Colonial Australia
1801 The Voyages of Flinders in the South Seas
2014 SOLD 290 K£ including premium
Joseph Banks was the naturalist of Cook's first voyage. President of the Royal Society in 1778, he sent British explorers and scientists all around the world, including Vancouver, Bligh and Flinders, and had a direct role in the colonization of New South Wales on the south coast of New Holland.
In 1798, Matthew Flinders was appointed lieutenant in charge to navigate around Van Diemen's Land. A skilled cartographer, Flinders was accompanied by the surgeon and botanist George Bass. This trip was a success: the explorers show that Van Diemen's Land, later renamed Tasmania, is an island.
In 1800 and 1801, Flinders had three maps printed by Arrowsmith in London. He inserts them in 1801 in a small book dedicated to Banks, titled Observations on the coasts of Van Diemen's land, on Bass's strait and its islands, and on part of the coasts of New South Wales, intended to accompany the charts of the late discoveries.
The name of Bass to designate the strait between New South Wales and Tasmania will soon become official. The next trip of Flinders is another feat: in 1803 he completed the first circumnavigation of New Holland. He will be a promoter of the use of the word Australia instead of New Holland.
The 1801 book is extremely rare. A complete copy with its three maps is estimated £ 150K, for sale by Sotheby's in London on September 30, lot 479.
In 1798, Matthew Flinders was appointed lieutenant in charge to navigate around Van Diemen's Land. A skilled cartographer, Flinders was accompanied by the surgeon and botanist George Bass. This trip was a success: the explorers show that Van Diemen's Land, later renamed Tasmania, is an island.
In 1800 and 1801, Flinders had three maps printed by Arrowsmith in London. He inserts them in 1801 in a small book dedicated to Banks, titled Observations on the coasts of Van Diemen's land, on Bass's strait and its islands, and on part of the coasts of New South Wales, intended to accompany the charts of the late discoveries.
The name of Bass to designate the strait between New South Wales and Tasmania will soon become official. The next trip of Flinders is another feat: in 1803 he completed the first circumnavigation of New Holland. He will be a promoter of the use of the word Australia instead of New Holland.
The 1801 book is extremely rare. A complete copy with its three maps is estimated £ 150K, for sale by Sotheby's in London on September 30, lot 479.
1806 The Visit at Sydney by a Maori Chief
2014 SOLD 366 KA$ including premium
After Cook's voyages, the activity of the British intensifies between Australia and New Zealand. The first governor of New South Wales, appointed in 1788, includes New Zealand in his territory. Also in 1788, Philip King establishes a colony of New South Wales in Norfolk Island, an island 900 km northwest of New Zealand.
Relations between British and Maori are difficult, but King won a reputation for generosity. A Maori chief named Te Pahi, whose anglicized name is Tippahee, wants to meet him. Te Pahi appreciated the importance for the Maori to learn about this alien civilization that was settling in the region.
In 1805, Te Pahi embarks towards Norfolk Island in a small British boat. King had become meanwhile the third Governor of New South Wales, and Te Pahi extends his difficult journey to Sydney where he is welcomed as an important guest.
During his three-month residency at the Government House, from November 1805 to February 1806, Te Pahi talks with King of the interest of an association between British and Maori. The idea of the governor is to improve the safety of future visitors in New Zealand by reducing the Maori hostility.
Gifts are exchanged. The chief offers fine Maori cloaks and receives tools, seeds and livestock. He also presented Te Pahi with a silver medal dated January 1806 commemorating the meeting. This medal is estimated beyond Aus $ 300K for sale by Sotheby's Australia in Sydney on April 15, lot 125 in the catalog.
POST SALE COMMENT
The result, Aus$ 366K including premium, is in line with the estimate.
Relations between British and Maori are difficult, but King won a reputation for generosity. A Maori chief named Te Pahi, whose anglicized name is Tippahee, wants to meet him. Te Pahi appreciated the importance for the Maori to learn about this alien civilization that was settling in the region.
In 1805, Te Pahi embarks towards Norfolk Island in a small British boat. King had become meanwhile the third Governor of New South Wales, and Te Pahi extends his difficult journey to Sydney where he is welcomed as an important guest.
During his three-month residency at the Government House, from November 1805 to February 1806, Te Pahi talks with King of the interest of an association between British and Maori. The idea of the governor is to improve the safety of future visitors in New Zealand by reducing the Maori hostility.
