Historical information

Eric Thake had a unique way of looking at the world, uniting a singular vision that found the extraordinary in the everyday, with a whimsical sense of humour and refined modernist aesthetic. One of his lesser-known commissions was a mural for the Victorian Manager’s office at the ETA Factory in Braybrook designed by Frederick Romberg in 1957. Photographed here by Kenneth Ross, the mural depicted a stylised map of Australia, with Indonesia above and New Zealand to the south, and showed the peanuts and other raw materials that ETA used in the production of various foodstuffs against a striking and entirely gilded wall.

Kirsty Grant, 2017

Physical description

Black and white photograph of a mural by Eric Thake in the manager's office at the ETA Factory, Melbourne.

Inscriptions & markings

Typed lower center, 'ETA FACTORY 1961/ MURAL BY ERIC THAKE/ IN MANAGER'S OFFICE'