Leski Auctions

There are no doubt plenty of ways Australia’s national airline Qantas could celebrate the centenary of its establishment as a commercial enterprise this year.

For Melbourne-based Leski Auctions, its forthcoming Stamp, Coin & Postal History 738-lot auction pays tribute to the anniversary with a rare example (lot 278) of the mail Qantas carried in 1922 on its first airmail delivery flights.

In 2010, a couple purchased a promotional carton of Carlton Draft beer as part of a special “Win a Prize” competition.

The prize – a beer glass in 18-carat gold by Hardy Brothers Jewellers (silversmiths to Queen Elizabeth) engraved with the words “SINCE 1864 CARLTON DRAFT Brewery Fresh”.

Joseph Greenberg doesn’t fit the mould of the everyday collector.

Born in 1923 in the Melbourne suburb of Richmond after his family escaped the anti-Semitism of eastern Europe, Greenberg studied graphic design under prominent established Australian artist Sir William Dargie and alongside fellow student and lifelong friend Ray Crooke – before in 1942 enlisting in the Australian Army and seeing service during World War II against the Japanese in New Guinea and New Britain.

A cute little pottery plaque by the late Spanish artist Pablo Picasso (lot 178) is one of the intriguing attractions at Melbourne-based Leski Auctions Decorative Arts & Collectables two-day sale from 11am Saturday February 27 and at the same time Sunday February 28 at 727-729 High Street, Armadale.

The 1956 plaque, entitled Joûeur de Flute et Chèvre and from an edition of 450, appears in Alain Ramié’s 1988 Picasso catalogue of Edited Ceramic Works 1947-1971.

Leski Auctions has launched its 2021 Melbourne auction year with a Stamps, Coins and Postal History sale from 12pm Sunday February 7 at 727-729 High Street, Armadale.

The live auction, featuring more than 600 lots with estimates ranging from $50 to $60,000, will be preceded by an online only sale of more than 900 lots that will close progressively over Friday February 5 and Saturday February 6.

The late Marvin Hurnall was a Melbourne-based fastidious collector of Australian pottery – so much so that most of the cupboards in his house were filled with works by famous names from the Australian genre such as William Ricketts, Robert Remued, Arthur Merric Boyd and Robert Prenzel.

Richmond star Dustin Martin isn’t the only player to be voted best-on-ground in all three Australian Football League  grand final premierships (2017 and 2019-2020) in which he has featured.

These days, best-on-ground in a grand final is awarded the Norm Smith Medal – named after the legendary Melbourne coach who steered his team to several premierships during the 1950s and 1960s.

Before 1979, when the first Norm Smith Medal was awarded, the best player was just that without any concrete award acknowledgment.

More than 100 vendors have agreed to let Leski Auctions have a crack at selling an eclectic and comprehensive range of items online in an “auction behind closed doors” scenario as Melbourne’s continuing coronavirus lockdown drags on into yet another month.

The online auction – complete with virtual viewing, telephone and absentee bidding provisions – is the latest in a long line of such remote sales necessitated by a stubborn COVID-19 pandemic that only now is being brought under some sort of control in Australia while raging like wildfire overseas.

The almost 900 lots that comprised the late Australian Geoffrey Burke’s collection is as eclectic as any collection can possibly get.

From Scandinavian and Murano glass to international porcelain and ceramics, Australian pottery and art glass, antiquities, Chinese and other Asian artefacts, silver, jewellery, furniture, lamps, clocks, photographs, posters, paintings, fossils and other items – if he liked it, he collected it.

Like several other auction houses in Melbourne who have reverted to online only auctions during Stage 3 and 4 coronavirus lockdowns in Victoria, Leski Auctions has pushed ahead with a two-day Stamp, Coins & Postal History sale (covering almost 1000 lots) for Saturday August 22 and Sunday August 23 where the only person bidders will be able to see is auctioneer Charles Leski standing in an empty auction house room in Armadale.