Bronze ivory figures a Melbourne auction attraction
Author: Richard Brewster | Posted: 17th October, 2025
Collections of bronze ivory figures, Japanese netsukes and Bimini glass are the highlights of Melbourne-based Philips Auctions forthcoming online fine and decorative arts sale ending from 10am Monday October 27 at 47 Glenferrie Road, Malvern.
A Melbourne collector who died three months ago is the mainstay of these collections with a pair of ivory and bronze creations by Romanian sculptor Demetre Chiparis (1886-1947) that he purchased in 2010 in London for 43,000 pounds (lot 54).
The figures are of Ukrainian and Russian dancers Vaslav Nijinsky (1889-1950) and trailblazing arts icon Ida Rubenstein (1885-1960) from the ballet “Scheherazade”.
In the ballet, Nijinsky portrayed “Golden Slave” but later became immortalised for his performance of “Petrushka”, the puppet with a soul, while Rubenstein was “Zobeide”.
Chiparus, who attended the Ecole des Beaux-Arts and in 1914 exhibited at the Paris Salon established in 1667, was famous for his art deco Russian ballet dancer sculptures, French theatre and early motion pictures.
The collection also contains another Chiparis figure (lot 52) “Ivory Dancer with Rings” purchased in 2012 from Sotheby’s Australia in Melbourne for $21,600 – along with a 16,000-pound purchase of a cold-painted (unfired) “Eastern Dancer” sculpture (lot 51) by German sculptor Schmidt Cassal from Sotheby’s in London and a cold-painted bronze of flamingos (lot 50) by Austrian Bruno Zach who worked under the pseudonym Frank Mazura.
Other sculptures feature the jester Till Eulenspiegel (lot 46) and a young boy in shorts entitled “Sonny Boy” (Lot 53) by renowned German sculptor Johann Philipp Ferdinand Preiss (1882-1943).
Several lots of Bimini glass also feature in the auction (lots 193-204).
Established in 1923 in Vienna by Fritz Lampi, the Bimini style is often mistaken for Venetian Murano – however, it is much lighter and more delicate than most Italian glass.
The name Bimini was from the 1852 Heinrich Heine poem that describes Bimini as the miracle island with the spring water of eternal youth.
An immediate success, Bimini glass won international prizes and their work was exhibited internationally. However, when Nazi Germany annexed Austria in 1938, the Jewish Lampi family were forced to flee to London where they re-established their studios and lives until Fritz’s death in 1955.
A significant collection of Japanese netsuke figures is another auction attraction such as a 19th century Meiji period signed Masayuki ivory okimono of a skeleton (lot 108) and a 19th century Edo-Meiji period scene by Kaigyokusai Masatsugu (lot 115) of a giant octopus with a fisherman’s wife on a beach while the husband, watched by a bystander, is trying to pull the creature off her.
Sterling silver is a feature, particularly a fine George IV teapot and sugar bowl (lot 173) and a 177-piece German .800 silver cutlery service (lot 191).
Paintings include a work entitled The Old Mill (lot 296) by Australian artist Sydney Long (1871-1955) and Norman Lindsay’s (1879-1969) No, You Don’t (lot 311), while furniture has a fine 18th century Italian commode (lot 373) and an art deco Brazilian rosewood sideboard (lot 390) on offer.
The jewellery auction, which will be held at the same time has a comprehensive range of items with catalogue estimates ranging from hundreds to thousands of dollars for discerning buyers and those looking for gift ideas.
An 11.10 carat classic diamond bracelet (lot 65) is among the more expensive items at $12,500-$16,500 while a solitaire emerald cut solitaire dress ring (lot 83) is a more affordable $1000-$1500.
