According to London art dealer and TV personality Philip Mould a sleeper is an object which is not recognised as such unless it is sold for a low price and later confirmed to be a great find.
At sales in Copenhagen, New York and Adelaide word appears to have been out about the possible emergence of the “sleepers” well before the gavel was raised.
At his Antique and Estate Jewelry (sic) Holiday Auction on November 13 Mark Bunda sold a pearl necklace with a diamond clasp estimated at $US15,000 sold for $US107,500 plus 23 per cent buyers premium.
The expatriated Bunda has been involved in the decorative arts since 1983. His first exposure was through his family’s antique jewellery and & furniture business in Australia.
He went to New York in 1987 and worked for William Doyle Galleries for two years before moving to Christie’s Park Avenue where he was a jewellery specialist for three.
Last month he had a 35 cm strand with a very fine lustre tested and they came back with a certificate specifying that they were natural saltwater pearls,
The value was in the 85 8.44 mm pearls although the old European-cut diamond weighed around 0.98 carats.
Natural pearls have provided some of the best saleroom finds of the past two years.
In June 2011 an antique platinum pendant containing a tear-shaped natural pearl sold at Leonard Joel in Melbourne for $120,000 against estimates of $2000 to $2,500.
In April natural pearls almost created another sleeper thanks to a find of a pair of diamond and pearl earrings by a man, Jonathan Edwards who had spent half his working life in Australia.
Estimated at £80,000 ($128,300) to £120,000, the natural pearl and diamond drop earrings fetched £1.6 million at the saleroom of Woolley & Wallis in the cathedral city of Salisbury on April 26. The auction house says it was a record price for a pair of natural pearl earrings.
At an English and European Ceramics & Glass, Oriental, Antique Silver, Objets D'Art and Fine Antique Furniture on December 6 Small & Whitfield of Adelaide established what is believed to have been an local auction record for a piece of carnival glass.
Carnival glass was also fashionable in the 1920s flapper era . According to Wikepedia, carnival glass which is moulded or pressed glass with a pattern that has a “shiny, metallic, 'iridescent' surface shimmer.“
The keys to its appeal were that it looked superficially like the very much finer and very much more expensive blown iridescent glass by Tiffany, Loetz and others and also that the cheerful bright finish caught the light even in dark corners of the home.
Its current name was adopted by collectors in the 1950s from the fact that it was sometimes given as prizes at carnivals, fetes & fairgrounds
Small & Whitfield Adelaide sold a “quality carnival glass peacock bowl” estimated at $80 to $150 for for $12,000 hammer ($13,500 IBP).
The buyer, who asked not to be named, said he was a builder by profession who had taken to carnival glass partly because it was possible to still make finds like the Small & Whitfield offering in this collecting field, whereas it was not possible to make great finds in most others.
He said he was delighted with his find as he had heard reports of other similar specimens selling for much more at carnival glass conventions in the US.
Referred to antiquesreporter.com.au by the Carnival Glass Collectors Association of Australia following our inquiry through its website www.carnivalglass.org.au/ , the buyer said the discovery was not earth shattering but still quite important. Only half a dozen or so similar specimens had been offered in recent times.
The bowls excellent condition and its opal colour made it especially desirable. It was made by the Northwood company of the US.
He could not confirm it was an auction record for opal glass in Australia but records kept by antiquesreporter.com.au suggest the previous auction high may have been $1250.
The respected collectibles market tally keeper Kovels provides this information on past sales.
It reported in October 2010 that a Northwood opal aqua grape & cable cracker jar sold for $US67,500.
The third prospective sleeper was offered in Copenhagen on December 12 at Bruun Rasmussen's rooms in Havnen.
It was an 81 cm long Aboriginal parrying shield from South Australia carved from one piece of wood with a triangular cross section with a front decorated with a chevron pattern inlaid with white paint, and was estimated at Danish Kroner 2000 to DK3000 or €270 to €400.
The shield made DK33,000 or €4400, (hammer), €5280
Local sources who did not bid in expectation of a blow out from the estimated price suggested that this was enough.
Notable pieces of tribal art often appear in Danish sales usually having hung in its many small castles.
Danish buyers are alert and responsive to Australia, apparently because of their Tasmanian princess.