News and Opinion

In our News and Opinion and News Bites sections we publish relevant and timely articles on the antiques, collectables and decorative arts markets by respected and independent writers such Peter Fish, formerly the Sydney Morning Herald ArtSmart columnist, Richard Brewster of The Age and other writers. Subscribers are notified by email of the publication of important and time-sensitive articles.

2008 2010 2011 2012

Tricolore flags new departure in China trade

At Sotheby's Australia's sale of Fine Asian Australian and European Art, Decorative Arts and Furniture in Melbourne on May 14 and 15 at its rooms in High Street, Armadale a painting of the waterfront in Canton in 1803-04 sold for $186,000 including buyers premium, way past the admittedly conservative estimates of $25,000 to $35,000
By Terry Ingram on 18-May-2012 (Exclusive to the Antiques Reporter)

A French flag flying over Chinese territory appears to have flagged a further - unlikely – gain for the Chinese market .

 

Another great exhibition piece, this time from Paris, 1867.

The side cabinet by the French cabinetmaker and craftsman, Louis-Auguste-Alfred Beurdeley which was exhibited at the Great Exhibition 1867 in Paris, where he was awarded a Gold medal for his exhibits.
By our own correspondent on 14-May-2012 (Exclusive to the Antiques Reporter)

At their Fine Furniture, Decorative Arts & Asian Art auction in Sydney on Sunday May 27, Bonhams will offer a side cabinet (meuble à hauteur d'appui)  by the French cabinetmaker and craftsman, Louis-Auguste-Alfred Beurdeley (1808-1882).

 

What the Dick-ens??

By Jolyon Warwick James on 14-May-2012 (Exclusive to the Antiques Reporter)

Lot 68 of Shapiro Auctions on 9th May was an innocent looking Australian fiddle pattern dessert spoon by Alexander Dick. The marks were the more common for Dick – the pseudo London marks for 1800 (“date letter ”E”) rather than the rarer Castle (Edinburgh?) mark and date letter D etc.

 

Great Exhibition cabinet destined for Mt. Macedon Collection.

By our own correspondent on 08-May-2012 (Exclusive to the Antiques Reporter)

The "Hayball Cabinet", the gold medal award winning cabinet from the  Great Exhibition of 1851, held in Crystal Palace London, and auctioned by Elder Fine Art in Adelaide on 6 May 2012,  (lot 175) did not reach its reserve during the auction and  was sold after the auction to the Stokes Collection, based in Mt Macedon, Victoria

Dogged detective work by Adelaide auction house outs Renaisance style cabinet as prize winning 1851 Great Exhibition piece.

Once located, a search for the name of the cabinetmaker returned a treasure trove of information that included the entry in the catalogue of the 1851 Great Exhibition, images of the cabinet, and an extensive description.
By our own correspondent on 27-Apr-2012 (Exclusive to the Antiques Reporter)

Some clever detective work by Elder Fine Art of Adelaide has resulted in the identification of an ornate mid-Victorian prize winning cabinet from the Great Exhibition of 1851, held in Crystal Palace London, to be offered in their sale of 6 May 2012.

 

Philips Auctions to offer large Royal Worcester Collection

By our own correspondent on 27-Apr-2012 (Exclusive to the Antiques Reporter)

For the past 10 years, an old shed full of farm machinery at Diggers Rest has been the resting place for 80 excellent pieces of Royal Worcester, other fine china and paintings packed away in boxes.

 

Whiff of Royalty about the first Ainger Special sale for 2012

Ainger’s first special sale for 2012 will include this Dutch marquetry bureau, originally from the prestigious Burlington Place London residence of King Edward VII’s physician Dr Percy Longhurst
By our own correspondent on 21-Apr-2012 (Exclusive to the Antiques Reporter)

Magnificent furnishings originally from the prestigious Burlington Place London residence of King Edward VII’s physician Dr Percy Longhurst will be the highlight of Ainger’s first special sale for 2012.

