The reserve price was not published in the catalogue, but was rumoured in the trade to be $500,000.
Auctioneer Jennifer Gibson commenced the bidding at $460,000, raised it to $480,000 and then declared the sideboard sold after a single telephone bid of $500,000 ($600,000 including buyers premium).
Sotheby's publicist Anne Wall told the Antiques Reporter the sideboard had been sold to a private buyer, and it will be remaining in Australia.
The sideboard had featured in Sotheby's advertising suince July, and its consignment was a coup for Sotheby's Australia National Head of Decorative Arts and Fine Furniture, Jennifer Gibson, who had known of its whereabouts for the last 10 years.
A contemporary newspaper account of the sideboard stated that it took seven years to build, and “Mr. McLean estimates the sideboard to have cost £1200 to £1300”.
The sideboard was first exhibited in Melbourne at Victoria’s Intercolonial Exhibition of 1866-7, where it was awarded a medal for excellence of workmanship.
It was later exhibited at London International Exhibition of 1873, where it was awarded a bronze medal.
Between the two exhibitions, and prior to its shipment to London major modifications were made to the sideboard by Peter McLean.
These included apparent lengthening of the sideboard to accommodate a new central pedestal, and the addition of a high arched back between the two cabinets on the top of the sideboard.
The two versions of the sideboard are illustrated in Nineteenth Century Australian Furniture by Kevin Fahy, Christina Simpson and Andrew Simpson and are shown above..
The sideboard has been owned by the same family since 1944, but its whereabouts was known to only a select few until it was offered for sale.
The previous highest price including buyer’s premium for an item of furniture sold at auction in Australia was $583,000 for the Macquarie Collector’s Chest, then known as the Strathallan Chest sold in April 1989, also by Sotheby’s.
However in 1989 the buyer’s premium was 10% compared with 20% at the present time, so the hammer price of the Strathallan Chest of $530,000 still holds the record for the highest hammer price.
A full report on the results of Sotheby’s sale of Fine Furniture & Decorative Arts on October 25 and 26 will be published before the weekend.