Submitted by aarAdmin on Tue, 03/08/2022 - 00:00
Staff at Melbourne-based Gibson’s Auctions were over the moon with the 131 per cent by value result of their first live auction for 2022 – the Interiors sale on Sunday February 6.
While the top selling lot was a 19th century Anglo-Colonial Padouk centre table (lot 385), that sold for $19,520 (including buyer’s premium) on an $8000-$12,000 catalogue estimate, the two major collections of the late Claude Ullin AM and the Bloomfield/Taylor family also exceeded expectations.
Both Claude Ullin, who was Stonnington Council mayor several times and a solid contributor to the Australian art scene with The Naïve Art Collection, and Julie Bloomfield, whose husband Peter was a well-known Melbourne interior designer, were good friends so their respective daughters Sophie Ullin and Sally Robertson were delighted to catch up at the auction after losing touch many years ago.
While sculptor Ferdinand Preiss’s c1925 creation German The Torch Dancer (lot 326) filled second spot – changing hands for $18,300 – the surprise result in the Bloomfield section of the sale was a pair of wrought iron bouquet table lamps (lot 102) that brought $6100 on a $300-$500 catalogue estimate.
Pro Hart’s (1928-2006) Flowers (lot 14) also was another good result for the Bloomfield family, bringing $5124 – 10 times its catalogue listing.
Two paintings in Claude Ullin’s collection – Roma Higgins’ (1909-1979) The Saw Mill (Murwillumbah Railway Line Bangalow), lot 293, and Henri Bastin’s (1896-1979) Northern District WS Australia 1978 (lot 264) – finished in the top 10 with respective returns of $5856 and $5124.
Items from a private Toorak collection of Persian rugs – lots 215 and 212, a pair of 20th century Iranian Tabriz rugs ($6100) and a circa 1920 Iranian Kashan rug ($5124) – were among the top contenders, while a 19th century Anglo-Indian ebonised collectors cabinet (lot 384) was third on the list at $9150 and an 18th century Spanish walnut side table (lot 451) seventh at $5368.
