Philips Auctions selling the lifetime collection of a 100 year old Malvern resident.

By Richard Brewster, on 23-Mar-2022

When long-time Malvern resident Margaret Watson turned 100, she invited all her neighbours to visit while she sat on the porch and talked.

Margaret often came to Philips Auctions at 47 Glenferrie Road, Malvern to buy a favourite item. As it turned out, she also lived in company director Tony Philips street so was delighted when he accepted her invitation to visit for such a special milestone.

Her house was full of magnificent treasures – the pinnacle being a massive library bookcase known as “The Monster” (Lot 388 ) which had been built to grace the offices of Lancashire Insurance Company, established in 1862 in Melbourne’s Collins Street.

Pride of place in the collection is the massive library bookcase known as “The Monster” (above) which had been built to grace the offices of Lancashire Insurance Company, established in 1862 in Melbourne’s Collins Street. The bookcase was acquired in 1983 from third generation antique dealers, G. D. McPhee Antiques in Prahran.

Pride of place in the collection is the massive library bookcase known as “The Monster” (above) which had been built to grace the offices of Lancashire Insurance Company, established in 1862 in Melbourne’s Collins Street. The bookcase was acquired in 1983 from third generation antique dealers, G. D. McPhee Antiques in Prahran.

In December 1966, the bookcase featured in an Australian Broadcasting Commission play entitled The Trial – a religious play in modern idiom with Pontius Pilate trying Jesus.

Margaret bought the bookcase on February 28, 1983 from Melbourne’s McPhee Pty Ltd and it was so large it had to be dismantled then reassembled once it was installed in her home.

Now it is being auctioned by Philips Auctions in a timed online Fine & Decorative Arts sale which ends from 12pm Monday March 28.

Other furniture items belonging to Margaret include a fiddleback blackwood cabinet (Lot 386 ), a former dentist’s cabinet (Lot 358 ), a Chinese cabinet (Lot 177 ) and an Anglo-Indian davenport (Lot 420 ).

Australian cedar bookcases, desk, dining and French farmhouse tables (Lot 401 ) are other auction attractions along with a magnificent solid marble slab picture entitled Shangrila on a carved stand (Lot 67 ).

A Royal Doulton exhibition vase (Lot 267 ) is among the top quality porcelain pieces on offer – while there are several silver items to whet buyer appetites, including a cruet set (Lot 204 ), and two cake baskets (lots 188 and 201).

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About The Author

Richard Brewster has been writing about the antiques and art auction industry for almost 20 years, first in a regular weekly column for Fairfax's The Age newspaper and also in more recent times for his own website Australian Auction Review. With 45 years experience as a journalist and public relations consultant, in 1990 Richard established his own business Brewster & Associates in Melbourne, handling a wide range of clients in the building, financial, antiques and art auction industries.