Gifts are exchanged. The chief offers fine Maori cloaks and receives tools, seeds and livestock. He also presented Te Pahi with a silver medal dated January 1806 commemorating the meeting. This medal is estimated beyond Aus $ 300K for sale by Sotheby's Australia in Sydney on April 15, lot 125 in the catalog.
POST SALE COMMENT
The result, Aus$ 366K including premium, is in line with the estimate.
1813 The Hollowed Dollar of New South Wales
2015 SOLD for A$ 480K including premium
The holey dollar is an unusual coin and a symbol of the early days of Australia at the time of Macquarie. The initiative is however probably not due to the dynamic governor but to the British government, as similar experiments have been tried in Canada and in the Caribbean.
The challenge was to maintain a monetary circulation in settlements devoid of exportable commodities, from which the currency was leaving with the foreign merchant ships. The Spanish silver coin worth eight reales dominated these maritime transactions. The British idea was to transform these coins by providing them with a higher local value than the original in order to prevent them from leaving the territory for melting.
In November 1812, the British Government sent to Macquarie 40,000 coins of eight reales. Their delivery from Madras on a ship of the East India Company was successful.
The Spanish piece is punched. The outer ring and the detached core got an additional strike in the name of New South Wales at the date of 1813. The hollowed ring valued at five shillings is named the holey dollar while the central part valued at 15 pence is pejoratively nicknamed the dump. The freed convict to whom this operation had been entrusted was a good worker: almost all 40,000 pieces were processed.
The new currency was declared legal by Macquarie but it was not uniform because the origin of the coins was varied. The most prestigious for a collector of today are the holey dollars struck on a Madrid coin. According to the Australian press, one of them was sold for AUD 550K in a private sale in early May 2015.
On July 28 in Sydney, Noble Numismatics sells a holey dollar struck on a 1792 coin of eight reales from Mexico City, lot 1382 estimated AUD 350K, and another example on an 1808 Lima coin, lot 1383 estimated AUD 180K.
Here are the links to the article posted by Numismatic News and to the website of the auction house.
RESULTS
Lot 1382 SOLD for AUD 480K including premium
Lot 1383 unsold
The challenge was to maintain a monetary circulation in settlements devoid of exportable commodities, from which the currency was leaving with the foreign merchant ships. The Spanish silver coin worth eight reales dominated these maritime transactions. The British idea was to transform these coins by providing them with a higher local value than the original in order to prevent them from leaving the territory for melting.
In November 1812, the British Government sent to Macquarie 40,000 coins of eight reales. Their delivery from Madras on a ship of the East India Company was successful.
The Spanish piece is punched. The outer ring and the detached core got an additional strike in the name of New South Wales at the date of 1813. The hollowed ring valued at five shillings is named the holey dollar while the central part valued at 15 pence is pejoratively nicknamed the dump. The freed convict to whom this operation had been entrusted was a good worker: almost all 40,000 pieces were processed.
The new currency was declared legal by Macquarie but it was not uniform because the origin of the coins was varied. The most prestigious for a collector of today are the holey dollars struck on a Madrid coin. According to the Australian press, one of them was sold for AUD 550K in a private sale in early May 2015.
On July 28 in Sydney, Noble Numismatics sells a holey dollar struck on a 1792 coin of eight reales from Mexico City, lot 1382 estimated AUD 350K, and another example on an 1808 Lima coin, lot 1383 estimated AUD 180K.
Here are the links to the article posted by Numismatic News and to the website of the auction house.
RESULTS
Lot 1382 SOLD for AUD 480K including premium
Lot 1383 unsold
1817 Views of Sydney at the Time of Macquarie
2009 SOLD 900 KA$ including premium
In 1817, a soldier named Edward Close arrives in Australia. At that time, travel memories are recorded in watercolors.
The sketchbook which is ascribed to Close with certainty is a valuable reminder of Australia when Macquarie was governor of New South Wales. After brief stops in Rio or in Madeira, our military shows Australia, especially Sydney. This small town of less than 10,000 inhabitants was founded thirty years earlier by Captain Phillip, who said that this site was the most beautiful harbour in the world.
In this collection of thirty drawings, the harbour is still surrounded by windmills and bush, the only boats are tall sailing ships. The amateur artist was interested in local life, and shows settlers, soldiers and convicts.
Despite or thanks to a reputation for despotism, the Macquarie governorship was essential for the social development of Australia. Then began the difficult transformation of the island from prison to civilization.
