aaa nsw dec 2013

IN NEW SOUTH WALES

antiques

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DEC 2013 - MAY 2014

QUEEN STREET

TIM MCCORMICK COLONIAL PAINTINGS • RARE BOOKS PRINTS • PHOTOGRAPHS MANUSCRIPTS • AUSTRALIANA PURCHASED AND SOLD

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antiques &art IN NEW SOUTH WALES

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Antiques and

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CHAIRS - A LONG HISTORY IN DESIGN n our previous article we looked at the journey of the handcrafted table into the modern home, which leads us now to the table’s companion – the chair. In this edition the focus is on some forms dating from the 1600s to popular choices of today.

I

FRANCE AND ENGLAND: 17TH AND 18TH CENTURIES With the death of Louis XIV in 1715 and the Régence (1715-23) Paris became the centre of European culture and where the rococo style originated. Asymmetrical scrollwork and rocailles found in the designs of Nicolas Pineau and Just-Aurele Meissonier spread through most of Europe, with the motifs reworked by artists and craftsmen, which have been imitated or copied into the mid-20th century. The lighter more feminine style was a combination of comfort and delicacy. The seat was constructed so as to conform to the human body, allowing for a more relaxed seated position.

In the rococo manner, the back is bow-shaped and the legs curved. Chairs made at this time had upholstered seats and backs with small upholstered pads over the armrests for greater comfort. There are examples where cane was used instead of upholstery as this was found to be a cooler alternative to fabric. The joints between seat frame, legs, and back are disguised and stretchers used to brace the legs are not used.

A design identified as a ‘stick-back’ chair was relatively unaffected by the stylistic changes of the day. Originally a medieval form, known, for example, from paintings by Pieter Brueghel the Elder, it is still found today in the churches and inns of southern Europe. In all of its variations, this typically peasant form consists basically of a solid, saddle-shaped seat into which the legs, back staves, and possibly the armrests are directly mortised. As early as 1725 the design was used in English gardens and was named for Windsor Castle – the name Windsor chair seems to have been used for the first time in 1731. In America, it is called the Philadelphia chair.

A practical and portable chair – it is a design that continues to be a popular choice today, with people actively seeking craftsmen

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who are able to replicate the traditional stick making methods. The versatile Windsor chair fits into many modern interiors, from industrial to minimalist to French farmhouse.

However, it is important to be aware of the many cheap and mass produced imitations flooding the market from factories which have identified an opportunity to capitalise on their appeal. If looking to buy, these are easily discernible from those made carefully by hand out of quality timbers. This same sentiment applies to the sought after traditional aesthetics of the handcrafted table.

LATE 18TH – 20TH CENTURY: In the neoclassical period legs became straight and dimensions lighter and the new style had backs in the shape of classical vases that replaced the fanciful outlines of the rococo period. English taste influenced French design with the rise of style etrusque in the early 1780s, such as French chairs made in mahogany that feature pierced splats and lyre backs. However, in France the classical style chair was only popular for about 20 years to be replaced with the Empire style in around 1805, and French chairs of the Empire period, executed in dark mahogany and embellished with ornate bronze mounts, created a ponderous effect.

It was the posthumous publication of George Hepplewhite’s Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer’s Guide of some 300 designs and Thomas Sheraton’s Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterers’ Drawing Book that influenced cabinetmakers, joiners and upholsterers. In cheaper brands of inferior workmanship, bourgeois chairs of the 19th century carried on the traditions of the 17th and 18th centuries. An innovation was the bentwood (wood that has been bent and shaped) chair in beech that became popular all over the world and continues to be made.

Around 1900 the continental Art Nouveau and Jugendstil styles (French and German styles characterised by organic foliate forms, sinuous lines, and non-geometric forms), and the Arts and Crafts movement in England (established by the English poet and decorator William Morris to reintroduce idealised standards of medieval craftsmanship), gave

rise to many original chair designs. These new furniture styles did not exercise a wide, let alone decisive, influence. The Art Nouveau chairs designed by the French architect Hector Guimard, for example, are collector’s pieces, but his name is known to a broader public only because of his fanciful entrances to the Paris Metro.

“

MODERN

ever-increasing interest

After World War I, the Bauhaus school in Germany became a creative centre for revolutionary thinking, resulting, for example, in tubular steel chairs designed by the architects Marcel Breuer, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, and others.

During World War II, the aircraft industry accelerated the development of laminated wood and moulded plastic furniture. The dominant chair forms of this period were designs by Alvar Aalto, Bruno Mathsson and Charles and Ray Eames. In France, mass produced metal stacking chairs and stools developed by Tolix are still being manufactured and improved upon even today.

Early Tolix chairs are highly desirable.

Rapid technical developments, in conjunction with an ever-increasing interest in human-factors engineering, or ergonomics, suggest that the demands of domestic furniture will see the creation of completely new chair forms. Over the last decades some have been inspired by classic designs with modern twists, such as the Philippe Starck ghost chair, or the inexpensive yet interesting OH chair by Karim Rashid. No matter the technological advancements, design or material – the chair’s prime function is to be sat on.

Sally Beresford SALLY BERESFORD/FRENCH FARMHOUSE TABLES 02 4869 4144 info@sallyberesford.com.au www.sallyberesford.com.au Further reading Florence de Dampierre, Chairs: a history, 2006, Abrams NY www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/566131/stick -back-chair Academic Dictionaries and Encyclopedias: http://universalium.academic.ru/118493/

Rapid technical developments, in conjunction with an in human-factors engineering, or ergonomics, suggest that the demands of domestic furniture will see the creation of completely new chair forms

”

Editorial Content Sicán-Lambayeque culture (North coast 750–1375 CE), Tumi [Sacrifical knife], gold, silver, chrysocolla, turquoise, lapis lazuli, spondylus shell; 27.5 x 10.3 cm.

Museo Oro del Perú, Lima © Photograph Daniel Giannoni See page 78 Chairs – a long history in design – Sally Beresford Colonial artists and their books – Tim McCormick

007

Christmas: from the Victorian era to today – Susanne Gervay

008

Giltwood history repeats – Mike Gleeson

010

Mike Bird-Romero – artist, jeweller & silversmith – Jennifer Cullen

012

A successful inaugural antique market in Double Bay

013

Fine furniture, art works and more in the heart of Bondi Junction

014

From a special place – Burmese Buddhist arts

015

Art Gilding Academy – German master gilder reveals the secrets of this ancient craft

016

Architectural & Antique Elements: the source for authentic pieces

017

Bridal jewellery: the engagement ring has a long and rich history – Tammy Palmer

018

New website for those with a collecting bug

019

Industrial furniture at Doug up on Bourke – Sophie Mason

020

Savi Maurizio Furniture for classic & contemporary stylish Italian pieces

022

Mitchell Road Antique & Design Centre for setting your own trends

024

Matsuoka artefacts for gracious living found at Laura Kincade

026

One-stop furniture restoration at Sydney Antique Restoration Centre

027

Take a step back in time to art deco Napier, New Zealand

028

Choosing between platinum or gold: an engaging question – Damien Kalmar

030

Partnering with Howard Products completes a successful restoration project – David Foster

031

Noble Numismatics Sale 104 realises $2.4 million – Jim Noble

032

The making of the Australian Men’s Open Trophy – Christine Erratt

034

Why everyone is talking about the Southern Antiques Centre, a treasure hunt with lunch

036

Vintage Time 2U celebrates 1st birthday

037

Baker and Houghton Antiques offers a tour of beauty

038

Genius & Ambition: Royal Academy of Arts London 1768-1918 at Bendigo Art Gallery

039

The Rotary Club of Hurstville’s 19th Antique and Collectables Fair

040

Whether decorative or utilitarian, the table is an essential furniture item – Garry Auton

042

Wedgwood – synonymous with quality

055

The mysterious Monsieur Descubes: a botanical thriller

056

End of an era, final Christmas sale at Eliza Jane Antiques – Jane Rush

058

Antique Floors new showroom reveals a wooden flooring evolution – Steve Krsticevic

059

Chosun Gallery for unique Asian furniture and artefacts

061

Antique General Store a Northern Beaches find

062

Edward Miller burners – Juergen Weissner

064

Islington Antiques in Newcastle since 1990

065

Spoons, knives and forks: gastronomic implements – Patricia Mitchell

066

Hunting for finds in the Hunter – Michael Lee

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068

Windsor and Hawkesbury antiques and collectables trail

070

Especially for the guys at historic Windsor

071

The scenic Hunter Valley – perfect for antique hunters

072

Victory Theatre at the Blue Mountains: a significant historical site – Jana Byrne

078

Gold and the Incas: Lost worlds of Peru – Christine Dixon

080

Walter B Woodbury: photography in Indonesia 1850s-1940s – Gael Newton

082

Welcome to Canberra’s Forrest Hotel and Apartments

Company:.........................................................................................................................................

Mr/Mrs/Ms:.................................... Initials:..............Surname:.........................................................

Address:......................................................................................................Postcode:.....................

083

Canberra’s annual ACT Autumn Antique Fair, a Rotary event – Les Selkirk

Tel:......................................................................Email:....................................................................

084

The beginnings of time in horology 1300-1500 – Michael Colman

I wish to ❏ subscribe

087

A specialist furniture manufacturer, Churchill Chesterfield made in Australia

088

Annual Rotary Antiques, Collectables & Book Fair at Jupiters – Peter Campbell

089

The brilliance of 18th century artworks at Brisbane Antique Emporium – Kathryn & Derek Nicholls

090

Toowoomba Grammar School’s Autumn weekend art show

092

The Australian Antique & Art Dealers Association – Dawn Davis

094

For Auld Lang Syne, Art Gallery of Ballarat celebrates our Scottish heritage – Gordon Morrison

NOTICE The publishers reserve the right to refuse and edit material.

The opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the publisher.

