also be available and an hourly rail or bus service will run from Wellington.