400 KA $, on May 5 at Sotheby's in Melbourne, this may seem expensive, but it is an eye witness of the birth of a nation. Another sketchbook by the same author, of similar description, is stored at the National Library of Australia.
POST SALE COMMENT
The result is excellent: 900 KA$ inclusive. The sale of the lot was well supported by the Australian press, which had shown its exceptional qualities. Australians are proud of the origin of their nation. Very good.
The sketchbook which is ascribed to Close with certainty is a valuable reminder of Australia when Macquarie was governor of New South Wales. After brief stops in Rio or in Madeira, our military shows Australia, especially Sydney. This small town of less than 10,000 inhabitants was founded thirty years earlier by Captain Phillip, who said that this site was the most beautiful harbour in the world.
In this collection of thirty drawings, the harbour is still surrounded by windmills and bush, the only boats are tall sailing ships. The amateur artist was interested in local life, and shows settlers, soldiers and convicts.
Despite or thanks to a reputation for despotism, the Macquarie governorship was essential for the social development of Australia. Then began the difficult transformation of the island from prison to civilization.
400 KA $, on May 5 at Sotheby's in Melbourne, this may seem expensive, but it is an eye witness of the birth of a nation. Another sketchbook by the same author, of similar description, is stored at the National Library of Australia.
POST SALE COMMENT
The result is excellent: 900 KA$ inclusive. The sale of the lot was well supported by the Australian press, which had shown its exceptional qualities. Australians are proud of the origin of their nation. Very good.
1817 The Bank from Down Under
2014 SOLD 326 KA$ including premium
When Macquarie takes his post as governor of New South Wales in 1810, Australia is in deep chaos verging on civil war. Settlers find it difficult to escape starvation.
The governor understands that no country can exist without a reliable coinage but he fails to receive an effective support from London. He imported Spanish coins in 1812 to transform them into local coins but of course this was not sufficient.
In 1817 Macquarie was ready. Without seeking again the approval of London, he created the Bank of New South Wales and made an appeal to investors that only get a low response.
On the opening day of the bank, 100 notes of 10 shillings constitute the first official issue of paper currency in Australia. They are marked by hand for the date, April 8, 1817, a serial number, the signature of the cashier and the recipient's name although they are also payable to the bearer.
This first issue had seemed lost until a unit was discovered in good condition. This note symbolic of the actual start of a suitable organization in Australia was sold for Aus $ 283K including premium by Noble Numismatics in November 2005.
It is again listed by the same auction house, in Sydney on March 26. It is illustrated in the story shared by Paul Fraser.
POST SALE COMMENT
The result, Aus$ 326K including premium, is slightly over the estimate.
The governor understands that no country can exist without a reliable coinage but he fails to receive an effective support from London. He imported Spanish coins in 1812 to transform them into local coins but of course this was not sufficient.
In 1817 Macquarie was ready. Without seeking again the approval of London, he created the Bank of New South Wales and made an appeal to investors that only get a low response.
On the opening day of the bank, 100 notes of 10 shillings constitute the first official issue of paper currency in Australia. They are marked by hand for the date, April 8, 1817, a serial number, the signature of the cashier and the recipient's name although they are also payable to the bearer.
This first issue had seemed lost until a unit was discovered in good condition. This note symbolic of the actual start of a suitable organization in Australia was sold for Aus $ 283K including premium by Noble Numismatics in November 2005.
It is again listed by the same auction house, in Sydney on March 26. It is illustrated in the story shared by Paul Fraser.
POST SALE COMMENT
The result, Aus$ 326K including premium, is slightly over the estimate.
1830 It's a Long Way to Swan River
2012 SOLD 120 K£ including premium
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
How could they use the western coast of Australia ? Opinions differ. A penal colony like those established at Botany Bay near Sydney in 1779 ? A free territory to be offered to emigrant farmers?
What is clear is that the clock is ticking. The French are the archrivals of the British. The circumnavigation of Dumont d'Urville, begun in 1826, has scientific purposes, but it is rumored in England that France would like to also send convicts to Australia.
The exploration is accelerating. On May 2, 1829, Captain Fremantle creates the Swan River Colony on behalf of the British. Settlements of Perth and Fremantle will soon be founded.
The first austral winter is catastrophic on this ground less fertile than expected, but it is no more possible to curb the enthusiasm and more than 20 British boats reach Swan River for the single year 1829.