No responsibility will be taken for any decision made by the reader as a result of such opinions.

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5

COLONIAL ARTISTS AND THEIR BOOKS ne of the most interesting if neglected aspects of Australian colonial art is the illustrated book. Between 1800 and 1870 most of the significant 19th century artists published books or portfolios with original prints, for which they not only drew the sketches but also undertook the engraving and lithography. The last three decades of the century saw the demise of these art forms in favour of the photograph.

O

COLONIAL ARTIST BECAME HIS OWN PRINTMAKER It was usually through economic reality and lack of suitable craftsmen that a colonial artist became his own printmaker. The sketch was transferred on to stone or copper by the artist himself. Control of the image was then able to be maintained without the inevitable alterations that usually arose when professional engravers were employed. The comparison is apparent when there was both an Australian and an English edition as with George French Angas’s Views of the Goldfield of Ophir. The London issue shows definite Anglicisation of the landscape and a loss of authenticity, whereas the Sydney printing, lithographed by Angas, is true to his original intentions.

by George Howe, Australia’s first printer.

The designs extend to the edge of the page and are all the more striking for that reason. The book’s colonial flavour is enhanced by Lewin’s simple descriptions and its uncluttered typography.

Less than 10 copies are now known to exist.

Lewin’s portrayal of his subject displays a provincial freshness, in response to his new environment. He included as a setting for his birds and insects elements of the Australian landscape in the form of branches, leaves and rocks – an indication of the direction Lewin would take in his later work.

In 1815 he became official artist to Governor Macquarie on the historic progress over the Blue Mountains. The watercolour paintings which resulted constitute the first attempt at an authentic vision of the Australian landscape. His impressions were not bound by the current English artistic conventions and his work as naturalist had resulted in ‘an honest eye for visual facts’. The sketches conveyed the feeling of vastness that was the Australian bush and they are now considered as the precursors of all indigenous Australian landscape painting.

IDENTIFYING AUSTRALIAN ART FOLIOS Two different styles of Australian art folio can be identified. The first is from the days of early settlement until the late 1830s, in which the artwork illustrates either natural history or the progress of exploration.

The second dates from 1840 when professional artists of some ability produced illustrated folios now directed at a local market to provide an affordable art form.

Very few complete examples exist today and surviving illustrated books from the 19th century hopefully will be accorded their full merit and be preserved intact.

JAMES WALLIS

(1785?–1858)

An Historical Account of the Colony of New South Wales and its Dependent Settlements; in Illustration of Twelve Views engraved by a Convict from Drawings taken on Spot, London, 1821 (Estimated value $30,000 to $40,000) James Wallis is representative of the military officer artists who visited Australia during the second decade of the 19th century. He arrived in 1814 and was eventually placed in charge of the convict establishment in Newcastle. Wallis sought in his work to blend topographical accuracy with picturesque beauty. He devoted his attention to depicting the landscape and recording the progress of the colony. Like the topographers before him, he introduced Aborigines as foreground embellishments.

Wallis employed the convict William Preston to engrave his designs and then dispatched the copper plates to London where the folio Historical Account of… New South Wales was printed and published in 1821.

The publication of Wallis’s Views marked the end of an era. The ‘age of expansion’ had arrived. The Views were offered as evidence of the success of the colony under Macquarie and prophesied that this land would soon ‘become the Mistress of the Southern Hemisphere’.

WILLIAM FERNYHOUGH (1809–1849) JOHN WILLIAM LEWIN

(1770–1819)

The Birds of New South Wales, with their Natural History, Sydney, 1813 (Estimated value $300,000 to $400,000) John Lewin landed in New South Wales during 1800 and became the first professional artist to attempt to exist solely by his work. He considered himself primarily a natural historian draughtsman, commencing the engravings for books on the Birds of New Holland and the Insects of New South Wales within a few years of his arrival. The engravings, the first examples of graphic art executed in the colony, were then sent to London for printing and publishing.

This variant edition of the Birds was issued in Sydney during 1813 and is the first illustrated book published in Australia. The 18 engraved plates were all printed and hand coloured by Lewin himself (unlike the earlier London edition) with the text and the binding

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A Series of Twelve Profile Portraits of Aborigines of New South Wales; Drawn from Life and on Stone, Sydney, 1836 (Estimated value $30,000 to $40,000) William H. Fernyhough arrived in Sydney in the early 1830s to take up a position as assistant surveyor and architect to Sir Thomas Mitchell. As an artist he is best known for this series of portraits in which the remnants of Aboriginal tribes of the Sydney district are depicted. The silhouette technique he employed was a popular method of portraiture in the 18th and 19th centuries. It had already been used for Australian Aborigines by the so-called Port Jackson painter in the first years of settlement and for T.R. Browne’s caricatures in 1819.

The contrast between the attitudes of Europeans when they first portrayed Aborigines in the 1790s and 40 years later in these portraits of the 1830s is very marked.

Bernard Smith notes the change: ‘In the graphic arts a hardening, unsympathetic

attitude is revealed in the grotesque, comic figures of the natives published in Sydney during the 1830s… the Aboriginal was depicted as a monstrous and comical absurdity... how rapidly he had been degraded and debauched by contact with Europeans…’

Fernyhough treated the natives less critically than did some of his fellow artists.

He imparts an elementary dignity and does not for example employ the contemporary fashion for illustrating alcohol’s effects. The portraits remain as a significant visual record which, when complemented with printed accounts of the natives, present us with a most accurate view of colonial society.

These lithographic illustrations were eagerly purchased, most probably to send ‘home’ as curiosities from this new country.

next 20 years most of his output recorded daily life on the diggings and in the towns. He has been called the ‘Artist of the Goldfields’ and his lithographs of life on the Victorian diggings provide our most vivid impression of those tumultuous years. They preserve the immediacy of sketches done on the spot, and for the first time in Australian print-making illustrate white settlers at work and play. People in Gill’s work dominate landscape – he is recording all the excitement and urgency of the gold rushes.

All of Gill’s lithographs were drawn on stone by himself. The series was not intended as an expensive publication and was more akin to later postcards. With his animated scenes of ordinary life, Gill caught the informality of the country and became ‘the most Australian of all artists’.

JOHN SKINNER PROUT

EUGENE VON GUÉRARD

(1805–1876)

Sydney Illustrated, Sydney, 1842-44, with 14 original tinted lithographs (Estimated value $30,000 to $40,000) John Skinner Prout was one of several artist travellers who visited Australia in the mid-19th century. He remained for eight years, profoundly influencing taste in the visual arts, as a painter, teacher and lecturer. Bernard Smith described his impact in European Vision in the South Pacific: ‘Although Prout was a humble practitioner of topography in England, in the Colonies… he set out to develop an interest in painting as an art form. In consequence, he is the first itinerant painter in the colonies whose work ceases to be dominated by the requirement of topographical accuracy.’

Between 1842 and 1844 under the title Sydney Illustrated, Prout published 14 prints, all of picturesque scenes of the city and harbour. In artistic terms, they were innovative in concept and design. His work is characterised by broad, fluent lines to outline the basic content, with shading for depth and the whole washed in light tints. To this extent he was more ‘impressionistic’ in style than his contemporary, Conrad Martens.

SAMUEL THOMAS GILL

(1818–1880)

Victoria Gold Diggings and Diggers as they are.

Lithographed and published in Melbourne, 1853.

Twenty-four lithographed sketches. (Estimated value $15,000 to $18,000) S.T. Gill arrived in South Australia in 1839.

His great chance came with the Victorian gold rush, whence he proceeded in 1852. For the

(1811–1901)

Australian Landscapes: A Series of 24 tinted lithographs of the most striking and picturesque features of the landscape scenery of Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia and Tasmania.

Drawn from Nature and Lithographed by the Artist. Printed and published in Melbourne, 1867 (Estimated value $30,000 to $40,000) Eugene von Guérard sailed for Australia in 1852 and brought to the colonies an academic approach to painting, endeavouring to record each leaf and rock in nature. For 16 years he travelled extensively through south-eastern Australia and New Zealand, always sketching dramatic vistas and mountain scenes. Although the difficulties encountered by earlier artists in publishing lithographic work had been completely overcome by the time von Guérard undertook Australian Landscapes he still did his own lithographic drawings, for the accurate transfer of painting to finished view was of paramount importance.

Australian Landscapes represents the end of an era for the 19th century art book, and appropriately, is one of the most sumptuous examples. Stylistically it stands between the topographic and picturesque traditions of the first half of the 19th century and the emerging impressionist movement of the late 19th century.

TIM MCCORMICK 02 9363 5383 www.mccormickbooks.com.au

WOOLLAHRA

CHRISTMAS

from the Victorian era to today or thousands of years people around the world have participated in midwinter festivals. With the arrival of Christianity, pagan festivals became mixed with Christmas celebrations. Signs of these pagan days are the custom of decorating houses and churches with evergreen plants like mistletoe, holly and ivy which was a guard against evil spirits as well as a welcome to the return of spring.

Before Victoria’s reign started in 1837, there was no Santa Claus or Christmas crackers, no Christmas cards or holidays from work or that spirit of Christmas giving.

However, the wealth and technologies engendered by the Industrial Revolution would change this. The face of Christmas would start to reflect middle class ideals and values which would spread to all classes of society.

Charles Dickens is often credited with contributing to this new era of Christmas. In the 1840s Charles Dickens wrote his Christmas stories generating what is considered today the true spirit of Christmas, with celebrations of family, community and giving.

A Christmas Carol, the first of Dickens’ Christmas books, advocates against the spiritual and personal meanness of Scrooge, inviting everyone to celebrate Christmas as a time of laughter and charity: ‘He was wise enough to know that nothing ever happened on this globe, for good, at which some people did not have their fill of laughter in the outset.’

