News and Opinion — Year 2018

From the late 1970's a rite of passage to become recognised as a serious antique dealer in Australia, was to make an overseas buying trip, most commonly to England or France, purchasing and shipping back containers of antiques for sale.

Gary Kay fulfilled these criteria in spades, making over 90 buying trips. Probably because of his European heritage, he made France his preferred destination, and combed Paris, its suburbs and the French countryside for treasures. A master of the deal, Gary scooped up fine French furniture, mirrors and chandeliers, and anything quirky and unusual, some of them minor treasures He changed the décor of many households across Australia for the brighter and better.

Melbourne couple Frank and Jill Jones were always a welcome site at the city’s art galleries, antique shops and auction houses.

Married in 1963 in London with years spent travelling and working in Europe, they returned to Melbourne in 1967 and eight years later moved into the family Toorak home.

It was then their collecting began in earnest – frequenting the likes of Leonard Joel, Sotheby’s, Joseph Brown, Christie’s, Adam Galleries, Franzi and Filcock, Littleton Gallery, Behruz and Parkside Antiques until they had become firm friends with all the proprietors. 

When the late Neil Robertson was 12 years old he purchased his first antique – a decision that was to start him on a lifetime of collecting, particularly curios. After completing high school, he worked in Australia and England as a bookseller before becoming the proprietor of Melbourne’s iconic Webber’s Booksellers, opened in 1931 by Margareta Webber.

In the early days of automobiles, manufacturers would often proudly mount mascots on the radiator caps to better identify the make of the vehicle.

Many became elaborate works of art and a collectable prize for those who could afford them.

They only really went out of favour in the 1970s when authorities realised the extra damage they could cause pedestrians in the event one was hit by the vehicle.

One such Melbourne collector has managed to locate 12 of these creations, dating from 1920 to 1930, and after many years of owner satisfaction is now auctioning them through Philips Auctions forthcoming sale from noon Sunday December 2 at 47 Glenferrie Road, Malvern.

A giant pair of marble lions are a feature of E.J. Ainger’s forthcoming “architectural and art deco almost single vendor” auction, according to managing director John Ainger.

“The lions were part of a Templestowe mansion belonging to a well-known Melbourne business identity that was demolished 10 years ago and have been stored in a Bentleigh warehouse ever since,” he said.

The lions (each of which weighs about two tonnes) are not the only massive architectural feature at the auction, which will be held on Sunday December 2 at Ainger's Richmond auction rooms.

Auction goers who like to delve into Australian history will no doubt be impatiently waiting for the chance to bid at Leski Auctions forthcoming Australian & Colonial auction from noon Sunday December 2 at 727-729 High Street, Armadale. Australia’s past will be in sharp focus at the sale with further selections from long-time collector Rodney Pemberton’s collection of Australian colonial furniture to whet buyer appetites. One of the highlights is a side table (lot 294) created for display at the 1880 Melbourne International Exhibition held in the then brand-new Royal Exhibition Building designed and built for the purpose. The exhibit won a silver medal at the time and is the only remaining piece from the 1880 exhibition still in private hands. All the others reside in either Melbourne Museum or National Gallery of Victoria collections.

A converted Fitzroy warehouse with an abundance of natural light is the setting for Leonard Joel’s November Modern Design auction, which features a stunning and eclectic range of European design furniture.

The auction, from 6.30pm Monday November 12 at 200 Argyle Street, Fitzroy is an adventurous move from Leonard Joel’s traditional South Yarra venue and modern design head Anna Grassham says it pays tribute to the many layers, hidden spaces and hybrids of cultures Melbourne offers.

A bidder standing in the pouring rain outside a New York restaurant competing on the phone against two like-minded souls in London and a determined buyer in Leski Auctions Melbourne rooms provided a massive boost to the auction coffers of Leski Auctions October sale of Decorative Arts, Watches & Collectables.

Two 20th century famille-rose figural plaques absolutely rocked auction goers when they achieved more than 24 times their catalogue estimate at Sotheby’s Australia’s Melbourne October sale of Treasures: Important Asian, Australian & European Arts & Design.

With Sotheby’s estimating the plaques at a modest $5000-$7000, bidders went berserk with the successful purchaser eventually paying $122,000 for the two Chinese plaques.

