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AUCTIONS
IMAGE: A selection of pieces from The Private Collection of Trevor Kennedy AM
The Private Collection of Trevor Kennedy AM November, SYDNEY
OPPOSITE: A COPY OF THE SCALE DRAWING FOR THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL CHAMBER CENTRE CHAIR, SIGNED BY THOMAS CHUCK 1856 (detail) Estimate on request
ABOVE: THE SPEAKER'S CHAIR FROM THE FIRST AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL PARLIAMENT AFTER A DESIGN BY CHARLES PASLEY (1824–1890) Estimate on request
The Private Collection of Trevor Kennedy AM
The Private Collection of Trevor Kennedy AM in November will feature what is considered by many to be the finest private collection of Decorative Arts relating to Australia’s colonial and Federal history. A sizeable number of items, including the Australian history related tranche of another important private collector: Ruth Simons, have never before been seen at public auction.
One of the many highlights of Trevor Kennedy’s private collection is a finely carved blackwood chair that bears great historical and cultural significance as one of the ‘Chairs of State’ at the point of Australia’s Federation. The design for the chair relates back to the completion of the Victorian Legislative Council Chamber in 1855 following the creation of the Colony of Victoria upon its separation from New South Wales in 1851.
The iconic Parliament building Victoria built for itself reflected the wealth and optimism of the age following the discovery of gold, with the interiors epitomising the grandeur and dignity of the right of the new colony to self-rule. The Legislative Council Chamber itself, including furnishings, was designed by a student of Sir Charles Barry, Peter Kerr, who echoed the lavish trappings of Britain’s executive buildings.
The commission of the original Speaker’s chair was an example of Victoria’s desire for a suitably dignified symbol of the people the Chamber was established to represent. A key desire by the Commissioner of Public Works, Charles Pasley, was to build the Parliament and its associated furnishings from local materials and with the help of local craftsmen. The native blackwood here was carved by an immigrant cabinet-maker and upholsterer, Thomas Chuck, to an original design. This Speaker’s Chair is made after Pasley’s design for another important historical event: the Federation of Australia into a single nation in 1901. This chair, made also in blackwood, was commissioned from Charles Johnson & Co of 186 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy. Research has also indicated that the carving was done by Robert Prenzel.
At the opening of the first Federal Parliament, the chair was used by HRH the Duchess of York (who later became Queen Mary) on a raised dais before 14,000 guests at the Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne. This chair is one of just a few works of art associated with the ceremony, the most well-known being the immortalisation of this critically important Constitutional event by Tom Roberts in his ‘Big Picture’, on permanent display at Parliament House in Canberra. It was from these chairs, operating as ‘Chairs of State’ that HRH the Duke of Cornwall and York (Later King George V) authorised the new Federal Parliament on behalf of the Sovereign.
Following its use as one of the mechanisms of the State Opening, the chair was taken away by the first Speaker of the House of Representatives, Sir Frederick Holder. This followed a tradition from the English Parliament that the Speaker could claim the chair he used during his Speakership.
MATTHEW JUMP / Leonard Joel Sydney
IMPORTANT JEWELS La Dolce Vita: Bulgari’s Enduring Legacy
Born into a family of silversmiths originally hailing from the Greek village of Kallarrytes, at the age of 20 a young Sotirios Boulgaris and his silversmith father moved to Italy to escape the political insecurity and lawlessness in their homeland. Following on from a number of successful jewellery start-ups around Italy, in 1905 Sotirios Boulgaris, who had by now Italianised his name to Sotirio Bulgari, set up a silverware and fine jewellery store, S. Bulgari, in 10 b-c Via dei Condotti, Rome which continues to this day to be Bulgari’s flagship store.
Initially drawing heavily on the Parisian fashion scene for trends and design cues, Sotirio Bulgari soon reimagined the French designs to Italian tastes and aesthetics. A defining feature of the early Bulgari designs was the use of circular elements embellished with large diamonds which quickly set their jewels apart from their competitors. Their patrons soon went on to include ruling European monarchs and members of royal families, heads of state, politicians, American industrialists and celebrities from the arts and letters.
Following Sotirio’s death in 1932, under the able stewardship of his sons Constantino and Giorgio the firm rebranded as BVLGARI and consolidated their reputation for original design and exceptional craftsmanship.
An enduring design from the 1930s is the iconic Trombino ring. Translating to “small trumpet”, one of the early models in 1932 served as Giorgio’s engagement ring. Centring a large gemstone mounted on a broad band framed by pavé-set diamonds, the shoulders are decorated with horizontal lines of graduated baguette diamonds. The Trombino ring, which represented Bulgari’s early experimentation with smooth and linear contours would go on to influence the firm’s style. Later in the ‘60s, coupled with the prolific use of bold coloured gemstones in striking colour mixes, the structured designs and more compact shapes came to define their unique aesthetic and set them apart from their US and French counterparts. Important Jewels Auction Tues 8 Dec, 6pm SYDNEY
LEFT: PLATINUM, SAPPHIRE AND DIAMOND 'TROMBINO' RING, BULGARI Sold for $125,000
OPPOSITE: A SPECTACULAR 18 CARAT GOLD, FANCY COLOURED SAPPHIRE, EMERALD AND DIAMOND 'SAPPHIRE FLOWER' BRACELET, BULGARI 2004 $75,000-100,000
To the American stars of the silver screen such as Elizabeth Taylor, Audrey Hepburn, Ingrid Bergman, Grace Kelly, Anita Ekberg and many others filming in Rome, “Hollywood on the Tiber”, Bulgari’s colourful and symmetrical jewels in innovative designs came to be seen as capturing the spirit of La Dolce Vita — the sweet life.
Elizabeth Taylor in her autobiographical book “My Love Affair with Jewelry” recalled, “Undeniably, one of the biggest advantages to working on Cleopatra in Rome was Bulgari’s nice little shop. I used to visit Gianni Bulgari in the afternoons, and we’d sit in what he called the ‘money room’ and swap stories.” Taylor would go on build an enviable jewellery collection. Jewels representative of Bulgari’s creativity featured heavily. In December 2011, Christie’s held a sale of Taylor’s private collection which set a record then as the most valuable sale of jewellery in auction history. Amongst other lots, her Bulgari Trombino ring centring a 25ct sugar-loaf cabochon Ceylon sapphire framed by diamonds which she self-purchased in 1971 to complement a sautoir Richard Burton had given her as a birthday gift, sold for US$866,500.
Inspired by designs from the mid-century period, in 2004 Bulgari launched the Sapphire Flower Collection featuring an extraordinary selection of fancy coloured sapphires in vibrant hues including mauve, raspberry red, lime green, violet and sky blue. Representing a new direction for Bulgari, the innovative ‘high jewellery designs’ are characterised by flexible openwork delicate motifs that give the floral themed jewels a two-dimensional effect when worn on the body.
We are privileged to offer this spectacular 18ct gold Sapphire, Emerald and Diamond bracelet, a special order, from the Bulgari Sapphire Flower Collection as part of our Important Jewels auction on the 8th of December in Sydney.
HAMISH SHARMA / Head of Important Jewels
