Items from historic Alton – the Mount Macedon estate established in the 1870s by Sir George Verdon (at various times Victoria’s treasurer and Agent General) and subsequently owned by Judge Hood and Aspro co-founder George Nicholas before being purchased in 1997 by mining executive Eduard Eshuys and his wife Marjorie – will be auctioned from 10am Sunday May 24 at another historic mountain mansion “Nandi”, 680 Mount Macedon Road by auctioneer Steve Graham.

Alton is famous for its magnificent gardens and is regarded as one of the genuinely exquisite Victorian hill estates.

English china buffs will have a field day when Young’s Auctions weekly sale begins at 9.30am Friday May 22 at 229 Camberwell Road, East Hawthorn.

The auction features a huge selection of Wedgwood, Spode, Royal Doulton, Royal Worcester, Ainslie and Shelley porcelain – enough to keep any collector satisfied.

Crystal is another feature, along with specific Wedgwood china items such as a blue clock.

There is a range of wine and spirits for wine lovers including Penfolds Bin 2, RWT and Thomas Hyland.

An unreserved clearance sale from the estate of Portland’s the late Peter Brummell (who died in January this year) will be held on site from 11am Saturday May 23 in his “Man Shed” at 108 Kennedy Street, Portland by Glenelg Auctions.

The auction house conducted a huge clearing sale for Brummell 12 months ago. This time there will be 500 lots plus several from other vendors.

Attractions include a “dream world” of brand new tool sets of every calibre and a new Hitachi 12’ 305mm side compound mitre saw on a stand.

A single engine Navion Rangemaster that, stuffed with hospital equipment, in 2000 flew an emergency aid mission to Dili in East Timor after the retreating Indonesian Army had stripped and ransacked homes and hospitals will be auctioned from 11am Sunday May 31 by auctioneer Phil Caldwell as part of a much bigger diverse and eccentric collection at 239 Wickham Road, Moorabbin.

An extraordinary collection of Australian indigenous, Indonesian, Papua New Guinea and oceanic artefacts will go under the hammer from 6.30pm Wednesday May 20 at Mossgreen 926-930 High Street, Armadale.

The collection is owned by Perth-based couple Marc and Elena Pinto who share diverse cultural backgrounds, a passion of travel and inherited love of collecting.

Of Singaporean, Portuguese, British, Indonesian and Chinese descent, Marc was raised in Singapore.

A rare colour aquatint on paper by French artist Pierre Soulages called Untitled 1957 is one of the major attractions at Leonard Joel’s forthcoming Specialist Prints & Photography auction from 11.30am Thursday May 18 at 333 Malvern Road, South Yarra.

Born in 1919 in Rodez, Aveyron, Soulages is known as “the painter in black” owing to his interest “both as a colour and non-colour”.

According to Soulages, when light is reflected on black, it transforms and transmutes it, opening a mental field all its own.

Autograph signatures of every Australian Prime Minister since Sir Edmund Barton will be auctioned from 2pm Tuesday May 19 by Mossgreen at 926-930 High Street, Armadale as part of its Australian & Colonial Antique & Historical sale.

While most of the signatures carry catalogue estimates of several hundreds of dollars, that of the third Prime Minister Chris Watson (1867-1941) is estimated at $10,000-$12,000.

This is because he was the first prime minister from the Australian Labour Party and the first in the world from the labour movement.

Three grand pianos should bring musicians running to E.J. Ainger’s latest sale from 9.30am Tuesday May 19 at 433 Bridge Road, Richmond.

The mahogany cased grand pianos are manufactured by Schiedmayer and Sohne, and the baby grand by Allison.

The auction contains a good French cherrywood library bookcase and an English porcelain cabinet, along with Victorian mahogany and walnut furniture.

There also is a big range of Edwardian and 1920s furniture and a large number of oil and watercolour paintings and graphics.

A large selection of clocks will be a boon for clock collectors at Young’s Auctions latest weekly sale from 9.30am Friday May 15 at 229 Camberwell Road, East Hawthorn.

The auction contains a range of kitchen memorabilia including an antique knife sharpener, separator from the 1940s and old scales.

Jewellery, commemorative coins and sterling silver will be another big crowd puller, along with a comprehensive number of paintings.

Quality reproduction mahogany furniture WM Woodcarvings is another worthwhile attraction.

Pre-owned luxury items featuring creations by Hermes, Pucci, Etro, Lulu Guiness, Burberry and many other designers will be auctioned from 1pm Thursday May 14 by Leonard Joel at 333 Malvern Road, South Yarra.

Included in the auction are silk scarves, handbags, suitcases, bangles, bowls, atomisers, chargers, ties and vintage brooches.