The journey of the Wanstead, leaving Portsmouth for Hobart in August 1829, is part of this movement. For several weeks in February and early March 1830, the travelers observe the precariouss settlements of the new colony while fearing attacks by aborigines, tasting kangaroo tails and trying to get rid of flies and fleas.
Mary Ann Friend, wife of the commander, kept a manuscript journal that covers the entire trip, including a few watercolors and maps. Her stay in Fremantle is a unique eyewitness account of pioneer life in Western Australia in 1830.
This document is estimated £ 100K, for sale by Christie's in London on October 10.
Here is the link to the catalogue.
POST SALE COMMENT
The result, £ 120K including premium, is in line with the estimate.
How could they use the western coast of Australia ? Opinions differ. A penal colony like those established at Botany Bay near Sydney in 1779 ? A free territory to be offered to emigrant farmers?
What is clear is that the clock is ticking. The French are the archrivals of the British. The circumnavigation of Dumont d'Urville, begun in 1826, has scientific purposes, but it is rumored in England that France would like to also send convicts to Australia.
The exploration is accelerating. On May 2, 1829, Captain Fremantle creates the Swan River Colony on behalf of the British. Settlements of Perth and Fremantle will soon be founded.
The first austral winter is catastrophic on this ground less fertile than expected, but it is no more possible to curb the enthusiasm and more than 20 British boats reach Swan River for the single year 1829.
The journey of the Wanstead, leaving Portsmouth for Hobart in August 1829, is part of this movement. For several weeks in February and early March 1830, the travelers observe the precariouss settlements of the new colony while fearing attacks by aborigines, tasting kangaroo tails and trying to get rid of flies and fleas.
Mary Ann Friend, wife of the commander, kept a manuscript journal that covers the entire trip, including a few watercolors and maps. Her stay in Fremantle is a unique eyewitness account of pioneer life in Western Australia in 1830.
This document is estimated £ 100K, for sale by Christie's in London on October 10.
Here is the link to the catalogue.
POST SALE COMMENT
The result, £ 120K including premium, is in line with the estimate.
1834 A Wealthy Settler in Tasmania
2013 SOLD 1.74 M£ including premium
John Glover was a good English landscape painter, although he failed to be elected to the Royal Academy. Idealizing the landscape to make it more expressive, he was closer to classic artists than to Constable and enjoyed being compared to Claude Lorrain.
In 1829, three of his sons leave for Van Diemen's Land in a boat of convicts. They were free, assessed by the fact that they had acquired some grants of farmers' land. A lot of boldness was needed for moving into that large island whose main use was penitentiary, and which will become the Tasmania.
John follows them in 1831. His previous success as an artist and farmer allowed him to obtain in 1832 a very large estate on the slopes of Ben Lomond mountain. According to the practice of his time, he used his watercolor sketches to achieve more ambitious oil paintings.
The discovery of the undisclosed landscapes of his new country generated to Glover a great creativity. In 1834, he assembled 63 paintings including 38 local subjects for an exhibition to be held in London in the following year.
On September 26 in London, Christie's sells one of the paintings of the London exhibition. Ben Lomond is on the horizon as seen from the property of a neighbour of the artist. Four men are walking in the countryside. We are told that they are busy catching opossums.
The estimate of £ 1.8 million is ambitious. This painting is shown in the press release shared by ArtDaily.
Here is the link to the catalogue. The dimensions of this oil on canvas are 77 x 115 cm.
POST SALE COMMENT
The estimate was ambitious because the early Australian painting is sometimes difficult to sell. Although the estimate has not been reached, I consider that the result £ 1.74 million including premium, is excellent.
In 1829, three of his sons leave for Van Diemen's Land in a boat of convicts. They were free, assessed by the fact that they had acquired some grants of farmers' land. A lot of boldness was needed for moving into that large island whose main use was penitentiary, and which will become the Tasmania.
John follows them in 1831. His previous success as an artist and farmer allowed him to obtain in 1832 a very large estate on the slopes of Ben Lomond mountain. According to the practice of his time, he used his watercolor sketches to achieve more ambitious oil paintings.
The discovery of the undisclosed landscapes of his new country generated to Glover a great creativity. In 1834, he assembled 63 paintings including 38 local subjects for an exhibition to be held in London in the following year.
On September 26 in London, Christie's sells one of the paintings of the London exhibition. Ben Lomond is on the horizon as seen from the property of a neighbour of the artist. Four men are walking in the countryside. We are told that they are busy catching opossums.
The estimate of £ 1.8 million is ambitious. This painting is shown in the press release shared by ArtDaily.
