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An envelope (lot 2048) taken on the 1919 England-Australia Air Race – a highlight of the Brian Peace collection of Australian Disaster Mail sold by Melbourne-based Abacus Auctions during its four-day sale of postal history, coins and stamps and sporting memorabilia from June 24-27 – sold for $9000.
George Matthews and Tom Kay, who carried the letter addressed to Mrs Mathew Wilson at Perth High School in Hay Street, Perth, Western Australia, were the first contestants...
Australian sculptor Clement Meadmore (1929-2005) has never lost his appeal and the latest auction effort to support this conclusion was for Nidor 1980 (lot 13) which sold for a hammer price of $85,000 ($104, 318 including buyer’s premium) at Menzies June 18 Australian & International Multiples & Sculpture online Melbourne sale.
One of the most accomplished sculptors of his generation, Meadmore achieved commercial and critical success, both in...
More than $600,000 was realised for a valuable collection of gold coins at Melbourne-based Leski Auctions June 17 Coins & Stamps sale.
The coins belonged to a family whose father passed away and the mother is about to be moved into aged care.
The most valuable coins in the collection were Perth Mint sovereigns struck between 1899 and 1931 (lots 41 and 42) in felt-lined timber cases – each of which sold for $38,000.
The sets numbered...
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 (...
Such is buyer thirst for major works by iconic Australian artist Brett Whiteley (1939-1992) that every time one pops up at auction it is snapped up.
Add the fact that it is an early work – and then expect to see fireworks.
This was the case at Menzies Sydney auction on April 9 when one of two works, entitled Untitled Painting III (lot 35) – both painted in 1961 and never before seen in Australia – more than doubled its lower catalogue estimate and was...
A circa 1890 Carrara marble figure sculpture more than 1.6 metres tall (lot 809) rocked Melbourne-based Leski Auctions two-day Decorative arts, Collectables and Cameras sale March 29-30 when it was knocked down for $32,000 – more than five times its upper estimate.
The sculpture was by famed French sculptor and caricaturist Prosper d’Epinay who worked under the name Nemo.
Born on July 13, 1836 in Pamplemousses, Mauritius, d’Epinay completed his primary...
A rare complete set of proclamation coins – inextricably linked to the development of Australia’s domestic currency system – sold for around their catalogue estimates at Melbourne-based Abacus Auctions four-day sale of stamps, coins, banknotes, postal history and sporting memorabilia beginning on March 25.
The most valuable was a gold Portuguese Johanna from Brazil (lot 3045), knocked down for $5750, which in early Australian colonial days was valued at four pounds....
A gold medal from the 1956 Melbourne Olympics is a rare auction treat so appreciated by collectors that they paid more than double lower catalogue estimate at Leski Auctions two-day February sporting memorabilia sale.
The gold medal (lot 1026), awarded to Australia’s Anthony “Tippy” Marchant in the 2000-metre Tandem Cycling Final, was knocked down for $70,000 on a $30,000-$40,000 estimate.
Marchant won the medal with his teammate the late Ian “Joey” Browne (...
Sydney collector John Gibson was very much in the auction limelight with his collection of 19th century Sudanese postal history ranging from early Egyptian post offices through to the tumultuous 1880s and 1890s military campaigns of the region.
The top selling exhibit from his collection at Melbourne-based Abacus Auctions December 10-13 sale was the 1852 letter cover to an Austrian noblewoman (lot 2568), recognised as one of the most outstanding of all...
A landscape painting (lot 1430) by Australian artist John Perceval (1923-2000) purchased by the vendor’s father – a close friend of the artist – was the top selling item at Melbourne-based Leski Auctions Australian & Historical sale on December 7 and 8.
The painting was knocked down for $66,000, slightly more than its upper catalogue estimate, while another work titled Cobaea (lot 1432) by Criss Canning also performed well at $36,000.
A third...
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