Carved Chinese ivory brings massive price at Australian decorative arts auction

Spirited bidding bumped up the modest $400-$600 catalogue estimate of a Chinese carved ivory and engraved gourd cricket cage (lot 880) to a massive $10,000 sale price at Melbourne-based Leski Auctions November 16 and 17 decorative arts and collectables auction.

A strong result also was reached for an impressive 20^th century Continental 925 sterling silver punchbowl (lot 78) which sold for $8000.

Other silver items to fare well included a 20^th century German 925 sterling silver tea service (lot 79) that brought $3800m and a circa 1749 Rococo English sterling silver basket (lot 1) by famed silversmith Elizabeth Godfrey (active c1720-1766) which reached $3400.

Born Elizabeth Pantin, the daughter of distinguished French Protestant Huguenot silversmith Simon Pantin, her first husband was French immigrant goldsmith Abraham Buteux, whom she married in 1720 and under whose surname she registered her first mark (which identified the date and location of the work) in 1731.

Her second registered mark in 1741 was as Elizabeth Godfrey after her marriage to another goldsmith, Huguenot Benjamin Godfrey, following the death of her first husband 10 years earlier – and she continued to supply high quality silverware to English nobility even after Benjamin’s demise.

A pair of 20^th century Chinese porcelain panels depicting fruit and insects (lot 872) was another item to finish well over its $800-$1200 catalogue estimate at $6500, while Austrian sculptor Theodor Ullman 1920s “Harlequin Dancer” cold painted bronze sculpture (lot 809) brought a credible $5500.

Also solid was an early 20^th century continental 14-carat gold vanity box (lot 313) that sold for $5000, while an Omega De Ville gent’s wristwatch (lot 296) reached $4800, almost at the top of its catalogue estimate.

Another winner was an impressive 18-carat white gold ring (lot 173), selling for $4600, and an 18^th century Georgian diamond pendant (lot 133) finished well above estimate on $3300.

Two interesting lots – 770 and 680 – a Mona Lisa ivory miniature and the catalogue front cover portrait of a boy by an unknown artist from Newlyn School, established in the 19^th century in Cornwall and home to ‘plein air’ style artists, ended with respective figures of $600 (twice its estimate) and $2000.