Here is the link to the catalogue. The dimensions of this oil on canvas are 77 x 115 cm.
POST SALE COMMENT
The estimate was ambitious because the early Australian painting is sometimes difficult to sell. Although the estimate has not been reached, I consider that the result £ 1.74 million including premium, is excellent.
1856 View of Geelong by Eugene von Guerard
1996 SOLD for A$ 2M including premium by Christie's
Shared by Wikimedia :
1856 Hobart Town by Von Guerard
2016 SOLD for A$ 1.53M including premium
Arrived in Australia in 1852, the Austrian artist Eugene von Guerard soon appreciates that he will do a better career as a painter than as a gold digger. His training in Europe had specialized him in painting landscapes.
According to the process used by Constable, Turner, Church and all others, von Guerard is working in studio from his sketches. At that time when photography began to bring a new vision to the landscape, von Guerard still interprets the realistic truth through a rigorous geometric construction attesting to the direct or indirect influence of Humboldt.
Australian patrons are interested. The view of a tree nursery over Melbourne realized in 1855 for its owner was probably his first Australian order. This oil on canvas was discussed in this column when Bonhams offered it at auction in 2013.
Von Guerard also takes great care to express the warm and pleasant colors of the Australian ground : jade, turquoise, amber. A view of Geelong near Melbourne, oil on canvas 155 x 89 cm painted in 1856, was sold for A$ 2M including premium by Christie's on April 29, 1996.
Painted in the same year with the same technique, a View of Hobart Town with Mount Wellington in the background, 61 x 92 cm, is altogether very appealing with its peaceful cove animated by few small boats and historically important because it shows the development of the city in the very year when it was declared as the capital of the newly created Tasmania. Hobart Town will become simply Hobart in 1881.
This painting was sold for A$ 1,47M including premium byMenzies in Sydney on September 24, 2014. It is again offered in the same auction room on June 23, lot 38 estimated A$ 1.25M. Please watch the video shared by the auction house:
According to the process used by Constable, Turner, Church and all others, von Guerard is working in studio from his sketches. At that time when photography began to bring a new vision to the landscape, von Guerard still interprets the realistic truth through a rigorous geometric construction attesting to the direct or indirect influence of Humboldt.
Australian patrons are interested. The view of a tree nursery over Melbourne realized in 1855 for its owner was probably his first Australian order. This oil on canvas was discussed in this column when Bonhams offered it at auction in 2013.
Von Guerard also takes great care to express the warm and pleasant colors of the Australian ground : jade, turquoise, amber. A view of Geelong near Melbourne, oil on canvas 155 x 89 cm painted in 1856, was sold for A$ 2M including premium by Christie's on April 29, 1996.
Painted in the same year with the same technique, a View of Hobart Town with Mount Wellington in the background, 61 x 92 cm, is altogether very appealing with its peaceful cove animated by few small boats and historically important because it shows the development of the city in the very year when it was declared as the capital of the newly created Tasmania. Hobart Town will become simply Hobart in 1881.
This painting was sold for A$ 1,47M including premium byMenzies in Sydney on September 24, 2014. It is again offered in the same auction room on June 23, lot 38 estimated A$ 1.25M. Please watch the video shared by the auction house:
1861 Victorian Civilization
2017 SOLD for A$ 1.95M including premium
Melbourne was created in 1835 by free settlers attracted to the fertile banks of the Yarra river. The simultaneous discovery in 1851 of gold nuggets on various sites in the neighborhood brings all kinds of adventurers. On the same year the Victoria colony was separated from New South Wales.
Eugene von Guérard landed in 1852 to take his share in the gold rush. In 1855 he found it more lucrative to exploit his artistic training. He now travels in all directions inside the new colony to make sketches of the landscapes already transformed by the colonists. He then paints the oils on canvas in his studio for the use and vanity of the rich owners.
On August 30 in Sydney, Deutscher and Hackett sells Mr John King's Station, oil on canvas 40 x 84 cm painted in 1861 from sketches made on that property in November of the previous year. It is estimated AUD 800K, lot 10. Here is the link to the website of the auction house.
The art of von Guérard glorifies these very new conquests of civilization. What is important here is not the horizon treated in a Humboldtian rigor but the garden and the field that retreat the boundaries of wilderness. His themes and compositions are reminiscent of Frans Post's didactic paintings in Brazil two centuries earlier.
Two small groups in a resolutely opposite attitude populate the Station in a direct evocation of their clash of cultures which is rare in the art of von Guérard.
