Submitted by aarAdmin on Wed, 06/03/2026 - 00:00
A keen collector of horse racing memorabilia paid $115,000 for a beautiful solid gold trophy (lot 489) at Melbourne-based Leski Auctions two-day Australian & Historical sale on May 30-31 that saw most of the 1540 lots on offer go under the hammer.
Classic in style, the 18-carat two-handled trophy was won by Buckulana – a local Aboriginal word for “my lovely one” – at the December 1951 Southern Riverina Picnic Turf Breeder’s Plate in Deniliquin, owned by Mrs A.J. Webb.
Prominent at club events, the Webb/Falkiner family had their 11 winners from 1928 to 1950 recorded on the rear of the cup.
The family were also well-known sheep breeders, with Franc Falkiner (1867-1929) Southern Riverina Pastoralist president and a founder of the Australian Stud Merina Flock Register, while various other family members were prominent in politics.
Several paintings featured among the top 10 results including the 1777 pen and wash drawing titled “Mony ne nou ne neva, name of this Island” (lot 1181) by English artist John Webber (1752-1793), that sold for $50,000.
From 1776-1779, Webber accompanied Captain James Cook on his Pacific voyage in search of the elusive Northwest Passage between the Atlantic Ocean and Pacific coast of North America – and is best known for his images of Australasia, Hawaii and Alaska.
New Zealand landscape artist John Gully (1819-1888) did not disappoint, with his 1869 work No 3 Mount Cook New Zealand (lot 1190) bringing $24,000 and Australian painter D’Arcy W. Doyle’s (1932-2001) work Dad Calls A No Ball (lot 1393) selling for $9500, well above its $4000-$6000 catalogue estimate.
Colonial Australian furniture pieces were other prominent items – with a circa 1820 cedar sideboard from the Metzger family in New Norfolk, Tasmania (lot 501) a $16,000 result on the $3000-$5000 catalogue estimate and a rare late 19th century John Mason parquetry settle in several Queensland forest timbers from Maryborough (lot 510) bringing $25,000.
A rare 1850s 18-carat gold signet ring with the Ballarat coat of arms by the city’s prominent jeweller William Langhorne (lot 401) was a strong jewellery result at $18,000, while a significant Australian drop dial railway master clock from Culgoa station (lot 589), 320 kilometres northwest of Melbourne, sold for $15,000.
Other results included $8500 for a mid-18th century Dutch East Company bronze signal or poop deck cannon (lot 215) and $8000 for a Queen Victoria royal presentation sterling ink stand (lot 1075) gifted in 1899 to the Right Honourable Lord Hallam Tennyson (1852-1928) on his appointment as Governor of South Australia.