From The Hughenden, a Victorian Hotel on Queen Street named after Queen Victoria, is the historic sandstone gates of Centennial Parklands 1888. It is a short walk through Centennial Parklands to Dickens’ Drive, to visit only one of two statues in the world of Charles Dickens.

The Victorians re-introduced old traditions, such as caroling, and invented new ones such as sending Christmas cards. They promoted church-going, gift-giving, and charity to the poor as essential parts of the holiday. They transformed the folk figures of Father Christmas and Santa Claus into symbols of holiday generosity, and they popularised Germany’s traditional Christmas tree or Christbaum.

The Victorians made Christmas a family celebration, with its primary focus on children. A Victorian Christmas entailed the exchange of gifts between parents and children; attendance together at Church services; a generous family dinner; and visits with friends, relatives, and other families.

FATHER CHRISTMAS/ SANTA CLAUS

CHRISTMAS GIFTS

The traditional Victorian era Christmas dinner would include a breed of fowl such as a goose and there was always a pudding. What was served at the feast was determined by region and country. Repasts might include standing rib of beef with Yorkshire pudding, a boar’s head, turkey, ham, oysters, cranberry pie, mince pie and plum pudding. Rabbit was found on the tables of the less wealthy.

The signature Christmas pudding was a great ritual of the Victorian Christmas dinner. Mrs

F

At the start of Victoria’s reign, children’s toys tended to be handmade and expensive, generally restricting availability to the rich.

With factories however came mass production, which brought with it affordable games, dolls, books and clockwork toys. Affordable, that is, to middle-class children. In a poor child’s Christmas stocking, which first became popular from around 1870, there would be perhaps be an apple, orange and a few nuts.

Father Christmas was originally part of an old English midwinter festival, usually dressed in green, a sign of the returning spring. The stories of St Nicholas (Sinter Klaas in Holland) came via Dutch settlers to America in the 17th century. From the 1870s Sinter Klass became known in Britain as Santa Claus and with him came his unique gifts and toys, reindeers and sleigh.

CHRISTMAS CRACKERS The first illustration of a Christmas cracker appeared in The Illustrated London News in 1847, but there is some argument as to who invented it. Two London sweet makers, Tom Smith, and James Hovell, both claim to have invented the cracker. In 1840s Paris, sweets called bon-bons were wrapped in twists of brightly coloured paper. Tom Smith (or James Hovell) brought back the idea but added a little slip of paper with a message on it, called ‘kiss mottoes’. Later, other attractions were added, such as little paper hats, tokens and small toys, plus the ‘crack’.

It is said that Tom (or James) was sitting in front of his Christmas fire where the yule logs were crackling, which gave him the idea of putting a cracker strip inside his bon-bons.

The crackers were also made to look like tiny yule logs, as they still do today.

Beeton’s recipe includes suet, bread crumbs, raisins, spices, candy peel and an optional glass of brandy. The preparation was a family effort on Stir-Up Sunday, the last Sunday before Advent, giving the plum pudding enough time to mature. Everyone took a turn at beating the mixture, making a wish and stirring clock-wise for good luck. A ring, coin or thimble was then tossed into the batter.

CONTINUING THE TRADITION OF CHRISTMAS CHARITY AT THE HUGHENDEN The Hughenden is associated with Barzillai Quaife, Australia’s first philosopher and a dissenting minister who preached in Ocean Street, Woollahra, and was built by his son Dr Frederick Harrison Quaife. Christmas at The Hughenden was always a time of giving. Today The Hughenden supports the charity Room to Read which has brought education to nearly

eight million children in the developing world.

During the Christmas period, the staff of The Hughenden participates in Christmas carols, providing the master of ceremonies for the Queen Street and West Woollahra Association’s Christmas Carols at Chiswick Gardens, Woollahra. There is a celebration of children with the exhibition of the works of Australian illustrators of children’s books. As in Queen Victoria’s time there are Christmas decorations, a tree, crackers, gifts, Christmas lunch and dogs are welcome guests. As in Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol ‘God bless us, every one!’

Susanne Gervay THE HUGHENDEN 02 9363 4863 reservations@thehughenden.com.au www.thehughenden.com.au

CHRISTMAS CARDS Children in Victorian England had the task of writing greetings to their parents in their best handwriting. The custom of sending printed cards was started in England by Henry Cole who did not have time to write letters to each of his relatives. He asked an artist, John Calcott Horsley, to design a card for him.

About 1,000 of these cards were printed, and those not used by Sir Henry were sold by the printer for one shilling.

With the introduction of the penny post in 1840, it became cheaper to send mail, and as a result of colour printing and the invention of printing machines, cards could be printed faster and cheaper. The first company to print and sell Christmas cards on a large scale was Charles Goodall & Sons of London in 1862.

The first charity card was produced in 1949

by UNICEF.

CHRISTMAS FEAST

Antiques and

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7

Second shop c. 1985

First shop 1978

Second shop refurbishment 2012

GILTWOOD

History repeats I t was 1978 and I was 24 when I opened The Gilt Edge Antique Gallery at 404 Burke Road, Camberwell. Although it meant a nervous time for me in taking on such overheads, I realised that having a street presence would allow me to attract more business and give me a little more credibility.

Within a couple of years I was in a position to purchase the building.

While contemplating this next step, I was approached by the owner of 394 Burke Road who asked if I would like to buy or lease his store which was at least twice the size. He then decided that he didn’t want to sell, so I took a lease – and ended up staying there for thirty-two years!

In the mid ’80s, together with Gary Kay of Antique Décor, I started travelling to France to purchase antique items. After a few years we formed a working arrangement whereby we bought joint stock which I would restore and he and I would sell through our respective companies and split the profits.

BUYING OUT AND BUYING IN This arrangement continued until the early ’90s when I was in a position to buy out Gary’s share of this stock and continue to purchase container loads of stock in France in my own right.

I also had an opportunity to purchase the building just as the ‘recession we had to have’ started to take hold. Consequently sales plummeted – along with property values in a perfect storm – resulting in my losing the $175,000 deposit on the building. Luckily we still had a lease and plenty of stock, although we had to work even harder to survive in business.

Publicity c. 1983

What has been really wonderful has been the ability to purchase an item in the back streets of Paris or Lyon and import it, restore it, sell it and deliver it to its new home.

So many times I have been told that when my clients first bought an item from me, it was the most expensive thing they had ever purchased.

Now, when they return to see the values of these items and exclaim how their one is so much better, they realise what fantastic value that purchase really was at the time.

NEXT GENERATIONS OF CLIENTS After so many years in business we are seeing the next generation coming through the doors. These younger, well-heeled clients who have grown up with the finer things in life, are seeking to emulate the good taste of their parents.

Interestingly, with the closing the store at

394 Burke Road, Camberwell, many people expressed concern and I was even told that this place was iconic. One young lady said that she had walked past my store for all of her life and could not imagine it gone. For me it was full of so many memories: good and bad.

CHANGE FOR THE BETTER The great news is that we have moved on to the next part of the story with a new store just six doors away.

Although the new store is a little smaller it has a really great feel about it. Additionally, the fantastic natural light adds another dimension to the stock, giving clients a better sense of how the pieces will fit in with contemporary living spaces.

I do hope that you will come and visit us at 410 Burke Rd, just a few doors away from where I started retailing in 1978.

MEMORABLE EXPERIENCES Over the years we have met and dealt with some amazing people and been invited into some of the best and most important properties in the land.

Publicity c. 1988

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Publicity c. 1985

Buying in France c. 1990

Mike Gleeson GILTWOOD 03 9889 6543 giltwood@hotmail.com www.giltwood.com

www.privateartsales.com CREATED BY A LEADING SYDNEY GALLERIST with 30 years in the arts industry, Private Art Sales is a unique art and collectables online trading forum designed to benefit the art vendor. Unlike any other site, Private Art Sales facilitates sales from vendor to buyer direct, with no commissions, premiums, or any costs associated with online, gallery and auction house trading.

The vendor receives 100% of the sale price and has absolute control over the listing and selling process.

The selling process is akin to a gallery over an auction sale with no time limits on the sale of works. The site is guaranteed to attract top national and international art buyers as it features an assemblage of high quality artworks and collectables from artists such as Sidney Nolan, Pro Hart, Bertram Mackennal, Robert Dickerson, Sir Jacob Epstein and Lucien Freud.

Currently, all listings incur no fees making it an even more attractive forum for vendors to market their collections.

This user friendly site can be accessed at www.privateartsales.com where upon the creation of a personal account, one can start the selling process immediately.

List now and enjoy the benefits of no commission selling www.privateartsales.com

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MIKE BIRD-ROMERO Artist, Jeweller, Silversmith

Mike Bird-Romero holding one of his petroglyph figures mounted on rock. Kappmeyer collection

ike Bird was born at San Juan Pueblo, New Mexico in 1946. He comes from a distinguished artistic family. His grandmother, Luteria Atencio is a recognised potter whose works are displayed in the Smithsonian Institution. His mother Lorencita Bird taught at the Santa Fe Indian School for years and exhibited her Pueblo style weaving and embroideries every year at Indian Market, the biggest and most prestigious annual Native American Art and Craft exhibit in the United States.

Bird is a self-taught silversmith, influenced as a young boy by the magnificent works of some of the Southwest’s finest artisans – Charles Lovato, Mark Chee and Antonio Duran. Although he was dabbling in jewellery as early as Junior High School, it was not until his early thirties that he took up silver smithing professionally. A fascination and love of his grandmother’s old jewellery inspired him to explore the history of Indian silver smithing, and nurtured an appreciation of the old-style pieces made between 1900 and 1930.

Bird’s work combines the traditional designs of his ancestors with his contemporary culture, often using exotic stones and materials not typical of traditional Indian jewellery. He enjoys collecting and repairing antique pieces of Native American jewellery because for him it is like deciphering a puzzle, a mystery from the past.

