American radios made up around half the sale - many of them 1930s and 1940s instruments with cases made from colourful Catalin (a cousin of the better known but dowdier Bakelite). With US buying and underbidding also in evidence via the internet (Joels was for the first time offering internet bidding via the Artfact website), it was little surprise well over $50,000 worth of wirelesses will be heading overseas. Top among them was the star of the sale, , a very rare Spartan Nocturne (Lot 81 ) which sold for the low estimate of $40,000 ($48,000 including premium).
The classy and minimalist Nocturne has a dial set in a brushed steel frame within a mirrored cobalt blue glass disc around 1 metre in diameter.
Conceived by the eminent industrial designer Walter Dorwin Teague, it would have cost several hundred dollars in the immediate post-Depression days of the mid 1930s when it was launched.
According to Joels specialist Giles Moon, there are probably less than 20 worldwide, and examples have fetched close to $100,000.
However selling at the low end of the pre-sale estimate, the Nocturne price perhaps reflected the depressed US economy.
One bright spot was a run of Emerson AX235 Little Miracles, with several selling well above estimate. A yellow cased version with matching knobs and louvred grill, (Lot 8 ) fetched $1500, two and a half times the upper estimate. Similarly a Detrola 197 Pee Wee (Lot 71 ) and Detrola 201 Super Pee Wee, (Lot 72 ) brought $1300 and $1100 respectively.
A goodly proportion of the Australian radios outshone the estimates, pursued by a number of prominent Sydney and Melbourne collectors.
Among them was an Airzone Symphony Leader (Lot 127) whose streaky marbleised brown and cream case has won it the nickname “Vomitron”. It brought $22,000 ($26,400 with premium) compared with an estimate of $15,000 to $20,000.
Perhaps the most widely recognised radio from the 1930s, the AWA Fisk Radiolette Empire State (Lot 87 ), in the sought after lurid green case, brought $14,000 (estimate $8000-$12,000).
An imposing Mullard circa 1937 in green case with white details and very ritzy Art Deco styling (Lot 128 ) brought more than double the high estimate at $4400.
The stand-out surprise was an Astor Mickey in a dark blue case with swirls of white (Lot 140 ) (known as “clouds“) and louvred sides which fetched a hefty $8900, leaving its $800 to $1200 estimate far behind.
The preceding lot, another Mickey (Lot 139) but in turquoise, brought $6000, also several times the estimate.