Submitted by aarAdmin on Tue, 05/27/2025 - 00:00
Artworks by Australian comedy icon the late Barry Humphries (1934-2023) and colonial silver were popular buys for auction goers at Melbourne-based Leski Auctions Australian & Historical sale on May 24-25.
A spectacular sterling silver presentation trophy (lot 48) presented to Stephen George Henty (1811-1872), farmer and member of Victoria’s Legislative Council from 1856 to 1870, was the top selling item at $46,000 followed by Humphries 1981 oil painting of Lorne (lot 1200) for $39,000.
Manufactured in 1857 by George Adams of London, the trophy was engraved with the words (in part) “Presented to The Honourable Mr Stephen George Henty Esquire, Member of the Legislative Council of Victoria by His Numerous Friends Resident in the Town and District of Portland as recognition by them of his worth, and as a mark of the esteem and regard in which he is held….on 11 May 1859.”
Other Australian colonial silver items of note included Felix Lynn’s rare circa 1830 silver taper stick and snuff (lot 3) which sold for $22,000, a 19th Century wine ewer (lot 23) by Melbourne’s William Edwards presented to Mr and Mrs L. Steinman, that brought $18,000, and a circa 1830 silver fish slice (lot 1) by Alexander Dick, similar to the one on display in the National Gallery of Victoria, a $14,000 return.
Born in Edinburgh, silversmith Alexander Dick (1799-1843) arrived on October 16, 1824 in Sydney as a free settler and shortly after established his own business.
Four years later, with business booming and two silversmiths and two jewellers in his employ, Dick was accused of receiving stolen goods from the home of colonial secretary Alexander McLeay by assigned convict Alexander Robertson, smarting from 25 lashes instigated by his employer.
Dick was found guilty and sentenced to seven years imprisonment but pardoned in February 1833 after new evidence was found and returned to his Sydney business.
Internationally famous particularly for his clever satirical characters Dame Edna Everage and Sir Les Patterson, Barry Humphries also was a keen landscape artist.
Two at the auction stood out – his 1981 rendition of Victoria’s Surf Coast resort Lorne (lot 1200) selling for $39,000 on a $6000-$10,000 catalogue estimate, and Bedarra Bay and Island (lot 1199), a $30,000 sale on a $10,000-$15,000 estimate. Another of his paintings, entitled Bali, (lot 1202) brought $10,000.
A pottery vase dated 1934 by Melbourne artist Margaret Kerr (lot 270) was another strong performer, selling for $12,000, while two paintings in the Willi and Kevin Carney collection – lot 1218, William Beckworth McInnes (1889-1939) Figure in Pool, and lot 1220, Agnes Noyes Goodsir (1864-1939) floral study – each sold for $10,000.
