[FEDERATION] View of the Ceres, or Wheat Arch in Bridge Street, Sydney. January, 1901. by LASSETTER & COY. (SYDNEY)

Albumen print photograph, 140 x 205 mm, laid down on its original board mount, 210 x 265 mm, verso with studio wet stamp of 'Lassetter & Coy. Limited, Sydney'; the print is in good condition, with sharp detail; the borders of the mount are heavily foxed. The Ceres, or Wheat Arch in Bridge Street, was one of several thematic arches erected around the centre of Sydney as part of the celebrations to mark the Federation of the Commonwealth of Australia in January, 1901. The following report by a Melbourne journalist in Sydney was published in The Argus on 1 January, 1901: 'Sydney is boiling and bubbling physically and mentally to-day. The last trains are emptying their loads at Redfern, and the last touches are being added to the decorative designs on every building, both public and private, while the streaming heat prevades everything until the scene is at once both an inspiring and it perspiring one. The old century, indeed, in this part of the world resembles the fabled Phoenix. It is dying in the midst of a fiery meteorological furnace, and from its ashes the young century will spring tomorrow alert and vigorous and more glorious than any of its predecessors. ... All that money can do has been done to beautify the city for the magnificent celebrations which have been arranged for to-morrow. The triumphal arches, many of which are extremely tasteful and artistic, have been structurally finished, although the adornments are not, in all cases yet completed ... The sides and the crown of the wool arch are covered with loose wool, which gives a striking effect. The following inscription runs round the arch:-""Welcome to the Land of the Golden Fleece."" The whole is surmounted by a crown flanked by huge rams with golden horns. The wheat arch is decked from base to summit with sheaves of wheat. The humble plough adorns the top, and round the face is the legend, ""Ceres Welcomes the Commonwealth."" There are also the words, ""The Profit of the Earth is for all.""