“I’ve never been so busy in my life,” Cairnduff says, “I’ve had to take two days off.“
The sale is the collection of the late Keith Allen, who was something of a legend in the Melbourne antique trade. Allen‘s Cottage Antiques in bayside Brighton, was for around 30 years on the itinerary of just about every antiques fancier who came to town. The shop closed in 2003, and its proprietor passed away some 18 months ago.
Allen was also well known in Macedon for his passion for decorating and landscaping homes, so it’s only appropriate that the auction will be held on site at his historic Macedon property, Bayley Park.
Among the 800-plus lots, which have attracted interest from all over the country, are quality French and English furniture and a miscellany of statues, bronzes, paintings, plus a huge library of reference books ranging from antiques to home renovation and landscape design. There’s even Asian art including netsuke, the highly collectable Japanese miniature toggles.
Cairnduff says the highlights include a Louis XVI style ebonised Boulle vitrine (Lot 83 ) with a single arched glazed door, which carries an estimate of $3000 to $5000, and a Victorian flame mahogany longcase clock (Lot 155 ) signed by Jo. Golder, and estimated at $2500 to $3500. Amongst the decorator art is an oil on canvas Portrait of a Scottish Banker, (Lot 431 ), Circle of Sir Thomas Lawrence, estimated at $5000 to $8000.
There’s also a large Louis XV style vitrine with panels painted in the style of Watteau (Lot 309) and a late 19th century Sheraton style mahogany and satinwood fall-front bureau bookcase with glazed upper doors (Lot 333 ).
There are more than 70 netsuke, in ivory, bone and wood, many signed. These are being offered in lots of five (starting with Lot 454), most with estimates of $800 and up.
The sale ends with a massive array of garden ornaments, urns and outdoor furniture.
Perhaps there are real gems hidden away among the netsuke, but it’s worth observing that, given the nature of Allen’s business and enthusiasms, the collection on offer seems bereft of the sort of real treasures many acute dealers manage to squirrel away during their lives.
Much of the vast quantity of furniture, art and smalls on offer are modest, and priced accordingly. Numerous lots are estimated in the low hundreds, many being offered without reserve.
If Allen accrued major works to tuck away for his last days, they have gone elsewhere.
But if Allen’s 841 lots were not enough to keep Guy Cairnduff on his toes, Joel’s has several other big single owner sales coming, including the collection of another legend in the trade, Ross Grace, who operated The Grace Antique Galleries in High Street Armadale, on April 11, plus the contents of Boonaroo homestead in Carrara Heights on the Gold Coast on May 2.