The Ballroom

 

One of the two thrones on the dais in the Ballroom.

The Ballroom is the largest room in Government House, Wellington. It is used for receptions, concerts, balls, investitures and other award ceremonies, as for large formal dinners and occasionally formal balls.  Most significantly, it is the room where the Prime Minister and his or her Ministers as sworn in as members of the Executive Council by the Governor-General after a General Election.

At one end is the dais on which stand the two thrones. Above these hangs a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, painted by Denis Fildes (1889-1975) in 1960.  The Queen is pictured wearing an evening dress and the star and blue sash of the Order of the Garter as well as two Family Orders of her father, George VI (pink ribbon) and her grandfather, George V (blue ribbon) 

The Ballroom also features a large portrait of Queen Victoria, which is on permanent loan from Queen Elizabeth, and which was once on display at Windsor Castle.   By Franz Winterhalter, the painting is a copy of an 1843 portrait and is said by Queen Victoria to be “the portrait she liked best.”

Other features of the Ballroom include the two Czech crystal chandeliers bought in 1966 at the prompting of Lady Fergusson, during Sir Bernard Fergusson's term of office (1962-67).  As a part of the Conservation Project they were completely disassembled and rewired with energy-efficient bulbs.  During much of the project, they were stored in-situ in two protective wooden boxes immediately beneath where they hung.

In order to prolong the life of the original Jarrah floor, which had been sanded many times in the last century, it was lightly sanded to remove the existing clear finish and then treated with an oil finish that can continue to be applied without further sanding.

The drapery matches that shown in historic photographs and requested by Lady Islington (the spouse of the first Governor to live in the House)