Lot 245: LLOYD TAYLER (1830 - 1900) SECOND PRIZE DESIGN MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION,1880

LLOYD TAYLER (1830 - 1900)
SECOND PRIZE DESIGN MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION,1880
watercolour
titled, dated and signed 'LLOYD TAYLER F.R.I.B.A, ARCHT.' in margin below image watercolour

Image 62cm by 128cm, frame 105cm by 171cm

Lloyd Tayler was one of the most prominent architects of late nineteenth century Melbourne; together with colleagues and competitors such as Leonard Terry and Joseph Reed, Tayler helped make Melbourne one of the world's great Victorian cities. Working in the eclectic style(s) of the period, his work ranged across commercial, civic, domestic and ecclesiastical commissions, many of which remain local landmarks to this day: the former Commercial Bank of Australia, 333 Collins Street (1890); the Australian Club, William Street (1878); the Metropolitan Fire Brigade Headquarters, Eastern Hill (1892); the porte-cocheré and tower of "Rippon Lea", Elsternwick (1881); "Kamesburgh", Brighton (1872); St Mary's Church of England, North Melbourne (1860) and the Presbyterian Church, South Yarra (1865).

A foundation member and three times President of the Victorian Institute of Architects, Tayler was described in an obituary as 'probably the best known figure in the architectural profession in Melbourne ... one of the oldest and most respected.' ((1)) Nevertheles, as is the case with most architects, his career was not one of unalloyed success; the present work bears handsome witness to one particularly significant failure.

London's Great Exhibition of 1851 launched a widespread and long lasting international vogue, from which the Australian colonies were not exempt; Melbourne staged five commercial and industrial exhibitions between 1854 and 1875, leading to calls for the erection of a permanent and large scale Exhibition Building. A L600 guineas architectural competition arranged in December 1877 attracted no fewer than eighteen entrants, Tayler among them. In the event, however, the first prize and commission were awarded to his great rival, Joseph Reed.

The present work is an important record of Tayler's submission for the prize, a finished presentation drawing of his design in perspective elevation. It gained Lloyd Tayler second prize in thecompetition, a premium of L200 guineas, and led indirectly to 'a later consolation prize - appointment as an exhibition commissioner with a gold pass in April 1880.' ((2))

(1) Argus, 18 August 1900

(2) David Dunstan, Victorian icon: the Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne

Melbourne: The Exhibition Trustees/Australian Scholarly Publishing, 1996, p. 52