News and Opinion — Year 2011

The question that was being asked in New Bond Street a week before Christmas must have been: "Where are the Three Wise Men when you need them?".  Twas the season for them after all. The telephone line to the Tardis obviously fell out and Dr Who, the only one who could make their appearance assured, could not be contacted.

A 19^th century three piece silver tea set by Australian silversmith Alexander Dick has sold for £42,000 hammer, £49,350  (IBP) ($76,897) by Tennants of Leyburn, North Yorkshire in their "Autumn Catalogue Sale".

The gods were smiling, and although the number 4 is considered an unlucky number in Chinese culture,  all the fours lined up in Part 4 of the four part 770 lot Mossgreen auction of Important Chinese Art in Melbourne on 22 November when bidding for four bronze Chinese gods soared to the heavens.

Bonham's decision to produce a separate catalogue to its main Fine Furniture & Decorative Arts for the sale of The Dale Frank Collection of Early Australian Furniture has been justified with 34 of the 45 lots selling (75%), raising $361,000 (hammer) against a low estimate total of $510,100.

Head of Collectables at Leonard Joel, Giles Moon, had produced a separate catalogue for the single lot sale of the Lieutenant Paul McGinness World War I medal group, which was held 30 minutes prior to the 516 lot Classic Furniture, Objects and Design sale on 20 November.

Old established third generation Ballarat antique and art dealers C. V. Jones will close their doors after 58 years in business, after an "Its Stumps" auction of over 500 lots of antiques and art on Saturday November 27.

An iconic image by Gert Sellheim achieved a new world record price at auction at Swann Galleries, New York, on 11 November. On estimates of U$3,000 – 4,000, ‘Australia – Surf Club’ from 1936 soared to US $24,000 (incl. buyer’s premium), report David Hulme and Brigitte Banziger

Canada is not the only country where an old book with watercolours pasted in can sell well.  At a Lawson's Annandale sale on Friday two books by Neville W. Cayley sold for many multiples their normal value thanks in part to watercolours of a parrot and a rosella pasted in.

Contemporary artist Dale Frank is selling most of his collection of early colonial Australian furniture through Bonham’s Australia in a single-vendor sale of 45 lots in Sydney on Sunday 20 November. Bonham’s says the sale is due to a change in collecting interests, health issues and Frank’s need to focus of the restoration of his ‘Colonial properties and landscapes in New South Wales’.

E.. J. Ainger Auctions will finish off the year with three one-owner collections, to be sold separately on 3^rd, 4^th and 11th December 3rd 2011.

Sydney paediatric surgeon Dr Genevieve Cummins has a simple philosophy towards collecting. “I collect for a purpose, learn about the topic and then share the knowledge with other people,” she said. Which is why she has written several books on different subjects – each one a reflection of her collecting fetish at the time.

Although the three day Sotheby's Australia sale of Asian, Australian & European Decorative Arts & Furniture got off to a slow start on the first evening, when the Australiana section failed to ignite interest, (see our previous report <i>Australiana fails to inspire bidders at Sotheby's Australia</i>, the overall sale total of $2.3 million hammer was the highest since the two day May 2008 sale when $3.266 million was achieved in a two day sale.

Sotheby's Australia first evening of their three evening sale got off to an uncertain start last night with the first 108 lots of Australiana (of the 251 lot night's offering) eliciting little response from the 60 or potential bidders in the room.

Twelve classic Australian travel posters feature prominently in Swann Auction Galleries sale of rare and important travel posters on 11 November, in New York. The 186 lots inspire dreams of travelling in style to exotic places all over the world, write David Hulme and Brigitte Banziger.

It may come as a surprise to some, but Victorian Liberal Party power broker Michael Kroger has long been a big fan of Napoleon Bonaparte. But only to those who have not have been guests at his recently sold town house in Melbourne's South Yarra.