Replicating old styles of jewellery is a way of understanding the process and design of the past. Bird spent years studying and researching the historic techniques involved in silver smithing and often applies them to his

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own work. Although highly regarded as one of America’s leading Native jewellers, he has come to be recognised for his non-wearable pieces, such as petroglyph silver figures and beautiful handcrafted silver boxes.

Petroglyphs are found all over the Southwest, and are probably the most dynamic, dramatic visual artefacts still remaining in the area today. Petroglyphs are an ancient form of rock art, dating back to the prehistoric era.

Images, designs, pictures of animals and alienlooking figures have been carved into rock faces and boulders. Bird has made extensive field trips to the petroglyph fields near San Juan Pueblo and in the Barrier Canyon in Utah, to study the art of prehistoric man.

It is impossible to know with certainty what all the symbols represent. However Bird records almost exactly what he personally believes to see in the prehistoric figures and shapes. Bird incorporates into a lot of his pins and petroglyph figures a common motif that he believes looks like a snake, but it may well be a lightning bolt. Bird saw the snake, and cut out the silver in its shape. His pins are made from 18 gauge silver with 14 or 18 ct gold added at various accents.

One of Bird’s most famous pieces belonged to the Kappmeyer collection. This petroglyph figure is cut from ingot silver that was handmilled, polished and then mounted on a piece of rough stone. The figure holds a gold snake in its left hand, and on its chest a gold spiral symbolises the solstice, a motif that appears frequently in prehistoric rock art.

Bird has made petroglyph-inspired figures for years, often making smaller versions of the

large pieces as pins and pendants, many embellished with a variety of stones such as jasper, turquoise, petrified wood, rocks, pearls and shells. An avid collector of unusual, highgrade rare stones and gems, Bird frequents major gem fairs and exhibitions to source amazing materials such as fossilised dinosaur bones and crystals that he can incorporate into his jewellery.

His pins became very popular by the mid eighties, due to the cutting edge, modern execution of his work combined with its timeless concept. He was a great success at Indian Market in 1987, where he took home a ribbon for second place in the National Jewellery with or without stones category. The beauty in Bird’s work is evident – for while stones enhance metalwork, Bird’s silver smithing stands and holds itself alone. The same can be seen in Bird’s unique cuffs, amazing sculptural pieces; clean, hard lines dominate these well executed, beautiful forms

of jewellery which are an eclectic mix of the old and the new. His work is reminiscent of the old styles with a feel of George Jensen – exquisite.

Bird’s passion for the past led him to an extensive study into the various styles of Pueblo and Navajo crosses made for necklaces that now hang in museums and private collections. To date Bird has identified at least 100 styles, which he has documented and reproduced in a special collection for the Heard Museum, Phoenix, Arizona.

The Spanish introduced the cross symbol to the Pueblo Indians as far back as the 16th century. Spanish explorers and missionaries would carry crosses and hand out rosary beads and crucifixes to the Indians. The cross symbol was absorbed into Indian culture and often represented their own symbol for the dragonfly, particularly the double bar cross.

The Indians believed that the dragonfly was a sacred spirit never to be harmed. Most Pueblo peoples have an extensive mythology

DOUBLE BAY

Quality Native American Art Since 1981

concerning the dragonfly, believing they are the spirits of dead chiefs. Mike’s wife Allison Bird wrote and published a major work on the history of the dragonfly, single and double bar crosses called Heart of the Dragonfly: the historical development of the cross necklaces of the Pueblo and Navajo Peoples. Bird’s own research into the history of old cross necklaces gave him inspiration for new concepts in the creation of his own cross necklaces, often made from strands of old trade beads and coral and turquoise beads combined with his own unique style of single and double bar crosses.

Mike Bird-Romero’s work is internationally renowned and sought after by museums, galleries and discerning jewellery collectors worldwide. Permanent public collections include the Heard Museum in Phoenix, Arizona; Millicent Rogers Museum in Taos, New Mexico; Gene Autry Museum of Western Heritage, Phoenix; Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian, Santa Fe and many more.

Mike Bird-Romero visited Australia in 1999 for his first major exhibition at Four Winds Gallery, Double Bay, Sydney. His work is documented in all the leading reference books on American Indian art and is regularly featured in the major art pictorials and journals

Jennifer Cullen Four Winds Gallery 02 9328 7951 www.fourwindsgallery.com.au

Celebrating Christmas with an exhibition of two fine silversmiths, Mike Bird and Olin Tsingine. Each artist delivers a unique style both influenced by their Native American Indian heritage and their modern world.

Turquoise, jet, coral, Picasso marble, ivory and an array of agate along with other semi-precious stones is set in silver, distinguished by their individual design concepts.

Also a selection of the following: • A range of hand crafted Christmas ornaments • Hand carved nativity scenes both in stone, clay and wood • Also featuring paintings by John and Eli Milan • An extensive collection of vintage and contemporary jewellery

Left: Mike Bird-Romero, handmade silver box with carved turquoise snake set into lid

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DOUBLE BAY

A successful inaugural

ANTIQUE MARKET IN DOUBLE BAY he first antique market in Double Bay brought together antique and vintage dealers and shop owners from all over Sydney, from the Strand Arcade to Manly and dealers based in Double Bay. Despite the early morning rain, enthusiastic antique dealers and shop owners set up their stalls under the Jacaranda trees in the delightful surrounds of Guilfoyle Park. Trading commenced at 10 am and local residents as well as customers who

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travelled from as far afield as the Blue Mountains and Wollongong came along to seek out antique treasures, finding Royal Doulton china, Wedgwood and Waterford crystal glassware, vintage jewellery, and resident appraiser Dianne Mendlesohn who happily helped with questions regarding an item’s value, or otherwise!

The fair was so successful that double stalls were booked for the following antique market which was held on Sunday 8 December.

BESPOKE JEWELLERY ON SHOW

FOOD AT THE FAIR

Showcasing his beautiful bespoke jewellery within a glass pyramid, Tim Blake from Ringsmith Jewellery learnt his craft at renowned British firm Asprey London. He creates beautiful original pieces and undertakes commissions for customers who wish to have their well-loved pieces redesigned. When complete, these wonderful restyled original items are often found to have increased in value!

‘I was trained at Asprey & Company back in the mid 70s. I make traditional handmade pieces in the old fashioned way. I design with an antique look and also do restoration and repair work. A lot of the skills they taught me are almost lost today,’ said Tim. Tim went on to say that at the fair he had the opportunity to talk to a number of people about restoring their antique jewellery, and despite the uncertain weather, when it cleared up quite a few people came to see the market.

Aside from the antiques, there were also stall holders selling some of Sydney’s best Turkish gozleme, poffertjes (baby pancake puffs) with strawberries and cream, sliders (tasty mini burgers), Guatemalan fair trade coffee, chilli chai, and divine ginger chocolate.

COLLECTABLES FOR ALL TASTES Barry Dyer from Innovac Dyer also considered the day to be a success. ‘It was pouring down rain but we persevered and set up. It rained most of the day but quite a few people came.

It was a good turn out with a clientele interested in good quality,’ said Mr Dyer.

‘I sold lots of antique plates, Chinese antiques, vases, antique pencil sharpeners, antique bottles, soda syphons, chest of drawers and a lot of collectables. Sales were quite constant most of the day. I’m looking forward to the next one.’ Barry booked a second stall.

The market also showcases vintage clothes, jewellery and handbags, rocking horses and lovely soy candles set in vintage collectables, a gift that gives twice!

HELD ON THE SECOND SUNDAY OF EVERY MONTH 10am - 3pm

GUILFOYLE PARK Bay St, Double Bay

• Antiques • Art • Vintage • Retro • Collectables • Linen • Jewellery

12 January, 9 February, 9 March, 13 April, 11 May 2014 P: 02 9999 2226 E: office@organicfoodmarkets.com.au 12

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ENTERTAINMENT FOR CHILDREN There will be children’s entertainment with pony rides and a bouncy castle at the next Antique Market Double Bay. For more details contact Elizabeth Taylor ORGANIC FOOD MARKET twitter@organicfoodmark facebook/antique market double bay www.organicfoodmarkets.com.au

BONDI JUNCTION

FINE FURNITURE, ART WORKS AND MORE in the heart of Bondi Junction B ellagio International has been operating at 1A Hollywood Avenue, Bondi Junction for more than a decade.

It has become the favourite place for interior designers, commercial producers and those who like fine and unique items. They sell and purchase their stock from around the world.

Each piece of furniture and art is unique.

FURNISH IN STYLE

Bellagio International carries a wide range of crystal chandeliers, beautiful oil paintings, gilded mirrors, fine porcelain, bronze statues, console tables, dining suites and bedroom suites.

They also offer a vast selection of clocks, period and modern furniture and much, much more.

Items from their catalogue can be viewed on their website and ordered through their store.

BELLAGIO INTERNATIONAL 02 9369 4934 0416 131 015 bellagiointernational@gmail.com www.bellagiointernational.net

Bellagio International BUY ~ SELL ~ HIRE We repair and service all clocks and watches with 30 years’ experience.

French, German, American clocks, Swiss watches, all mechanical movements

1A Hollywood Ave Bondi Junction 50 metres from Westfield

Ph 02 9369 4934 Mob 0416 131 015 ask for Ray Open Mon-Sat 11 am - 6 pm

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PADDINGTON

From a special place

BURMESE BUDDHIST ARTS Lacquer ware proceeds go directly to Burmese families elebrating 23 years of trading in Paddington, Special Pieces has secured a number of unique Burmese artefacts from family sources in Burma.

All products have been provided to retain Burmese art and culture, showing the remainder of the world how special these artisans are… and hopefully save these artefacts from being lost or destroyed.

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All images of Buddha within the collection contain a Burmese Government seal of approval to ensure a controlled program of artefact distribution.