 

Mining interests chase brass rather than silver at Lawson-Menzies Vizard Foundation sale

The highlight of the evening was a Vizard lot which wasn’t even silver. Five brass aboriginal King and Queen Plates were knocked down to mining interests, after a long battle, for $46,000 against an estimate of $15,000 - $20,000.
By Jolyon Warwick James on 08-Apr-2012 (Exclusive to the Antiques Reporter)

Around 50 people attending the Menzies Gallery in Kensington, Sydney did battle with half a dozen telephones and internet screens for the 198 lots of a remarkable offering of Australian precious metalwork.

ABC's "Collectors" replaced by new "Auction Room" program at 6pm Sundays.

07-Apr-2012

William McInnes plays host for this Collectors redux of a sort, which follows ordinary folk as they sell precious things, collectables and other possessions at auction. The premise is simple: our consumerism, and the emotions brought forth when we part with material possessions, as a window on our increasingly complex lives.

Sell-off of the century

01-Apr-2012

For more than two decades, Sydney antiques dealer Martyn Cook and interior designer Thomas Hamel have helped Australia’s seriously wealthy to decorate their homes. But now the power couple of the antiques and design business is splitting up. As a result, and as part of a move by Cook towards the more modern furniture that the market now wants, they have consigned more than 500 lots from their joint businesses and personal collection to Mossgreen Auctions for dispersal.

Vizard Foundation sale of gold and silver will set precedents for future

The Vizard Foundation Collection is the most impressive offering of Australian precious metalwork to come onto the market in living memory, with 198 lots ranging from jewellery to larger items of hollow ware and presentation pieces
By Jolyon Warwick James on 22-Mar-2012 (Exclusive to the Antiques Reporter)

Arguably, very arguably, this is the most impressive single sale of Australian precious metalwork to come onto the market in living memory. Despite the title, but in no way reducing the importance of the content, the majority of items are from vendor(s) outside the Foundation Collection.

A Marriage made in Heaven

There is still hope yet, for strange marriages, writes Terry Ingram. An ivory inlaid and marquetry cabinet on stand is proving to be one of the great finds of the Australian saleroom, apparently despite being one.
By Terry Ingram on 22-Mar-2012 (Exclusive to the Antiques Reporter)

There is still hope yet, for strange marriages, writes Terry Ingram. An ivory inlaid and marquetry cabinet on stand is proving to be one of the great finds of the Australian saleroom apparently despite being one.

Melbourne antiques doyen puts his stock on block

20-Mar-2012

AFTER 40 years selling blue-chip antiques from his quadruple shopfront in Melbourne's Armadale, Graham Geddes is set to liquidate his entire collection of up to 1500 pieces. The auction, which is being conducted by Leonard Joel, is expected to raise more than $5 million. Three of Geddes's five children will continue operating the statue-manufacturing and classic hire divisions, which have supplied props for numerous movies.

Curtains For Leslie

Leslie Walford, the man who seventy years ago began the slide away from drab interiors filled with Victorian brown furniture, died in Sydney on Monday night.
By Terry Ingram on 14-Feb-2012 (Exclusive to the Antiques Reporter)

Leslie Walford, the man who seventy years ago began the slide away from drab interiors filled with Victorian brown furniture so beloved of old Sydney money, died in a St Vincent's Hospice in Sydney on Monday night.

Mossgreen Auctions big spender fails to complete purchase

The two figures of Buddha, each originally estimated at $25,000 to $40,000, sold in November for $329,000 and $264,000, and are now being re-offered with estimates of $100,000 to $150,000 each
By our own correspondent on 12-Feb-2012 (Exclusive to the Antiques Reporter)

Paul Sumner's Mossgreen Auctions is the latest auction house to be burned by the Chinese dragon that has both fired and savaged the top end of the Chinese antiques.

Wedgwood: UN joins campaign to save museum treasures

05-Feb-2012

The Wedgwood Museum must be saved, the United Nations heritage committee says, despite a High Court decision that its collection should be sold to pay off the company’s £134 million deficit

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