Submitted by aarAdmin on Tue, 08/30/2022 - 00:00
A glazed earthenware kookaburra bough dish (lot 23) made by Australian potter Grace Seccombe (1880-1956) sold for as hammer price of $11,000 – 10 times its lower catalogue estimate – at Gibson’s Auctions Australian, Maritime and Natural History sale on August 28 and 29 in Melbourne.
A little more than half (180) of the 314 items offered at the live auction on the first day sold
with a rare 1940s Remued glazed earthenware koala vase (lot 14) bringing $8500 – the same price as a brass and ebonised fusee movement orrery with a glass dome and fitted base (lot 77). Both these items changed hands well above their catalogue estimates.
An 1850 mahogany cased Parkinson & Frodsham two-day marine chronometer with Roman numerals and subsidiary dials (lot 159) sold for $8000 – while another strong performer was sculptor Carola (Ola) Cohen’s (1892-1964) two textural earthenware sculptures together with a copy of “Ola Cohn’s Fairies Tree” by Sonja Delander and Rick Buckingham (lot 26), that belonged to the late Marvin Hurnall Antiques, which brought a hammer price of $7000 on a $1000-$1500 estimate.
A limited edition orrery invention (lot 66) by Hungarian refugee George Gyori, who aged 19 in 1957 arrived in Australia and trained as an engineer, was among the top 10 finishes with a $6500 result – followed closely by another rare 1940s Remued Pottery creation – this time a glazed earthenware kookaburra vase (lot 15).
Other top 10 finishes included a shallow glazed bowl decorated with lizards by John Castle-Harris (1893-1967) (lot 1) and an 1861 Australian silver presentation cup by Henry Steiner of Adelaide (lot 37) – each of which sold for $5500.
The cup is inscribed with the words “Presented to George Strickland Kingston Esq. M.P. By The Committee Of The S.A Rifle Association In Token Of Their Appreciation Of His Exertions In 1861 As Hon. Secretary Of The Society”.
A leather folio of 17 watercolours (lot 120) by William R. Collett of Views of NSW circa 1842-1853 brought $4600 hammer price.