BURMESE BUDDHIST ARTS Tales from the Life of Buddha, the Jataka stories of the 550 former lives of the Buddha and various teachings, have provided much of

Chinese and Japanese Quality antique and reproduction furniture and artefacts

the subject matter and outlets for expression in the arts and crafts. Burmese practice Theravada Buddhism that emphasises the need for every person to seek his own way to salvation by following the precepts, meditating and performing acts of charity to improve karma in future existences.

Burmese craftsmen were anonymous and were expected to follow various rules and formulae when creating a Buddhist icon – failure to observe established norms would render the object unsuitable for use in worship. Initially, artisans closely copied imported models, but over time the Burmese craftsmen assimilated foreign influences and blended them with a local style, so that works of art became unmistakably Burmese in spirit and method.

LACQUER WARE

ESTABLISHED 1989

336 South Dowling Street, Paddington

www.specialpieces.net.au • 02 9360 7104 Monday to Saturday 10 am to 5 pm - Sunday by appointment 14

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We already are familiar with two words and one source of the lacquer used in Burma. Lac is the varnish made from certain insects’ shells, long known as shellac or cheik lac in Burmese. General usage now uses lac as the term for any of the various resinous wood varnishes, including that from the sap of the thit-si tree. This resin lac is used in making lacquer ware in Burma, China, Japan and Korea, but the Burmese thit-si tree (Malanhorrea usitata) that grows in Shan State is said to have better viscosity and last longer.

Bagan is the centre of making ‘laureate’ or lacquer wares stretching back almost a millennium, prospering in the period from the 11th to 13th centuries CE when it was the seat of the Myanmar dynasty. Burmese kings would presents lacquer ware as gifts to other royals, along with silk and jewellery. It is still the hub of culture with many temples, pagodas and monasteries surviving, along with many arts and crafts.

Bagan is located on the eastern bank of Ayeyarwady River, not far from Shan State where resin bearing trees grow. The other materials for making laureate are softwood and bamboo. The techniques of making lacquer ware have been handed down in the surrounding villages. There are instructors in the craft where a family member may work in an unpaid apprenticeship – to keep the art and culture alive.

Artwork on the lacquer ware is either painted or etched in between the many layers of lacquer. The colours used in paintings are

natural products, such as trees, lime, earth, sand, rock, bones, smoke, charcoal and egg. In Burma, lacquer work is a major art and still a pride of the country.

TYPES OF LACQUER WARE Lacquer wares were used not only by royalty but also by ordinary Burmese families to serve their daily meals. Usually, a threelegged low circular table made of bamboo strips and lacquer was used, such as still being used in remote villages and monasteries.

The monks used lacquer thapeik (alms bowl) during their daily alms round of collecting their food from the villagers.

Thapeik and its cover were made of bamboo, wood and resin.

There are many types of lacquer ware vessels, the two primary types being the betel nut box and the hsun ok, the daily multilayered food container. The hsun ok is the most varied among all of the containers, ranging from a bamboo frame with plain red or black lacquer to the very ornate style – even decorated with gold, gilded and jewelled.

All have a classic design and spiritual forms, unique to Burmese artisans.

MODERN CHALLENGES Due to increasing economic costs associated with resin retrieval and the desire of modern Burmese people for ‘western’ products, the lacquer ware art has less demand and is dying.

Fortunately, some Burmese families, in an attempt to preserve the ancient art, have chosen to share it with the remainder of the world.

Hopefully, through external interest, the unique talent of the Burmese people can be restored and flourish for all posterity.

Visit Special Pieces in Paddington to view the selection of unique Burmese artefacts. Proceeds of product sales have gone directly to individual families – this project pays no third party.

For more information contact SPECIAL PIECES 02 9360 7104 specialpieces@yahoo.com www.specialpieces.net.au

SURRY HILLS

ART GILDING ACADEMY German Master Gilder reveals the secrets of this ancient craft Learn professional gilding in a 9 day hands-on course ave you ever wished to have the skills to apply gold and silver leaf to your furniture, frames, and artwork? Or embellish your cornices, columns, walls and ceilings with metal leaf? Work for yourself from home at your own pace? Master gilder Karl Eggert can make your dream come true – and you need no prior knowledge of gilding.

In the past, this ancient craft with all its secrets was passed from father to son. But in 1999, Karl Eggert, together with his wife Brigitte, founded a unique teaching establishment to make the wonderful craft of gilding available to anybody who wants to learn in Australia.

Learning the art of framing and church restoration in Germany from master gilders, Karl has a broad knowledge and more than 45 years’ experience in gilding. This knowledge and experience is reflected in his teaching program at the Art Gilding Academy. Class sizes are kept to a maximum of six students to ensure the best learning experience.

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Brigitte with the weekend class project

WEEKEND CLASSES

Above: Golden Bedroom Left: Gilded French clock

MARK OF ACCOMPLISHMENT: ST JAMES CHURCH, SYDNEY Situated next to Hyde Park in Sydney, St James’ was consecrated in 1824 and is one of the oldest Anglican churches in Australia. Designed by the transported convict architect Francis Greenway (1777-1837) during the governorship of Lachlan Macquarie, St James’ is part of the historical precinct of Macquarie Street.

In 1988 the church was refurbished and the Art Gilding Academy was commissioned to gild the ceiling panels at the time. It’s not very often that the same company gets involved in the same project twice in a lifetime and after 25 years, Karl and Brigitte lead the Art Gilding team during 2013 in re-gilding this historic church.

Again it was a wonderful opportunity for three of our Master Class students to become involved.

All agreed that obtaining this hands-on experience made a big difference in enhancing the skills they learned at the Art Gilding Academy.

Sydney: Sat/Sun 10 am – 4 pm GENERATING MORE PROFITS FOR YOUR BUSINESS This class has been especially designed for people unable to attend week-day classes and is held once a month.

We know how difficult it is for small business owners to find time during the week, so our intensive weekend class may suit you perfectly. The classes run from 10 am – 4 pm Saturday and Sunday and participants are taught, step-by-step, gilding techniques that are applied to furniture, picture frames and mirrors, cornices and even walls.

Many students have found that gilding adds another dimension to their business, which they have been able to capitalise on by adding a new profit centre. Moreover, it’s fun!

The weekend class is very reasonably priced at $795. This includes the project – an Egyptian plaque – and all tuition and materials. In certain circumstances this fee could be claimed as a tax deduction.

Details about courses are found on our website or for more information contact Brigitte at

ART GILDING ACADEMY 02 9310 3007 artgilding@artgilding.com.au www.artgilding.com.au Master Gilding class 2012

MASTER GILDING CLASS BUILD YOUR OWN BUSINESS AND WORK FROM HOME The Professional Master Gilding class is fully hands on and runs over a nine day period, starting Saturday and finishing on the following Sunday, from 10 am to 4 pm daily.

During these nine days, students learn more than they could in a three-year apprenticeship.

We provide a relaxed and fun atmosphere and attendees are always like-minded people.

SUPPORTING OUR STUDENTS Brigitte and Karl are committed to giving every student support, helping them to maximise their potential and to reach their goals. Hence contact with students does not end with the completion of the course and over the years many of their students have become good friends. ‘We’ve found that good support is the key to success for many of our students so we’re passionate about making sure they get the most out of our courses,’ says Brigitte.

Completing the Master Gilding training course allows students to add skills to their chosen profession and offers the freedom to build up a business and work from home.

On completion of the professional Master Gilding Class, students receive a certificate.

GOLDFINGER CLUB We cannot teach you ‘experience’, but being a member in our Goldfinger Club will give you the support to tackle every project with confidence. We have a policy of full commitment to assist members of the club to build their ‘very own golden dream.’

For those who’ve completed one of our gilding courses, this free ongoing advice for any project is supported through phone and email. In addition generous discounts of 10-20% are available on all materials and supplies.

Art Gilding Studio Restoration and frame conservation Oil and water gilding services On-site architectural gilding We come to you FREE STUDIO QUOTES

Art Gilding Academy Weekend Classes Master Classes (fully certified) FREE INFORMATION EVENINGS For dates, free brochures and friendly advice Call Brigitte now 02 9310 3007

99-101 Buckingham St, Surry Hills NSW (Entrance in Cleveland Street) artgilding@artgilding.com.au www.artgilding.com.au

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SURRY HILLS / LEICHHARDT

ARCHITECTURAL & ANTIQUE ELEMENTS the source for authentic pieces here is a sense of discovery when walking through the grand-scale European entry doors of Architectural & Antique Elements and on entering – you won’t be disappointed. The high ceilings at the Leichhardt warehouse are ideal for displaying the architectural salvage gathered globally: from Europe, South America, India and beyond. The industrial building creates a perfect backdrop for discovering oversized entry doors, glazed French doors, solid oak salon doors, wrought iron gates and grilles, teak columns, louvered shutters, stained glass, grand mirrors and more.

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In recent times architectural antiques have featured in some of the most celebrated homes and renovations around the world, seamlessly utilised by leading interior designers and antique dealers to give their clients a truly individual look. This practice has been a popular design approach in New York and London with many loft apartments, homes and businesses incorporating large and small-scale pieces into their architecture or interior decor.

It is a trend that we have seen growing in Australia, with many commercial spaces, restaurants, bars and cafes looking for unique and antique pieces to add colour, texture, scale and instant character. Certainly some of the most celebrated dining spaces to the smallest boutique bars in Sydney at the moment, are evidence of this trend.

Also popular is the use of industrial antiques. The Elements warehouse has a wonderful selection of industrial salvage, furniture, lighting, etc. For fit-outs where multiples are required (for example lighting) we have some great replicas available at affordable prices.

We have also witnessed the use of antique pieces in the domestic building industry and have been involved with many brand new (and quite modern) homes where a single, architectural antique item for example the entrance door has been incorporated to dramatic effect.

