An Australian auction that covers all contingencies
Author: Richard Brewster | Posted: 18th March, 2022
No matter what collectors might be looking for this year, they will be sure to find something to their liking at Leski Auctions forthcoming Decorative Arts & Collectables two-day sale from 10am Saturday March 26 when more than 1500 items go under the hammer at 727-729 High Street, Armadale.
Items in session one range from sterling silver to porcelain and ceramics, glass, jewellery, Chinese and Asian art, and antiquities.
Sunday’s offerings feature religious icons and artefacts, paintings and artworks, rugs, taxidermy, lamps and lighting, clocks and furniture.
The final collectables section includes tribal artefacts, military items, aviation memorabilia, railways and steam items, maps, books, autographs, music, movies, cigarette and other trade cards, models and toys, and wine.
For those buyers looking for colourful porcelain pieces, a circa 1920 Wedgwood “Fairyland” orange lustre vase (lot 213) by the company’s master pottery designer Daisy Makeig-Jones (1881-1945), best known for her Fairyland Lustre series, might be just the thing.
An intriguing Liebermann’s “Schrek” Pan statue by Rosenthal (lot 220) is another porcelain attraction, while lots 241 and 242 are rare examples of the delicate work by Japanese artisan Shoji Hamada.
The glass offerings are equally colourful – from the delicate “dolphin” Baccarat candelabra (lot 329) to the “fish blocks” (lots 347 and 348) by Italian craftsman Alfredo Barbini (1912-2007), one of Murano’s iconic 20th century glass blowers.
Jewellery features prominently including several Georg Jensen examples (lots 463 and 465-467) and an early Breguet pocket chronometer (lot 510).
Sterling silver includes a 1905 arts and crafts English fruit bowl by Reid & Sons (lot 95), and a possibly unique example of Marianne Brandt’s “napkin holder” (lot 118).
Born on October 1, 1893, Brandt was a German painter, sculptor, photographer, metalsmith and designer who studied at Bauhaus art school in Weimar and in 1927 became head of the Dessau-based metal workshop.
Her creations of household objects such as lamps and ashtrays are considered timeless examples of modern industrial design.
Chinese and other Asian artefacts include a large Melbourne collection (lots 560-661). Some of the more interesting pieces are a Kangxi period porcelain bottle vase (lot 570), a moon flask Douchai vase (lot 571) and an antique Chinese Guanyin ivory statue (lot 617).
A spectacular and large Chinese celadon porcelain censer (lot 668) also is bound to excite auction goers.
Religious icon buffs will not be able to go past Garry Lipshut’s collection including lot 838, featuring the prophet Elijah, St Seraphim of Sarov praying in a forest (lot 847) and the particularly appropriate given current world circumstances St Anthony of Kiev (lot 862).
Lots 955 and 956 – spectacular examples of the earliest depictions of flora in the new printed image medium – are wonderful examples of the artworks on offer, along with the historical theme of “The Cardinal’s Letter” (lot 992) and Sybil Andrews (1898-1992) Water Jump linocut (lot 1002).
A Daum Eucalyptus French cameo glass lamp and shade (lot 1070) spectacularly introduces the Lamps & Lighting section – well backed up by a rare Wilhelm Wagnfeld (1900-1990) and Carl Jacob Jucker (1902-1997) circa 1924 ME1 table lamp (lot 1072).
Once furniture buyers see French designer Emille Galle’s art nouveau nest of four coffee tables (lot 1210), they might find it difficult to leave the auction without a purchase.
After the decorative arts auction, from 10am on Monday February 28 Leski Auctions will be offering the Maruska Aughterson collection (lots 1532-1835), which she began during the 1970s in Gippsland and continued in the 1990s once they moved to a large home in the Melbourne suburb of Kew.
