As previously noted in an earlier report on this site, artist Dale Frank was born in 1959 and travelled overseas in his late teens to pursue his career.. He returned to Australia in 1989 and since then has enjoyed living in country homesteads with elegant interiors and large, airy rooms. For the last seven years he had collected Australian colonial furniture, an austere counterpoint to the vibrant colours and swirling patterns of his paintings.
With all furniture, and especially for collectors of Australiana, it is important that the items are original and our Australiana expert, John Wade had noted that Dale Frank had invited members of the Australiana Society to view the collection about five years ago, and gave the collection the tick of approval when he stated that "the pieces generally appear to be what they purport to be."
The sale commenced strongly with a burr cedar and cedar gentleman's chest of drawers, (Lot 1F ) estimated at $3,000 - 5,000 selling for $6,500 and the following lot, a birds-eye huon and huon pine four poster bed (Lot 2F ) selling for $22,000, about mid way between the high and low estimate.
Lots continued to sell in the mid-estimate range until the first pass-in at Lot 10
Highest price was for the rare set of 20 Australian cedar dining chairs including two carvers (Lot 18F ) of Tasmanian origin, which made $55,000 (hammer) against the estimate of $40,000 - 50,000, while the best performing lot was the $21,000 (hammer) paid for the fine Australian cedar and upholstered chaise longue, (Lot 24F ) also from Tasmania, estimated at $7,000 - 10,000.
Important unsold lots included two birds-eye huon pine half tester beds, lots 11 and 12 , both with a low estimate of $25,000,
The second part of the day's sales, the Fine Furniture & Decorative Arts cataloguecomprised 408 lots, of which 235 sold (57.5%) raising a total of $645,000 (hammer).
As in recent auctions over the last few years, rhinoceros horn was keenly sought, but this time in the form of a rhinoceros horn libation cup (Lot 195 ) (a cup used to pour liquid as an offering to gods, spirits or ancestors), modelled as a lotus flower, which soared to the heavens, selling for $58,000 (hammer) against the modest estimate of $3,000 - $5,000.
Included as one of the items from the collection of the Late Norman & Valda Hume of Sydney, a carved Oriental cockade fan, (a fan opening to a full 360 degree circle) (Lot 32 ) made for the export market, intricately carved and within a quality ebonised case sold for $36,000 (hammer) against an estimate of $12,000 - 18,000.
Adding interest on another level was the fact that the top of the fan included an oval cartouche with the initials 'JB' presumably the imperial monogram of Empress Josephine Bonaparte of France.
The collection of the Late Norman & Valda Hume of Sydney, comprised 59 lots of Chinese, Japanese works of art, French glass, and English porcelain and other works of art, all of which only 10 went unsold.
The "Property of a Gentleman, Sydney" didn't fare so well with 35 of the 65 lots selling, while the auctioneers were left with 13 of the 24 lots from the much smaller Estate of the Late Veronica Sacco.
In the 141 lot Asian Arts section of the sale, apart from the rhinoceros horn libation cup, the only other lot to sell for over $10,000 was the 19th century Chinese Duan stone carved screen in a rosewood stand (Lot 283 ) which went for $11,500, again well above the estimate of $2,500 - 3,500. A 19th century Chinese album of twelve erotic paintings on silk, (Lot 282 ) also did well, making $8,500 (hammer), over three times the low estimate of $2,500. In this section of the sale 69 of the lots went unsold.
Top performer in the European Furniture & Decorative Arts section of the sale was the Heraldic exhibition chess set in European silver and silver plate (Lot 346 ) in original presentation case. with only 51 of the 95 lots selling.
The sale opened with Australiana and ended with Australiana - the last lots in the sale were 24 lots of Australian Furniture & Decorative Arts from various vendors, of which only five were unsold.
Please note: For technical reasons the Australian Art Sales Digest has had to combine and publish The Dale Frank Collection and the Fine Furniture & Decorative Arts sales as a single sale. To distinguish the common lot numbers on the Antiques Reporter site, The Dale Frank Collection catalogue lots have been allotted a suffix of "F", (1F, 2F, 3F etc.).