With our two workshops incorporated into the warehouse space, and an experienced

Antique Elements have found their niche – sourcing the real thing – authentic, carefully selected and curated antique pieces, big and small. Although our website catalogues much of our stock in store, there is always more to posted, blogged about or instagrammed so phone or email or better still drop in, you won’t be disappointed.

cabinetmaker and polisher on hand we are able to advise and quote on restoration and repairs as necessary. What we can’t do in-house we can arrange or refer you on as appropriate.

Now in their tenth year, Architectural &

ARCHITECTURAL & ANTIQUE ELEMENTS 02 9560 3067 mail@elements.net.au www.elements.net.au Instagram elements_i_love Blog: www.elementsilove.com

SURRY HILLS

BRIDAL JEWELLERY The engagement ring has a long and rich history he engagement ring tradition is still alive and well. Like all jewellery, the price of an engagement ring varies considerably depending on the materials used, the design of the ring, whether it includes a gemstone and its value of any gemstone.

When it comes to the question of how much to spend, as it’s such an important decision, to help guide people in their choice we have had a poll running on our site; the poll asks our customers to indicate what they believe would be a ‘reasonable price’ for an engagement ring and they are offered four ranges on which to vote. Having run for around five years, the poll’s accumulated results so far are that 69

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per cent believe a reasonable price is under $5000 while the remaining 31 per cent feel that over $5000 is appropriate. Clearly these results are determined by the available income of the demographic visiting Vintage Times but, given the sample size and period of time that the poll has been run, we believe it to be quite a good tool for ‘grooms to be’ to use when validating their engagement ring purchase budget.

NO-RULE FASHIONS Most importantly, the rule on what to wear as an engagement ring today is that there are no rules. The use of coloured stones such as emeralds, sapphires and rubies are frequently selected as an engagement ring and clusters have made a fashion comeback. We believe this is, in part, due to the fact that a high set diamond solitaire ring is less desired as the high set prongs do not suit modern lifestyles very well.

MARRYING OF TRADITIONS The world is changing and with it a marrying of the new and old traditions. No more is it as simple as a man buying a woman a ring and ‘popping’ the question. Love has expanded to include same sex couple engagement, friendship rings (pre-engagement rings), and the aspect of social responsibility when purchasing (recycled / vintage / antique jewellery). All of these are dayto-day realities that are re-writing the history of engagement rings. The only thing that hasn’t changed is that it’s all about two people in love...

Tammy Palmer VINTAGE TIMES 02 9361 3244 info@vintagetimes.com.au www.vintagetimes.com.au

Reference www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/ highlight_objects/pe_mla/g/gold_posy_ring.aspx

Join nearly 13,000 people that follow Vintage Times on Facebook for periodic specials. www.facebook.com/VintageTimes

HISTORY OF ENGAGEMENT RINGS The truth about when engagement rings came into existence is highly contested, featuring a variety of stories dating back to the 12th century. It is reported that Pope Innocent III declared that a waiting period should be observed before the actual marriage ceremony in 1215. Thus, the engagement rings signified the couple’s devotion to one another during that period of time. Others believe that engagement bands began in Ancient Egypt when the circle was used to symbolise a neverending cycle and the space in it as a gateway.

The custom of the rings being worn on the fourth finger of the left hand, is thought to have originated from ancient Greek beliefs that it contained a vein that led to the heart (vena amoris).

Also having ancient origins was the ‘posie’ (or ‘posey’) ring, believed to have originated from the French word poésy, which describes a short poem often expressing sentiments of love. These were engraved on bands and became very popular during the 16th and 17th centuries in Europe and England, their popularity attested to by their frequent mention in Shakespeare’s plays.

For a long time, diamond engagement rings were seen as the domain of the nobility and aristocracy, and tradition often favoured simpler engagement bands. When the diamond mines in Africa were discovered in the late 19th century, supply increased and with it awoke the beginnings of the diamond marketing campaigns. As production increased, those of lesser means were able to join in on this movement and the idea of a diamond engagement ring being a fitting choice for everybody was created in the United States as recently as in the 1930s.

Antique & Vintage Engagement Rings, Watches Cufflinks & Jewellery

Vintage Times .com.au Shop online or in our shop: www.vintagetimes.com.au 531 South Dowling St, Surry Hills Located in the Sydney Antique Centre 02 9361 3244

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NEW WEBSITE FOR THOSE WITH A COLLECTING BUG

Display and search screen shots from The Collectiong Bug

Invitation to a new website for collectors specialist website for collectors is now in beta release, and seeking keen collectors to help with final testing. The Collecting Bug is uniquely designed to allow all collectors to organise and display their collection on their own personal website using a simple customised template.

Philip Moorhouse, a Melbourne collector of letterpress printing equipment and historical wood type, started The Collecting Bug

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almost by accident. ‘Over the last 20 years, my collection had grown to the extent that I really needed to manage it better. Also, many of my collecting friends were overseas, yet I had no way of sharing,’ Philip explained. ‘I thought a website was the ideal solution but being a nontechnical person, I asked some collector friends for advice. It turned out quite a few wanted something similar themselves! I looked and looked, but couldn’t find anything suitable.’

A NEW WAY TO SHOWCASE COLLECTIONS Keen collectors have tried previously to get their collections online, but with limited success. Blogs don’t help you organise your collection. Collector forums are great for sharing knowledge but you can’t showcase your collection. Collectors can document their collection in an Excel spreadsheet, but it can’t handle pictures. Philip says it was very frustrating, like going around in a circle!

Everything was a compromise. The final straw came when he attended an overseas collectors’ convention (yes, they even have them for letterpress collectors!), made lots of new contacts and friends but couldn’t show them anything in his collection.

A SITE DESIGNED TO BE UNDERSTOOD He resolved to design the best possible website he could – for himself, and other keen collectors. Not knowing how to do this, he started looking at the finest museum and art gallery websites he could find, then individual online collections, forums and clubs, and finally speaking with collectors. When he approached website developers, they told him most websites start the other way – very basic, with features added as required! But this backwards design approach turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as the end result is a well-integrated, easy-to-use, website. Even his lack of technical expertise had a benefit – if he couldn’t intuitively understand it, he worked with the developers to simplify it.

TAILOR-MADE FEATURES FOR COLLECTORS The concept is straightforward – in a nutshell, every item in your collection is listed with its customised fields (e.g. size, maker, condition, country of origin, date), a general description, and up to 12 photographs. Load up your collection, either item by item or alternatively by bulk import, and then organise it into optional folders. Lastly, set your privacy levels and think up a name for your website.

For those who want more, hidden under the bonnet is a powerful database content

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management system. Other features include links to other websites, sending and receiving messages, listing duplicates and wanted items, searching your entire collection in an instant for a single word or by customised fields, and storing documents. You can easily display up to 20,000 items in a single collection.

As Philip worked with fellow collectors, several other themes came up frequently. It must look good, as most collectors have developed a fine eye for design! Privacy was critical, so collectors are only identified by a username and, with private field, item and collection settings, you only show as much, or as little, as you wish.

AN INVITATION TO FREE ROAD TESTING The Collecting Bug is now in its final development phase before general release, and seeking collectors to assist in beta testing. For anyone interested in having their own collection website, this is a remarkable opportunity. The team will personally guide you step by step as you create your own, fully customised website – entirely free.

Whether you are interested in your own website, or just enjoy looking at others, you can now visit The Collecting Bug website and see a variety of collections. Even though it is in limited beta release, the response has already been very favourable.

For more information contact Philip Moorhouse THE COLLECTING BUG 0417 544 588 philip@thecollectingbug.com www.thecollectingbug.com

WATERLOO

Industrial furniture AT DOUG UP ON BOURKE I t’s big, it’s heavy and it’s bold.

Industrial furniture has a sense of presence about it. Yet it is basic in design and beautifully hand crafted. It has a lifetime of character and history engraved into it. Worn timbers and hard thick metal and steel have a history that we will probably never see again.

Shipyards, railway yards, iron foundries, shoe factories, bus depots and large warehouses were where manufacturing once happened. These sites had endless pieces of industrial furniture hidden away or used every day; they were just waiting to be re-born into unique spectacular pieces for a new home or work space. It’s amazing how the centre of any room can be set off by a large cast iron legged, kauri pine top, railways workbench, or using an ex-government pigeon hole filing unit for the home office.

Bringing industrial furniture back to its raw state restores its sense of class. A highly polished metal two-door stationery cabinet tends to stand out from the rest with its wow factor. While polished metal is great to look at, this is not always easy to achieve, especially if it was covered with layers of paint and lacquers – like most industrial furniture. If it has been neglected such as left outside to rust, or if it is covered in oil and grease, it will take a lot of work to bring back its glory.

The long process of restoration starts with paint stripping, sand blasting, hours of elbow grease with a wire disk on an angle grinder.

After polishing and buffing, a final finishing with a coat of wax, oil or lacquer will prevent further unwanted oxidization. This takes time and dedication for each industrial piece we salvage and restore. Here at Doug Up On Bourke we do the hard work for you.

A TO Z OF INDUSTRIAL ANTIQUES

x-ray viewing boxes, yards of bus and tram destination rolls, and zinc-topped counters.

It is worth a visit to Doug Up On Bourke.

Wander through our store and see what treasures you can find.

Sophie Mason DOUG UP ON BOURKE 02 9690 0962 info@douguponbourke.com.au www.douguponbourke.com.au

You name it – we might have it – or will search for it to meet your objective. When it comes to industrial antiques, Doug Up On Bourke is the place to visit, look and shop.

