CRAFTSMANSHIP FROM CHRISTCHURCH

New Zealand Listener, Volume 30, Issue 757, 22 January 1954, Page 7

CRAFTSMANSHIP FROM CHRISTCHURCH

‘HE two thrones specially built for the opening of New Zealand’s Parliament by Queen Elizabeth II will remain in the Council Chamber of Parliament House for the future use of Her Majesty’s Governors-General. They will replace the venerable red-plush chairs from which siborgin par + has been exercised in the past. Designed and built in Christchurch, the new thrones (right) reveal a standard of craftsmanship not so uncommon in New Zealand as is generally bélieved. Their wooden parts are carved from New Zealand beech stained and polished to give the effect of old ivory, and the raised portions of the carving are picked out with gilt. The carver and builder of the thrones, Noel McCracken, took some 300 hours to complete his task. The gilding was done by J. A. Johnstone, of Canterbury University College’s School of Art, an artist who once worked on the stalls of the Knights of the Thistle Chapel in Edinburgh. The upholstery of the thrones, of red damask, repeats the fernleaf and clematis motif of the carving. In the back of the Queen's throne is the Royal Cipher, hand-embroidered in gold-tinsel thread by Mrs. J. W. Newton, of Shannon. In the Council Chamber of Parliament, the two thrones stand on a dais covered with golden Carpet similar’ to ©

that used in Westminster Abbey. Immediately behind them is a dark-stained puriri canopy, and flanking them the somewhat lighter rimu walls of the chamber proper. -The effect is of an island of light in the dignified gloom. Presented by a New Zealander living in England, Sir Arthur Sims, the thrones

were. planned by Heathcote Helmore, a Christchurch architect, and. Noel MeCracken, from designs drawn up in England at the time of the Coronation. The upholstery was executed by H..V. Hay. More than 500 hours of painstaking work went into their construction and finishing.