The silver Faberge letter opener will be offered at Philips Auctions forthcoming Fine & Decorative Arts on Sunday October 28 at their Malvern rooms with  a modest estimate of $20,000-$30,000.

The Russian .875 silver and rock crystal letter opener (lot 21) was made in 1894 in Moscow and bears the K. Faberge mark in Cyrillic.

It is shaped like a dagger with a finely cast horse’s head in profile above a reeded collar with gold horseshoe embellishments to both sides. 

Godwin was a progressive English architect-designer renowned initially for his “Ruskinian Gothic-style” creations of mid-Victorian Britain including The Guild Hall in Northampton.

He was among the first European designers to include the arts of Japan, which in 1853 had opened its doors to the Western world, in his works.

From 1867, his Anglo-Japanese furniture style (furthering the impact of the Aesthetic Movement with his influence later detected in arts and crafts) , mainly executed with ebonised finishes, was designed for his own use and for Dromore Castle.

The historically important Lonsdale Silver Presentation is a major highlight of Sotheby’s Australia’s forthcoming Asian, Australian & European Arts & Design auction from 6pm Wednesday October 24 at 14-16 Collins Street, Melbourne.

The eight lots of inscribed sterling silver were presented in 1842 to Captain William Lonsdale by the people of Melbourne in recognition of his services to the founding colony.

Decorative arts are the focus of Leonard Joel’s first auction at its new Sydney premises in The Bond, Queen Street, Woollahra.

Built in 1870 and originally a Masonic Lodge, this historic building contains a ground floor gallery and space to host viewings, auctions and other events.

The decorative arts auction, from 6pm Tuesday October 23, includes several local and interstate collections – including rare and important 18th century porcelain.

A single owner collection of more than 200 Chinese snuff bottles and a private South Australian collection of Chinese scrolls head Gibson’s forthcoming Estate & Collector auction on  Sunday October 14 in their Armadale rooms.

Many of the snuff bottles are painted on the inside of the glass – a fine decoration such as that featured in lot 92, a work of art ‘The Lan Ting Shu’ dated Beijing 1898 (lot 92) and Wuxian 1901 and attributed to Ding Erzhong – or are of an unusual shape such as lot 50, a 1974 sponge coral ‘iron tree’ example (lot 50).

Leonard Joel’s first stand-alone Asian art auction contains a diverse selection of items spanning the entire Asian region designed to appeal to all comers and features six private Australian collections.

The sale is on Monday October 8 at Leonard Joel's South Yarra auction rooms.

Australian Rules football champion John Coleman’s Essendon match jumper he wore in 1953 is one of the major highlights of Leonard Joel’s collectables auction from 2pm Thursday September 27 at 333 Malvern Road, South Yarra.

Coleman (1928-1973) was a Victorian Football League (now the Australian Football League) star full-forward, kicking 537 goals in only 98 matches.

Known for his high-flying spectacular marks, Coleman won two premierships with Essendon (1949 and 1950) and was VFL leading goal kicker five times (1949-1953).

Leski Auctions has advised that  their scheduled sale of the Blythman Collection on 23 September 2018 has been cancelled after an inspection by officers from Aboriginal Victoria identified 112 that they deemed to be sacred or secret and could not be offered for sale..

As a boy in the 1950s on the family property in the southern Mallee region of Victoria, Daryl Blythman became fascinated with Australian indigenous artefacts that predated European migration by thousands of years.

Intriguing furniture pieces, portrait miniatures and shadow and wax portraits are among some of the more impressive items at Leonard Joel’s forthcoming decorative arts auction from 6.30pm Monday September 17 at 333 Malvern Road, South Yarra.

A fascinating collection of perfume bottles is among the highlights of Philips Auctions forthcoming decorative arts sale from noon Sunday September 16 at 47 Glenferrie Road, Malvern.

The collection – 44 18th and 19th century bottles in all – belongs to long-time collectors Peter Baker-Finch and Walter Grench and features many unusual porcelain creations by leading manufacturers.

Typical is the 1850-60 "Provender for the Monastery" figure attributed to Meissen. Another is the 1880s gilded cornucopia perfume bottle attributed to Moser.