From A to Z we have: army furniture, bell jars, cast iron beds, drawer units, enamel lightshades, feed bins, filing cabinets, foot lockers, globes and lamps, hospital beds, iron and timber stools, jugs, kitchen pots and pans, ladders in all sizes, metal and timber shoe lasts, metal plan cabinets, navy equipment, office desks, platform signs, railway desks, Sebel Stak-a-bye chairs, stationery cabinets, steel hospital furniture, timber and metal packing crates, tool boxes, unused canteen equipment, valves of glass and metal, wooden bobbins, workbenches, workshop lockers,

901 Bourke Street Waterloo NSW 2017

02 9690 0962 web: www.douguponbourke.com.au email: info@douguponbourke.com.au TUESDAY TO FRIDAY 10 AM - 5 PM, SATURDAY 10 AM - 5 PM CLOSED SUNDAY, MONDAY & PUBLIC HOLIDAYS

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Savi Maurizio Furniture

FOR CLASSIC & CONTEMPORARY STYLISH ITALIAN PIECES or lovers of fine art, furniture, fashion and opera the world over, Italy tops the destination list; steeped in culture and ancient history, its rich traditions have always been a drawcard for those seeking beauty and quality.

At the heart of Italian culture is the family, and Italian furniture and interior design aims for family comfort and usability, with a keen eye for stylish, yet highly practical, living spaces.

Savi Maurizio Furniture understands this passion for beauty and practicality much better than most. Owner, Maurizio Savi, who originally trained in traditional furniture making and restoration under master craftsmen back home in Italy, today operates Savi Maurizio Furniture with his wife Diane, from their beautiful showroom in Sydney’s Waterloo.

The current stable of well-known imported brands brings timeless Italian design combined with superb styling and craftsmanship to Australian shores; all of the company’s partnered Italian brands have been personally selected by Maurizio and Diane to suit the Australian lifestyle, both inside and outside the home, and are all brands synonymous with elegance, warmth and quality all over the world.

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EXCLUSIVE AUSTRALIAN DISTRIBUTOR OF TIMELESS GRAND ARREDO BRAND One such classic Italian brand is Grande Arredo. Established in Australia more than a decade ago, nowadays it is still highly sought after for its timeless decorating appeal and the classic styling loved by so many who want to bring high end, handcrafted quality into the mix at home.

Savi Maurizio Furniture is proud to announce that it has been appointed the exclusive Australian Distributor for Grande Arredo Italia and looks forward to introducing to Australian audiences the beautiful new Grande Arredo Collection 2014 featuring fresh inspiration, charming designs and interesting new finishes.

Meticulous detailing from design to completion, satisfying such old world techniques such as hand carving, wood turning, joinery, gilding, marquetry and finishing, are all hallmarks of Grande Arredo pieces.

NEW CLASSIC & CONTEMPORARY LABEL: MARKET LEADER LE FABLIER Another stylish newcomer this coming year to Savi’s exclusive Australian stable is Le Fablier, a youthful and fun Italian label which has proven very adaptable to apartment living, open plan spaces and anywhere where a cohesion between classic and contemporary needs to sit well.

Le Fablier – from the French word for ‘collection of tales’ – is a leading manufacturer of classic and contemporary Italian furniture in precious wood, which is celebrating its 30th birthday. One of the key players in the Italian market, Le Fablier has won leadership of the market with unprecedented growth and distinction.

With luxury combined with contemporary functionality, Le Fablier is loved right across Europe and beyond. Its collections are identified as being metropolitan and highly

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“

Italian furniture and interior design aims for family comfort and usability

” creative, displaying emotion, character and a strong personality. The company collaborates with young talent, designers and architects worldwide who share its mission.

All designs can be custom made to client specifications. Le Fablier’s team, comprised of architects, designers, technicians and high level practitioners, is able to satisfy every kind of personalised requirements: from the simplest panelling to highly customised complete furnishing of hotels, resorts and residences anywhere. Le Fablier is able to give life to any project whilst maintaining the very highest quality standards that characterise the brand – furniture that engages, excites and inspires.

Savi Maurizio Furniture is proud to offer the Australian market a range of luxury furniture guaranteed to be 100 percent designed and made in Italy: authentically Italian and upholding the country’s ancient values of genuine beauty and quality for all.

SAVI MAURIZIO FURNITURE 02 9698 1112 info@savifurniture.com.au www.savifurniture.com.au

WATERLOO

Grande Arredo + Le Fablier now exclusively available at Savi Maurizio Furniture

146 – 152 Botany Road Waterloo NSW • On-site parking available

02 9698 1112 email: info@savifurniture.com.au open Monday – Saturday 9.30am – 5pm

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ALEXANDRIA

MITCHELL ROAD ANTIQUE & DESIGN CENTRE

Antiques, 20th century design, industrial and architectural heritage, toys and dolls, rustic farmhouse furniture, jewellery

A new industrial space in the inner west for lovers of design and curiosities Upper Level 76 Mitchell Road, Alexandria NSW 2015 I Open 7 days 10 am - 5 pm I P: 02 9698 0907 I E: mitchellroadcentre@yahoo.com.au I www.mitchellroad.wordpress.com

Mitchell Road Antique & Design Centre

FOR SETTING YOUR OWN TRENDS arking eight years of success, Mitchell Road Antique & Design Centre is renowned as a popular and important centre for those in search of the beautiful and the unusual.

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EASY TO FIND Located on the upper level of a large, yellow, industrial brick warehouse building with distinctive and iconic graffiti signage guiding you to the entrance at 76 Mitchell Road, Alexandria (corner of Fountain Street), makes us easy to find. Within a short walking distance from Erskineville and Redfern train stations and with bus routes that drop you right at our door, this centre houses over 60 dealers displaying their wares. The scope of pre-loved and recycled items

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is breathtaking and all this under one roof is an exciting convenience.

A DESIGNER’S DREAM We have long been a favourite hunting ground for stylists, set producers, TV, film and magazine shoots far and wide, looking for that unique inspiration to create their signature mood and look. Without realising it, almost everyone would have seen items from Mitchell Road Antique & Design Centre in the course of watching Australian-made films and televisions shows or reading a magazine published here. Customers take delight in setting their own trends with the treasures they discover at our centre.

YOUR WISH LIST At Mitchell Road Antique & Design Centre we endeavour to help you locate that perfect piece which you’ve been searching for. Add your wish to our ‘wish list’ and each week the list is sent to our dedicated dealers who go in search of these items. With many great results and happy customers, we believe it’s the customer service from our devoted staff that sets us apart from the rest.

KEEPING UP TO DATE To keep you up-to-date with all the latest trends and exciting new additions, ‘like us’ on Facebook and follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest. Daily activity provides an array of stunning new items for sale, invaluable

information on particular items and also our monthly business card draw for one of our lucky customers.

Open 7 days a week, from 10 am to 5 pm, for more information contact MITCHELL ROAD ANTIQUE & DESIGN CENTRE 02 9698 0907 mitchellroadcentre@yahoo.com.au www.mitchellroad.wordpress.com

ALEXANDRIA

MITCHELL ROAD ANTIQUE & DESIGN CENTRE

Upper Level 76 Mitchell Road, Alexandria NSW 2015 Open 7 days 10 am - 5 pm P: 02 9698 0907 I E: mitchellroadcentre@yahoo.com.au www.mitchellroad.wordpress.com

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ALEXANDRIA

MATSUOKA artefacts for gracious living found at Laura Kincade

he mission of Matsuoka International is to serve the world community of lovers of fine things with exceptional objects for gracious living; artefacts conceived with a fresh approach to design and interior furnishing – both as an architectural discipline and as a fashion statement. Designs are meticulously engineered, constructed with care and infused with an exceptional aesthetic sensibility.

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HISTORY OF MATSUOKA From the hands of some of the world’s most gifted artists to the homes and work spaces of the world’s most discriminating clientele, Matsuoka furnishings capture the spirit of beauty and an aspiration for perfection.

Renowned for rare and decorative woods, beautifully tailored upholstery, exquisite design details, and impeccable craftsmanship, Matsuoka endeavours to ensure each piece is a work of art. Whether catering to royalty, celebrities, executives and collectors, or lovers of fine things, from all walks of life, Matsuoka creates stunning pieces for gracious living.

Since 1866 the company has been renowned as a skilled crafter of custom designs, executed in exotic materials. The company originally gained fame as Japan’s premier maker of traditional bridal furniture.

These pieces were crafted from Paulownia, a rapidly regenerating hardwood tree.

Wealthy parents of a baby girl would approach a crafter and request that a grove of paulownia trees be sown so that a magnificent trousseau might be made when the child reached marital age. Paulownia trees mature in 15 years and when the wood was ready, the cases would be meticulously crafted and ornamented with impressive veneers and beautiful inlays. When the daughter’s wedding day arrived, the young woman and her new husband would be presented with these exquisite gifts.

It is not difficult to understand why such a tradition would foster the development of one of the finest furniture makers in the world.

Today this tradition continues with an insistence on excellence, attention to the smallest detail, superb cabinetry and incomparable finishes.

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exceptional gifts to the creation of heirlooms for generations – from the conception of innovative and aesthetic designs, to the elaboration of singular masterpieces which grace the homes and work spaces of some of the world’s most demanding consumers.

All of the creative and hardworking members of the Matsuoka company have become members of the Matsuoka family, with a desire to delight and surprise their customers with superlative products and excellent service. They want to share with the world the exceptional creativity of the artisans of Fuchu City, the focal point of Japan’s masterful luxury furniture industry. This combines the impeccable precision of their engineering and case goods teams with the creative flair of master craftspeople – those experienced in the ancient arts of inlay, marquetry, lacquer work, painting, precious metals and stone work, and calligraphy, with those knowledgeable in more contemporary forms of so-called new media.

A NEW PARADIGM IN FURNITURE ART

MATSUOKA FAMILY

Matsuoka International also wanted to provide a vehicle for creative geniuses from around the world in which they could collaborate by contributing their artistic inspirations; to create what they believe will be an enduring testament to a ‘new paradigm in furniture art’ of truly international design. This is design without borders – taking its cues from diverse sources of inspiration – neither Eastern nor Western, Primitive, Traditional, Transitional nor Modern.

The only criterion is ‘Is it beautiful?’

