By Richard Brewster, on 13-Oct-2020

Despite the inability of buyers to physically attend Gibson’s Auctions Melbourne sale on Sunday October 11 due to current coronavirus lockdown restrictions, 82 per cent of the Interiors Private Collections online only offerings were snapped up with a  148 per cent return by value.

Top selling item from the Gibson's Auctions Interiors Private Collections sale on October 11 was a was a 17th century blue and white Chinese Qing Dynasty (Shunzhi period) baluster vase from the Nielsen collection (above) that sold for $25,620 including buyer’s premium.

Top selling item from the Gibson's Auctions Interiors Private Collections sale on October 11 was a was a 17th century blue and white Chinese Qing Dynasty (Shunzhi period) baluster vase from the Nielsen collection (above) that sold for $25,620 including buyer’s premium.

The three private collections involved belonged to antiques trade veteran Edward (Ed) Clark Antiques, diamond merchant the late Bjarne Nielsen and Antiques Selection’s Robyn Allen.

Top selling item, from the Nielsen blue and white porcelain collection, was a 17th century blue and white Chinese Qing Dynasty (Shunzhi period) baluster vase (Lot 181 ) that sold for $25,620 including buyer’s premium.

From the same collection came a circa 1640 pair of blue and white covered Ming Dynasty Chongzheng period covered vases (Lot 198 )  $11,590 and a large imported 18th century Dutch delft liturgical bowl (Lot 243 )  $9150.

A Classical Still Life with Parrots and Fruit from the French School (lot 18) sold for the same amount as the liturgical bowl, while more pieces from the Nielsen collection filled most of the remaining top 10 selling items.

These included a circa 1640 Ming Dynasty Chongzheng period blue and white hexagonal vase (Lot 212 ) $7320 , an 18th century  Dutch delft blue and white tuli9p vase (Lot 241 )  $7076 and a delft blue and white jar and cover from the same period (Lot 255 ) $6832.

Other items included a pair of frosted silver speckled Murano glass vases by Constantini (Lot 76 ) $6588, six blue and white Qing Dynasty Kangxi period dishes (Lot 185 ) $6100 and a large Italian carved giltwood salon mirror (Lot 54 ) $5612.

Sale Referenced:

About The Author

Richard Brewster has been writing about the antiques and art auction industry for almost 20 years, first in a regular weekly column for Fairfax's The Age newspaper and also in more recent times for his own website Australian Auction Review. With 45 years experience as a journalist and public relations consultant, in 1990 Richard established his own business Brewster & Associates in Melbourne, handling a wide range of clients in the building, financial, antiques and art auction industries.