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An historically significant painting of Robert Chirnside by Augustus Baker Pierce (1840-1919) entitled Robert Chirnside and the Melbourne Hunt Club, 1882 (lot 9) was the top selling item at Gibson’s Auctions Melbourne December Summer Art Collection.
Chirnside was the nephew of Australian pastoralist Thomas Chirnside (1815-1887) who built the historic sandstone Italianate Werribee mansion, now a major tourist landmark in Melbourne’s western suburbs.
The...
Collectors from all parts of Australia descended on Melbourne for Leski Auctions December Australian & Colonial sale once they spotted the number of scientific instruments for sale.
Telescopes, sextants and microscopes were the subject of a bidding war and in each case were knocked down to the successful bidder for a healthy price.
Typical was lot 127, a 19th century Thomas Jones transit telescope that sold for $4000, lot 100, a Cooke...
The golfing community will always have fond memories of five times British Open champion Australian Peter Thomson who also made his mark in designing golf courses throughout the world.
Thomson died in June this year and his golf clubs and bag dating from 1957 were sold at Abacus Auctions Melbourne November sporting memorabilia sale for $1050 – a mere $50 over the catalogue estimate.
In an accompanying note the Australian champion said the Dunlop Maxifli clubs...
Lower priced works by name Australian artists appear to be attracting strong buyer interest at auction – if Menzies November sale results are any guide to market trends.
Of the 125 works offered for auction, 94 (or 75 per cent) sold – most of them (67) at or below a $20,000 hammer price.
The big ticket items – iconic works by artists such as John Bracks, Fred Williams, Jeffrey Smart, Charles Blackman, Garry Shead and Tim Maguire – still attract sizeable dollars...
It could only end with a massive boost to the auction coffers of Leski Auctions October sale of Decorative Arts, Watches & Collectables.
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.
The catalogue estimate for the 1880s Edward William Godwin art cabinet was $40,000-$60,000.
However, rapid competition soon took...
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.
One...
A 19th century French gilt gesso rope pattern ottoman was the top lot (hammer price $3800, $4719.60 with buyer’s premium) in Gibson’s Auctions Melbourne Spring Auction on September 16.
With plenty of buyers looking for items to decorate the home, many of the lots on offer quickly changed hands – often well above catalogue estimate.
Typical was the 19th century Spanish School’s Portrait of a Winged Figure in a Classical Landscape,...
Philips Auctions sold all but one of its 160 pocket watches at a special auction on August 14 – held the day after its usual decorative arts and jewellery sales.
The collection, which belonged to a late Melbourne surgeon whose wife wanted to remain anonymous, was lovingly assembled and an important part of his recreational activities when alive.
Top sellers from the collection included a solid gold Rolex wristwatch ($6830 including buyer’s premium), a James McCabe full hunter...
The boom times of the late 19790s were revisited on September 1 as stamp dealers and collectors fought for possession at Abacus Auctions latest Melbourne sale.
Top price was $34,220 - all figures include the 18% buyer’s premium - paid for a block of eight £2 Navigators on a cover that wasn’t even addressed.
Three overseas bidders on different continents jousted with local enthusiasts, with six combatants still live at $20,...
Ben Barnett’s autograph book featuring the work of Arthur Mailey was the leading money earner at Leski Auctions Melbourne sale on September 2.
The book, entitled “Australian Cricket Tour – England 1934”, included illustrations of team members and touring party officials signed by both Arthur Mailey and the cricketers involved and went under the hammer for $42,000 against a high estimate of $7500.
Australian cricketing legend Sir Donald Bradman’s correspondence to Nigel Ward who...
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