Online auctions a highlight in coronavirus world

McCann Auctions is continuing its foray into online auctions during Australia’s coronavirus restrictions with another Melbourne sale scheduled for noon Sunday May 17 at 7 Harper Street, Abbotsford.

Once again, bidding will be online via the invaluable.com website with both viewing and collections only by appointment.

This sale is entitled Exceptional Timepieces, Art and Fine Antiques and features a range of excellent clocks, furniture, artwork, porcelain and sculptures bound to interest genuine collectors and buyers.

A fine quality 19^th century French skeleton clock (lot 250) is typical of the timepieces on offer with two 19^th century French marble and ormolu – one a cartel clock (lot 256) and the other a three piece sunburst pendulum example (lot 255) – among the more desirable acquisitions.

Australian and European artists are on show in this auction with several works by Hugh Sawrey – including How They Raced (lot 259) – David Boyd’s Mother with Children (lot 264) and Pier Gernami’s Young girl in bonnet (lot 370).

A fine Chinese tall bronze temple vase with cloisonné inlay and bat and floral decoration (lot 315) is a good example of the porcelain to be auctioned, while two Japanese Meiji period (1868-1912) netsuke masks are (lot 397) are beautifully crafted.

A rare early 19^th century Japanese six-fold gilt screen is another strong attraction and among the furniture on offer a quality 19^th century French kingwood and walnut centre table (lot 268) and 19^th century English four-door mahogany sideboard (lot 262) will certainly appeal.

There are several excellent bronze sculptures – none more so than four works by Frederic Remington’s including The Bronco Buster (lot 283) and The Mountain Man (lot 284).

Born in 1861, Remington was an American painter, illustrator, writer and sculptor who specialised in depictions of the American Old West.

His works depict the western United States in the last 25 years of the 19^th century and feature images of cowboys, American Indians and the United States cavalry.

As a war correspondent and illustrator during the Spanish-American War of 1898, Remington was widely acclaimed for his work with a copy of The Bronco Buster statuette presented to (later US president) Theodore Roosevelt shortly thereafter.

In that same year, he was honoured by having two of his paintings reproduced on US postal stamps.

Remington died in 1909 after an emergency appendectomy and the Gothic-style house he built with his wife at Long Island Sound in New York in 1965 was declared a National Historic Landmark.

The historic Ogdensburg, New York post office also was renamed the Frederic Remington Post Office Building in his honour.