POWERHOUSE COLLECTION

Page from abridged catalogue of Wunderlich 'Steel Ceiling Materials'

Object No. A7437-31/2/10/1

The 1905 Wunderlich Catalogue supplement outlines the benefits of using zinc and steel moulded products over traditional wood and plaster. Their claims include lightness for transport, installation and decreasing the size of ceiling joists, no need to wait for drying and the fact they were both vermin resistant and fireproof. Also covered in the catalogue are a broad range of their available designs for roofing, finials, architrave and ceilings and walls as well as some explanations of inexpensive types of ceilings. While 1888 is best remembered as Australia's Centenary it was also an important date for the new company formed by Ernest and Alfred Wunderlich as this was the year they patented their new zinc ceiling process. By the end of the century demand for their lightweight ceilings and roofs had grown to the point where they were used in preference to plaster in practically every major museum, church, hospital, town hall, school, railway station across Australia. By 1895 Wunderlich had completed the installation of new machinery at its Redfern Plant, in Sydney, and their being able to increase output is probably one of the main reasons they began printing catalogues. These catalogues were initially targeted at regional areas and served as both a resume of the work they had performed and a list of styles and methods of installation provided by the company. They also served another purpose which was to try to expand Wunderlich's business into more remote areas as … the success of our work in every Colony of the Australasian Group, has naturally stimulated the parasitic, not to say piratic, habit in the incompetent mimic and the cheap copyist. Geoff Barker, Assistant Curator, April 2010 References Wunderlich Catalogue 1895 Wunderlich Catalogue 1899