With three spectacular watercolours by Hermannsburg School Aboriginal artist Albert Namatjira (1902-1959) to help entice buyers to its Important Australian and European Paintings Sunday December 4 sale, South Australian-based Elder Fine Art also has plenty of other works by big name Australian artists to satisfy the current booming interest in art by both first-time purchasers and established collectors.

In a fascinating look at Australia’s convict past, Melbourne-based Leski Auctions two-day Australian & Historical sale has a section on convicts and bushrangers that pays tribute to the country’s penal settlement days.

One of the items is an 18-carat gold pocket watch (lot 249) presented to the former Chief District Constable of Van Diemen’s Land (now Tasmania) George Brown “as a token of respect and esteem on his leaving the colony”.

A large 1772 Scottish George III sterling silver hot water urn by Edinburgh silversmith Patrick Robinson (lot 344) is one of the leading items in Melbourne-based Gibson’s Auctions comprehensive two-part Spring sale from 11am Sunday November 27 and continuing the next day at 885-889 High Street, Armadale.

With a catalogue estimate of $11,000-$13,000, this neoclassical covered urn features a fruiting finial above a sweeping fluted neck and body decorated with swags, rosettes and macarons.

If one of their daughters had not been severely allergic to the dust of Western Australian mining town Kambalda near Kalgoorlie, 1960s English migrants analytical chemist Terry Wheeler and his wife Tena might never have embarked on a collecting journey that has resulted in the assembly of a multi-million dollar Royal Worcester collection the rival of anything ever seen in the world.