Charles Ernest Astley was born in Deptford, Kent on 12 May 1869. Nothing is known of his early life or education but it appears that he studied at the Goldsmiths Institute, London under Frank Marriott. He came to Australia c.1887-88 and lived in rural New South Wales before moving to Hobart. There he painted (exhibiting with the Tasmanian Art Society in 1899) and performed as a violinist in the Hobart Philharmonic Society. He came to Queensland about 1902 and settled in Toowoomba where he became art instructor at the Toowoomba Technical College. He was instrumental in organising the first art show for the Austral Association in Toowoomba in 1903. He travelled back to England in 1907 and on his return settled in Warwick where, except for one year teaching in Rockhampton in 1925, he was to spend the remainder of his life as art master at the Warwick Technical College and High School. Charles E. Astley was a major figure in the cultural life of Warwick as he also performed with local musical groups.

His students exhibited their work annually and reports in the local papers describe stencilled curtains, woodcarving and modelling as well as painting and drawings. About 1920 he began to teach china painting and pottery. While the establishment of a course in ceramics in a small Queensland regional centre does not seem remarkable it becomes much more significant if we remember that the course was instituted more than a decade prior to courses at such institutions as the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. The Warwick Technical College in fact acquired a kiln before the Central Technical College, Brisbane, and received a positive response when the students’ works were displayed at the Queensland National Agricultural and Industrial Association annual exhibitions in 1921 and 1923. The College also submitted a display to the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley Stadium in 1924. ( Gladys Fell 's 'Kookaburra bowl’ was included the contingent from Warwick.)

Astley was a competent painter and exhibited oils and watercolours at Toowoomba and in Queensland Art Society Exhibitions in 1902, 1911 and 1914. His pottery classes at the Warwick Technical College was a major expression of the interest generated by L.J. Harvey 's classes in Brisbane. Astley’s own work is much more sophisticated that that of his students and compares favourably with the pottery being produced in Brisbane.

His most significant artistic achievement is carved 'Hallstand: Flanders Field’ which is a significant example of the distinctive Arts and Crafts furniture style that evolved on the Darling Downs in the late nineteenth century through the association of Edith Robinson with the Toowoomba Technical College. By looking at Astley’s carving with the tradition of symbolic devices, the effects of World War One on the Warwick district and the association with John McCrae’s poem, one can conclude that the strong underlying social forces in Astley’s environment affected his choice of motif. Astley’s work thus transcends its intended function as a simple domestic object and provides an opening to explore the social and artistic context of the period.

Research Curator, Queensland Heritage, Queensland Art Gallery

Writers:

Cooke, Glenn R.

Date written:

2008

Last updated:

2011