Submitted by aarAdmin on Tue, 06/01/2021 - 00:00
For the Australian couple who in 2010 won a commemorative 18-carat gold beer glass by Hardy Brothers Jewellers organised by Carlton Draft Brewery, Leski Auctions weekend auction (Saturday May 29 and Sunday May 30) in Melbourne was a real bonus.
The glass (lot 64) fell only $500 short of its lower catalogue estimate, bringing $119,500 (including buyer’s premium), and was the top-selling item of more than 1300 lots – 90 per cent of which sold for $1,401,735.
Part of the Edward Clark collection of important Australian silver, a stunning pair of emu egg urns adorned with Aboriginal figures (lot 14) by Danish designer, goldsmith, jeweller and artist Christian Ludwig Qvist, who migrated to Australia in 1852, filled second spot – changing hands for $40,630.
John Glover’s (1767-1849) New Settlement – Van Diemen’s Land (lot 963) was an impressive $32,265 on a $4000-$5000 catalogue estimate, while Samuel Thomas Gill’s (1818-1880) suite of five paintings depicting an Australian homestead and landscapes circa 1842-46 (lot 966) would have pleased the vendor with its $26,290 return.
Quality grandfather clocks always attract attention and lot 123, a rare circa 1825 colonial Australian cedar case example from New South Wales with English twin weight movement was no exception, selling for $22,705 on a $10,000-$15,000 estimate.
Two other Edward Clark collection pieces – a superb Australian desk set made from colonial silver and emu egg decorated with Aboriginal figures (lot 2) and colonial silver mounted emu egg casket (lot 1) respectively brought $20,315 and $17,925.
The former was designed by Danish silversmith and jeweller Joachim Matthias Wendt who in 1854 migrated to Adelaide and established his own business.
So successful did Wendt become that in 1867 he was appointed jeweller to His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh, gaining two gold medals for his South Australian work, by which time he employed 12 silversmiths, watchmakers and jewellers.
Heavily involved in the mining industry, Wendt became director of several South Australian companies and mines. When he died in 1917, aged 87, he left an estate valued at more than 33,000 pounds and his family then carried on the business for almost 100 years – with examples of their collective work held by the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra and the Art Gallery of South Australia.
The latter piece was designed by German Henry Steiner, who migrated to Adelaide four years after Wendt and set up business in the same (Rundle) street.
A prolific silversmith, he exhibited at many of the world’s great 19th century exhibitions and became particularly famous for his magnificent epergne creations.
One in particular, made in 1880, was more than one metre tall and became Australia’s largest known centrepiece – dominating international and inter-colonial exhibitions in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide from 1879 to 1881.
A colonial Australian cedar library sofa table (lot 295) attributed to Irish furniture maker William Hamilton who migrated in 1832 to Van Diemen’s Land (now Tasmania) was another impressive result, selling for $17,925 on an $8000-$10,000 estimate, along with “Coolgardie”, a rare Australian gold miner’s brooch (lot 71) which, with the same estimate, changed hands for $16,730.
Lot 357, a 19th century blackwood hallstand with original metal fittings, mirrored centre and English arts and crafts tiles featuring Australian birds, from Cliveden Mansion also was outstanding with its $15,535 sale on a $2000-$3000 estimate.
Built in 1887 for Sir William Clarke, Cliveden Mansion was a tour-de-force of Victorian architecture and dominated the East Melbourne skyline of its day. The property and contents were sold in 1914 and the mansion converted to apartments.
