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The 1853 “First Hunt Steeplechase Trophy” – offered for auction for the first time in 163 years – is a major highlight of Leonard Joel’s Asian Art, Classic Furniture & Objects auction from noon Sunday May 15 at 333 Malvern Road, South Yarra.
With the recent takeover of Webb's auction house established in Auckland in 1976, by Melbourne based Mossgreen Auctions, a new chapter for the business is about to be written.
Like all businesses Webb's has had its ups and downs and most people in New Zealand see the recent sale to Mossgreen as a rescue package for the business
The major drawcard for me to travel to Wellington recently was the Tim Clemence Poster Collection of New Zealand & international vintage travel, theatrical and advertising ephemera, which were included in Day 2 of Dunbar Sloane's New Zealand & International Fine Art sale.
Over the years, the market for posters in Wellington has always been constant and strong. Many of New Zealand's finest graphic designers and commercial artists worked for the now defunct New Zealand Railway Studios, a Government Department that was based in Wellington from 1920 until it was closed down towards the end of last century, Posters produced by certain artists such as Marcus King and Leonard Mitchell are in high demand and often change hands at auction for many thousands.
The Melbourne man who must have been the biggest supplier of collectables to local and overseas markets over nearly three quarters of a century died in his adopted city on January 9.
Max Stern was still going into his office in the Port Phillip Arcade when he became a nonagenerian and gave up playing soccer professionally – the oldest registered player in the southern hemisphere -not long before that. He died two weeks short of his 95 birthday for which the Australian Philatelic Traders Association was preparing a big party.
Demand for sporting memorabilia is stronger than ever – particularly for early items, documents and photographs where the sporting greats have retired or died – and Mossgreen’s first auction of this type for 2016 is a great example.
To be held from 10am Monday February 8 at 926-930 High Street Armadale, the auction features the Australian baggy green Test caps from two former Australian captains – one belonging to the late Richie Benaud from his last Test series in 1963-64 against South Africa and the other to Ian Chappell from the 1973-74 series against New Zealand.