Inside Melbourne Town Hall’s treasure trove of art, artefacts and curiosities

LYING inside Melbourne Town Hall is a hidden trove of art, artefacts and curiosities. From a piano played by a Beatle to a brick with a hidden past, these are just some of the treasures to be found.

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MOLLY’S Moomba portrait, a piano played by Beatle Paul McCartney and a 1956 Olympic torch are part of the city council’s art and cultural collection now valued at $64 million.

The collection is being displayed for the first time online.

The most valuable item is the $8 million pipe organ at Town Hall. The 1929 musical monster has 10,000 pipes, exhaling 90,000 cubic feet of air every minute.

The pipe organ at Melbourne Town Hall, valued at $8 million. Picture: City of Melbourne

Paul McCartney playing the piano during The Beatles visit at the Melbourne Town Hall during a State Reception. Picture: HWT

The city has collected 8000 pieces of art, artefacts and curiosities since the 1850s. Much of the art collection, including some mayoral portrait paintings, were lost in a fire in 1925.

One that did survive was Australian impressionist artist Tom Roberts’ 1886 painting of Samuel Amess, who was mayor between 1869 and 1870.

Another valuable item is the original mayoral chain, all 2.5kg of it, that is weighed down by 72 18-carat gold medallions, and is worth $1.3 million.

A Kozminsky replica is now used by Lord Mayor Robert Doyle for ceremonial occasions.

Tom Roberts’ portrait of Mayor Samuel Amess (1869-70).

Portrait of 1985 King of Moomba Ian “Molly” Meldrum.

The Melbourne mayoral chain was handmade by early Australian goldsmiths. Picture: City of Melbourne

Cr Doyle said the collection combined the charm and character of a private art collection with the ambition of the finest state museums.

“This diverse and somewhat eccentric collection reflects the eclectic and distinctive identity that makes Melbourne such a vibrant cultural capital.’’

Portraits of several Moomba Kings and Queens line the Town Hall walls.

Music guru Ian “Molly” Meldrum, without his trademark Akubra, was captured in a 1985 studio photograph in a crown and purple robe.

Bottle of 1980s Moomba Spumante from the Barossa Valley.

1956 Melbourne Olympic Games Torch.

Another curio from Melbourne’s annual carnival is a branded bottle of “Moomba Spumante”. Well, it was the 1980s.

A piano in the Melbourne Room may not be that valuable if it were not for the fact that Beatle Paul McCartney tickled the ivories for a singalong during the Fab Four’s famous visit in 1964.

Large murals by renowned painter Napier Waller adorn several walls and are collectively valued at $1.6 million.

Waller lost his dominant right arm during World War I, relearnt his craft with his left hand and drew murals featuring classical and mythological figures.

One of the City of Melbourne’s first building blocks has also been preserved.

The brick formed part of a house built near the corner of Queen and Bourke streets in 1837 and demolished in 1883.

One of the first bricks made in Victoria formed part of the first brick house built near the corner of Queen and Bourke streets in 1837. Picture: City of Melbourne

The certificate presented to Nelson Mandela at Melbourne Town Hall, soon after his release in 1990.

The Friendship Cup which was presented by the USSR team after the 1956 Olympic Games.

Also preserved is a framed certificate, presented to anti-apartheid campaigner Nelson Mandela soon after his release from prison in 1990.

Mandela addressed the council chamber — his first address to an elected government anywhere in the world.

A real oddity is a series of photographs of potholes. In the early 1960s, the council pothole inspector buzzed around the city on his scooter, identifying roads in need of repair.

Two remnants from the 1956 Olympics still exist.

The Soviet Union team presented the Friendship Cup to the City of Melbourne after the Games ended. And an original torch, but not the one carried into the MCG by Ron Clarke to light the flame, remains at Town Hall.

Thieves stole The Boy With Urn fountain from Fitzroy Gardens in 2016.

The pothole inspector at work. Picture: City of Melbourne

Potholes photographed in Rankins Rd, Kensington. Est 1960s. Picture: City of Melbourne

One of the city’s most valuable assets, the Boy With Urn fountain was stolen from its Fitzroy Garden location.

The fountain, from around the 1900s and worth about $50,000, has never been recovered.

The city collection includes outdoor sculptures and memorials.

The 10m-high Exhibition Fountain, in Carlton Gardens South near the Exhibition Building, was built in the 1880s and was restored in 1994.

More than 15 per cent of the city’s collection is on display, a high rate compared to state compilations.

The Exhibition Fountain near the Royal Exhibition Building.

The city’s arts, culture and heritage chairman Rohan Leppert said the new website was a treasure trove of Melbourne’s most fascinating objects.

“From stuffy portraits and ceremonial garb to photos of potholes and drawings of a Melbourne that might have been, our City Collection ranges from the sublime to the ridiculous, with everything in between,” Cr Leppert said.

Maintaining the collection costs the council about $190,000 a year.

For the first time, the city’s collection can now be viewed online at citycollection.melbourne.vic.gov.au

@IanRoyall

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