Submitted by aarAdmin on Mon, 11/30/2020 - 00:00
Esteemed Prussian-born woodcarver and cabinetmaker Robert Prenzel (1866-1941), who migrated to Melbourne in November 1888 and was widely renowned for his Australian flora and fauna carvings, has stolen the limelight at Melbourne-based Leski Auctions Australian & Historical sale on November 28-29, that paid tribute to enthusiastic collector and antique dealer the late Marvin Hurnall with 165 items from his collection on offer.
A spectacularly carved mirror by the artist, featuring a brushtail possum, gumnuts and leaves, (lot 124) sold for $40,630 including buyer’s premium – twice its high catalogue estimate.
Not far behind at $35,850 was Prenzel’s palm parrot carved panel (lot 125) signed and dated 1912.
Well-known Australian artist the late Ray Crooke’s (1922-2015) painting Village Panorama (lot 798) was the only auction item to match Prenzel – bringing the same amount as the mirror on a $12,000 high estimate.
The Great Australian Exploration Race (lot 721), featuring a light-hearted dig at explorers John Sturt and Robert O’Hara Burke, a painting by Nicholas Chevalier (1828-1902), was another astounding result. Listed at $600-$800, it changed hands for $17,925 after much spirited bidding.
The first of Hurnall’s collection – a Remued rare pottery vase with branch handle and two applied koalas (lot 24) – finished in equal fifth spot, at $14,340, almost doubling its $7500 high estimate.
The same figure was achieved for two more of Hurnall’s collection, both by Marguerite Mahood – an “isolation pottery statue of a woman (lot 33) and a dragon and egg vase (lot 34) – as well as for Crooke’s Untitled (Island girl on the bed) (lot 797).
Kevin Charles (Pro) Hart (1928-2006) also featured with Fishing Hole (lot 347) at $9560 – another bonanza – and Victoria Art Pottery’s William Ferry rounded out the top 10 with his rare grotesque glazed in green (lot 41), another Hurnall favourite, at $8365.
