Submitted by aarAdmin on Thu, 10/31/2024 - 00:00
Famous Austrian biologist, filmmaker and diving technology pioneer Hans Haas (1919-2013) – and his Viennese firm Akustiche und Kinogerate – was front and centre at Melbourne-based Leski Auctions cameras and photographic equipment two-day auction October 29 and 30 when his c1954 underwater housing for Leica was sold with a c19555 red-dial Leica 1f camera (lot 863) for $5500.
The auction, which also included a framed photographic collection of the Adelaide leg of The Beatles 1964 Australian tour by well-known freelance photographer Victor Clarence Grimmett (1923-2017) and a poster collection by Melbourne artist Eve Glenn, featured 1079 lots – of which 948 or 88 per cent sold.
Although much of The Beatles memorabilia failed to sell, several of Glenn’s posters, which reflect early 1960s social and cultural movements of the time including folk music, peace movements, anti-conscription, anti-Vietnam War, feminism and land rights, sold within or above the catalogue estimate.
The top poster – selling for $2400 on a $300-$500 catalogue estimate – was Lot 1, featuring a 1978 political commentary entitled “Smash Uranium Police States” by Redback Graphix founder Michael Callaghan (1952-2012).
All other top 10 auction items featured camera and photographic equipment with an antique circa 1880s large format plate studio camera labelled “No 9A Century Studio Camera” by Eastman Kodak – Folmer & Schwing Department (lot 356) bringing $3800 hammer price.
A c1972 Bolex-Paillard 16mm movie camera (lot 659) changed hands for $3000, with a c1968 version (lot 654) bringing $2800, the same price as a c1890 Fallowfield 10”x8” plate tailboard specimen (lot 388).
Another antique – the first ever British-made rollfilm camera, a rare c1896 Redding Luzo detective version (lot 961) – sold for $2600.
Other cameras of note included a c1974 Bolex-Paillard 16mm movie model (lot 660) that brought $2400, a c1960 Rolleiflex (lot 971) selling for $2200 and a c1959 Leica M3 (lot 864 - $1900).