Far away but in full light Mr King and his gardener cultivate their roses. In the foreground an Aboriginal family group is in the shade. They gave up their resistance to the white man but ignore the agriculture. Among them the little crouching girl reaches out towards a dead parrot that was probably carried by the dog. The preparatory drawing of this child is identified : it was made in 1855 by the artist near Adelaide.
Eugene von Guérard landed in 1852 to take his share in the gold rush. In 1855 he found it more lucrative to exploit his artistic training. He now travels in all directions inside the new colony to make sketches of the landscapes already transformed by the colonists. He then paints the oils on canvas in his studio for the use and vanity of the rich owners.
On August 30 in Sydney, Deutscher and Hackett sells Mr John King's Station, oil on canvas 40 x 84 cm painted in 1861 from sketches made on that property in November of the previous year. It is estimated AUD 800K, lot 10. Here is the link to the website of the auction house.
The art of von Guérard glorifies these very new conquests of civilization. What is important here is not the horizon treated in a Humboldtian rigor but the garden and the field that retreat the boundaries of wilderness. His themes and compositions are reminiscent of Frans Post's didactic paintings in Brazil two centuries earlier.
Two small groups in a resolutely opposite attitude populate the Station in a direct evocation of their clash of cultures which is rare in the art of von Guérard.
Far away but in full light Mr King and his gardener cultivate their roses. In the foreground an Aboriginal family group is in the shade. They gave up their resistance to the white man but ignore the agriculture. Among them the little crouching girl reaches out towards a dead parrot that was probably carried by the dog. The preparatory drawing of this child is identified : it was made in 1855 by the artist near Adelaide.
1866-1873 Victorian Australasia
2010 SOLD 600 KA$ including premium
PRE SALE DISCUSSION
The long reign of Victoria marks the triumph of the British industrial development and the access to the modern world for the most remote settlements. The first colonial exhibition was held in 1866 in Melbourne, head city of Victoria state, under the designation of Intercolonial Exhibition of Australasia.
These exhibitions were temporary showcases where the best craftsmen were invited to increase their clientele by presenting their most complex and best finished pieces.
Peter McLean, Scottish cabinetmaker, had probably seen the Kenilworth buffet at the Great Exhibition in London in 1851. This piece is a tour de force of joinery. Made in the typical style of medieval reference so much appreciated during the Victorian era, it adorns with some logics the great hall of Warwick Castle.
Located in Melbourne from 1853, McLean presented a huge sideboard in the exhibition of 1866 and continued to improve it until the Universal Exhibition of London in 1873. This buffet inlaid with precious woods is extensively carved on the theme of the creation and progress of the colony of Victoria: pioneers, aborigines, allegories, animals, industrial activities.
It is for sale on October 26 in Melbourne by Sotheby's Australia. Straightly talking: I have no idea of the price that can be reached by such a singular monument.
POST SALE COMMENT
Very good result for the astonishing and monumental example of colonial furniture: Aus $ 500K before fees, 600K including premium.
Here are its dimensions: 3.51 m high, 3.40 m wide, 92 cm deep.
The long reign of Victoria marks the triumph of the British industrial development and the access to the modern world for the most remote settlements. The first colonial exhibition was held in 1866 in Melbourne, head city of Victoria state, under the designation of Intercolonial Exhibition of Australasia.
These exhibitions were temporary showcases where the best craftsmen were invited to increase their clientele by presenting their most complex and best finished pieces.
Peter McLean, Scottish cabinetmaker, had probably seen the Kenilworth buffet at the Great Exhibition in London in 1851. This piece is a tour de force of joinery. Made in the typical style of medieval reference so much appreciated during the Victorian era, it adorns with some logics the great hall of Warwick Castle.
Located in Melbourne from 1853, McLean presented a huge sideboard in the exhibition of 1866 and continued to improve it until the Universal Exhibition of London in 1873. This buffet inlaid with precious woods is extensively carved on the theme of the creation and progress of the colony of Victoria: pioneers, aborigines, allegories, animals, industrial activities.
It is for sale on October 26 in Melbourne by Sotheby's Australia. Straightly talking: I have no idea of the price that can be reached by such a singular monument.
POST SALE COMMENT
Very good result for the astonishing and monumental example of colonial furniture: Aus $ 500K before fees, 600K including premium.
Here are its dimensions: 3.51 m high, 3.40 m wide, 92 cm deep.