Body language expert releases his convict collection at Australian auction

Who would have ever thought that Australia’s leading expert on body language and a key advisor on the subject to police forces, customs officials and similar authorities would attract auction goers to his activities.

Well Allan Pease is a man of many hats and, in addition to his somewhat unusual profession, is a keen of collector of Australian convict history.

Much of his collection will be offered at Melbourne-based Abacus Auctions forthcoming stamps, postal history, militaria, coins and banknotes, sporting memorabilia and collectables four-day sale from 10am Tuesday December 10 until Friday December 13 at 29 Hardner Road, Mount Waverley.

A circa 1803-1820 convict cap from the Tasmanian penal settlement at Port Arthur (lot 3489) is among the more valuable catalogue items in the collection and a strong reminder of Australia’s convict past.

The cap carries the trademark Broad arrow and BO (Board of Ordnance) insignia.

In 1819, superintendent of convicts at Sydney’s Hyde Park Barracks Major George Druitt was asked if the caps were serviceable.

He replied: “They are quite useless, and afford no protection to the head from the sun.”

Despite his criticism, the caps remained part of the convict uniform until at least the 1850s.

The collection contains key items from the era like a cat-o-nine tails (lot 3491), Cobb & Co padlocked mail leather pouch (lot 3492) and an 1877 letter (lot 3493) granting a conditional pardon to Thomas Rochford – convicted of robbery, assault and wounding – and sentenced to death, later commuted to 15 years of hard labour on the roads.

One of the more intriguing items in the collection is a hangman’s mask (lot 3505) from Maitland Gaol in New South Wales, while there also are leg irons and handcuffs from the period such as lot 3506, a Port Arthur jail cell bolt and padlock (lot 3513) and an 1860s yoke (lot 3523) used on the Ballarat goldfields.

Another interesting lot (3498) contains four paintings of the infamous bushranger Ben Hall Gang – the only known portraits of the members in existence – painted by Rose Rothery at Cliefden, NSW.

Attracted by the renown of her ancestor William Rothery’s horses, the gang raided Cliefden three times – September 26, 1863 when it held the family hostage, June 23 and November 29, 1864.

For some reason, Rose has painted all four members – Ben Hall, Johnny Dunn, John Vane and Johnny Gilbert – all wearing gentlemen’s clothing.

For horse racing lovers, there is the unusual sight of paintings of every Melbourne Cup winner from the first one Archer in 1861 to Green Moon in 2012 (lot 3807).

In 1981, artist Janet Thomas was commissioned by Peter Karol to paint every Melbourne Cup winner since the iconic race’s inception.

The paintings were destined for a series of Melbourne Cup calendars and a special Australian Bicentennial exhibition at Caulfield’s Racing Museum, opened in 1988 by legendary Cups King trainer Bart Cummings.

For the next 30 years after the original commission, based on photographs supplied by Bruno Cannatelli, Janet created a painting of the winner.

A showpiece of the highest denomination Australian stamp in the Kangaroo and Map series, a two-pound purple and back rose carmine specimen (lot 164), carries a $25,000 catalogue estimate.

A separate catalogue has been allocated to British Africa stamps, postmarks and postal history containing Jerry Blair and John Gibson’s respective collections of Kenya, Uganda, Tanganyika, Nyasaland and Sudan.