Submitted by aarAdmin on Tue, 11/30/2021 - 13:28
Vendors would have been delighted with Melbourne-based Leski Auctions two-day sale on November 27-28 as plenty of the more than 1300 lots on offer went under the hammer for more than their catalogue estimates.
Top price was Althea Mary (Thea) Procotor’s (1879-1966) The Rose, 1927 (lot 1055) – a colourful hand coloured woodcut that, at $33,460 including buyer’s premium, sold for three times its catalogue estimate.
Well-known Melbourne ceramic artist Margaret Kerr did not disappoint with her rare and impressive pottery vase (lot 244a), also returning more than three times the catalogue estimate at $21,510 – the same price as was paid for Jan Hendrick Scheltema’s (1861-1941) Horses at play (lot 1036).
A rare 19th century Western Australian goldfields brooch (lot 77), from the abandoned gold mine at ghost town Malcolm 852 kilometres northeast of Perth, was another popular choice at $19,120, while an untitled Bill Henson photograph (lot 1292) brought $17,925.
The same price was paid for a Remued pottery vase (lot 245) and Charles Henry Theodore Costantini’s (1803-1860) Portrait of Frederick George Page (lot 962) sold for an above estimate $15,535.
Nora Gurdon’s (1881-1974) painting The Velvet Dress (lot 1011) also exceeded its estimate, changing hands for $10,755.
As always, anything by Brett Whiteley (1939-1992) is never going to sell cheaply and in this case an ink and watercolour on paper entitled Woodford Bay, Longueville, c1953 (lot 1092) brought $10,157 against a $1000-$2000 estimate.
The painting has an inscription on the back by Whiteley’s sister Frannie Hopkins which says “Brett Whiteley – circa 1953. Woodford Bay, Longueville. From a sketchbook. Happy Birthday Gin, I love you, Frannie May 2002.”
Tenth spot in the auction was filled by Minnie Pwerle (1922-2006) for her Bush Melon Body Paint 2004 (lot 1329).
