The organiser, Paul Sumner of Mossgreen Auctions, says the sale was a clean sweep, with all 606 lots finding buyers – what some would describe as a “white glove” sale.
Despite what was a large venue for a country auction, both the ground floor and the gallery of the Town Hall were packed. “The local community was out in force”, Sumner says. Complemented by a colour catalogue which also appeared online, the sale drew bids from as far away as Britain and Russia.
Art glass and ceramics generated the biggest prices, along with some art and furniture. But among the lesser collectables and household items many cheaper lots went locally.
The auction raised a $484,000 – a relatively modest figure but nevertheless around double the value of the modest home that had housed the Ryan collection,Sumner says. The 1900s glass maker Emile Galle, who worked in Nancy, France, was seemingly the biggest attraction, with the top price being $13,420 including premium for lot 65, a monumental Galle mauve and lilac cameo vase which carried a $6000 to $9000 estimate.
Even among the first dozen lots a charming small glass vase by another Nancy maker, Daum, brought $2684 (estimate $800 to $1200), while a 36cm Galle tall cameo vase decorated with foxgloves fetched $3172 ($1000 to $1500).
A rare Galle cameo glass “moths” vase, of which Roy Ryan was particularly proud, fetched close to the estimate at $6405, while a Galle signature etching block dated 1904 brought $3172. A Rene Lalique amber glass paperweight brought $3904.
Among the porcelain, the imposing vase illustrated on the catalogue cover, a monumental early 20th century Japanese piece decorated with women and children, brought $9150, while a Dresden pillar table sold for $4880 and a Meissen figure group of young lovers and sheep brought $2440. A number of Russian porcelain figures fetched up to $2000 on phone bidding from Moscow.
Furniture included a set of four marquetry inlaid tables also by Galle which brought $6710 while an early 19th century English marquetry secretaire bookcase sold for $10,980.
From the paintings and prints an untitled Rolf Harris landscape in oils stood out with $12,200 from a British buyer. It’s not known whether Buckingham Palace – whose most prominent occupant has sat for a Harris portrait – was a bidder.