This raison d’être is exemplified in the work of Christian Lyon, the artist selected to be the first among their celebrity designers.

The products of his inspiration, the Metropole and Moderne collections, draw on a global experience honed by travels on four continents, over more than 30 years.

Future artists selected will also be given wide creative latitude to delight discriminating consumers worldwide with rich, global and innovative options for homes and commercial interiors.

Laura Kincade is proud to be associated with this fine company and many pieces from Christian Lyon’s latest collection can be seen in its Alexandria showroom.

Matsuoka is a family-owned business with a heritage spanning more than 14 decades. The family is proud to have collaborated with talented artists who have contributed their

LAURA KINCADE 02 9667 4415 www.laurakincade.com

FARMHOUSE ANTIQUES

R E S T O R AT I O N S

IMPORTERS & RESTORERS OF ENGLISH, WELSH & CONTINENTAL ANTIQUE PINE & COUNTRY FURNITURE FOR 25 YEARS Wednesday to Sunday 11 am to 5.30 pm or anytime on a phone call

358 Botany Road Alexandria NSW 2015

02 9698 2785 www.farmhouseantiquepine.com.au

G&R

ANGELA & CHRIS LISTER

COLLECTABLES

Specialising in: Re-seating of chairs in cane, Danish cord and Restoration of Seagrass furniture

unique & unusual lamps, antique furniture, shop 23, Mittagong Antique Centre

art, curios

02 9516 2851

THE LEATHER TOP DESK COMPANY est. 1993

Traditional Gold Leaf Embossed • Leather Inlays for Desks • Leather Desk Mats • Complete Desk Restorations

Antique and Modern Finishes Quality Imported Leather Large Range of Patterns and Stamps Regular Pick-up and Delivery Sydney Metro Area Mail Order Australia-wide

85 – 87 Main Street MITTAGONG NSW

and pocket watches

Mob: 0429 994 664

0490 335 523

mark_dempsey@bigpond.com

SUBSCRIBE SAVE Eastern Suburbs &

collectables @ worldaa.com trader

SUBSCRIBE TO THE MAGAZINE AND SAVE OVER 22% – includes FREE delivery within Australia YES! I wish to ❏ subscribe

(please tick one)

❏ extend an existing subscription

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to Collectables Trader magazine starting with the next issue for only ❏ $49 for 6 issues ($8.15 per issue, 18% off) or ❏ $85 for 11 issues ($7.70 per issue, over 22% off)

Antique Restorations Pty Ltd Traditional French polishing and all furniture repairs Specialising in all upholstery and a wide range of discounted fabrics 1603 Botany Road, Botany NSW 2019

t: 02 9316 4445 m: 0416 048 222

Overseas rates available on request I enclose my ❏ cheque/money order payable to JQ Pty Ltd

ABN 39 945 398 132

OR charge my credit card: ❏ Visa ❏ Mastercard ❏ American Express ❏ Diners Club

❏❏❏❏ ❏❏❏❏ ❏❏❏❏ ❏❏❏❏ For credit card orders call 02 9389 2919 or fax this coupon to 02 9387 7487 or mail to Collectables Trader, PO Box 324, BONDI JUNCTION NSW 1355 Cardholder Name:.....................................................................................Expiry Date: ...........................

Signature: ................................................................................................Date:........................................

Send Collectables Trader to:

Best New r– sin Bu ess Winne 13 20 st Bathur

• DECORATIVE ITEMS INCLUDING MIRRORS • ANTIQUE ENGLISH FURNITURE SPECIALIST • VINTAGE TEA WARES • INTERESTING COLLECTABLES • MOORCROFT, BELLEEK, DOULTON, GOEBELS & MORE

Name: ......................................................................................................................................................

Address: ..................................................................................................................................................

2A Piper Street

.....................................................................................................................Postcode: ...........................

0417 785 495

Daytime phone: ......................................Email:.......................................................................................

OPEN 6 DAYS 10am – 4.30pm

(near the railway line off Havannah St) BATHURST NSW 2795

martin@kingsantiques.com.au www.kingsantiques.com.au Wednesdays by appointment, 240sq m showroom

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Dining table after removal of heat marks

Heat marks

ONE-STOP FURNITURE RESTORATION at Sydney Antique Restoration Centre SYDNEY ANTIQUE RESTORATION CENTRE EASTERN SUBURBS French Polishing and Upholstery • • • •

One stop shop for all your furniture restoration needs Mobile service unequalled in Sydney Traditional hand finishing using only the best products available Heat mark removal and table top refinishing

hristopher Escriva of Sydney Mobile French Polishing has joined forces with Ari Shmailov of ADE Upholstery to create this one-stop restoration shop based in the eastern suburbs.

Sydney Antique Restoration Centre services most areas in Sydney for the full range of furniture restoration needs from hand stripping to full French polishing. All repairs can be completed including chest of drawers runners, table splits and scraping doors.

Christopher’s family emigrated from France and he followed in the footsteps of his father – a carpenter and fourth generation wood worker. Continuing this long tradition, Christopher trained and gained much specialised experience with leading antique furniture restorers in Australia so collectors here can gain the benefit of his expertise.

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UNIQUE HOME SERVICE Christopher also offers a unique service where he can refinish furniture on-site; be it in your home, office, on a patio, under a veranda or even in your garage. All types of furniture can be repaired on-site – including tables, chair, chests, armoires, firescreens and bookcases.

Furniture can now be French polished in the convenience of your home with his service.

BEFORE

AFTER

All repairs including: • Chest of drawers runners • Table splits • Scraping doors UPHOLSTERY Domestic and commercial Unit 6 / 57B Rhodes Street, Hillsdale 2036 Manager Christopher Escriva 0466 340 554 Upholsterer Ari Shmallov Mobile: 0411 790 291 – Workshop: 9130 4905 easternsuburbsfrenchpolishing.com adeupholstery.com 26

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GREAT VALUE Passing the saving of transport on to the customer, this is especially cost efficient when it comes to large items or table top heat removals, as pictured.

This service is great value and can potentially save a customer thousands of dollars – by saving the cost of transporting furniture as well as minimising the risk of damage or loss of prized furniture.

However, any furniture requiring substantial restoration or hand-stripping will be taken away to be restored.

UPHOLSTERY SPECIALIST ADE Upholstery can restore or provide exquisitely crafted pieces in a traditional upholstery sense, as well as commercial, modern, vogue and bespoke pieces. The Bondi Beach showroom has a large variety of textiles from a broad range of collections and references on display where you will find the right fabric to match your existing furnishings, or from which you can choose something completely new. Any textile or design can be sourced and a free pickup and delivery service is also available.

The furniture and upholstery restoration services offered by Sydney Antique Restoration Centre are based on a tradition of superior craftsmanship and a professional attention to detail and are of great value to those wanting to restore that special antique or collectable.

SYDNEY ANTIQUE RESTORATION CENTRE 0466 340 554 www.easternsuburbsfrenchpolishing.com ADE UPHOLSTERY 02 9130 4905 / 0411 790 291 www.adeupholstery.com

Take a step back in time

TO ART DECO NAPIER, NEW ZEALAND ANNUAL ART DECO WEEKEND FESTIVAL

EXPERIENCE A VINTAGE CAR TOUR

ew Zealand’s Art Deco capital of Napier, in Hawke’s Bay, celebrates its annual festival of origin in style in February with an event calendar that features boas and grand balls, Gatsby picnics and parades.

What began as a two-day festival in 1989 has grown to a week-long extravaganza of elegance celebrating an era of sophistication and an all-important time in Napier’s history.

The city was rebuilt from the ruins of a major earthquake in 1931 and has one of the most concentrated arrays of modern Art Deco, stripped classical and Spanish Mission style buildings of any city in the world.

A vintage car tour is another way to see the city, in style; highlights include visiting the National Tobacco Company Building, Deco houses and gardens in the suburb of Marewa and the grand Edwardian Hawke’s Bay Club.

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IMMERSE YOURSELF IN THE ART DECO ERA The festival incorporates over 200 events and will attract an expected 35,000 people, including national and international enthusiasts, many of whom make an annual pilgrimage to Napier for the Deco celebration. They dress in period clothing, drive vintage cars, sip champagne, picnic in great Gatsby style, attend elegant soirees and wander the architecturally distinct streets that make Napier unique in the world.

As well as a vintage car parade, aerobatic flying displays, dinner dance and free outdoor concerts, there will be beach banquets which organisers say will be of special interest to those liking ‘a little champagne, glitz and glam’.

MEMORABLE ARCHITECTURE INCORPORATING UNIQUE MAORI MOTIFS As well as being one of very few such concentrations of Art Deco buildings in the world, Napier city has extra significance as it was built in the depths of the Depression. The incorporation of Maori motifs and other design elements also make it unique to other collections.

Another bonus is the large number of buildings inspired by the great American architects Frank Lloyd Wright and Louis Sullivan.

The nearby city of Hastings also has its own collection of buildings in Art Deco, Stripped Classical and Spanish Mission styles – one of the best examples is the Hawke’s Bay Opera House built in 1915 and refurbished in 2007.

TAKE ADVANTAGE OF WALKING TOURS While many tourists time their visit to Hawke’s Bay around the Art Deco Festival, tours of the city are available all year round.

Volunteer guides from the Art Deco Trust take walking tours around the city, or visitors can do their own exploring with a self-guided brochure.

BACKGROUND: 1931 NAPIER EARTHQUAKE Napier’s Art Deco origins go back to a devastating 7.8 (Richter scale) earthquake on 3 February 1931 that caused geographic upheaval and widespread damage throughout the Hawke’s Bay region.

Most of the buildings in the coastal city were flattened, either by the earthquake or the ensuing fires. The town’s water supply had been cut during the quake so there was nothing to fight the fires that ravaged the streets. However, remarkable community spirit prevailed and the town was almost completely rebuilt in two years.

STREAMLINED ART DECO STYLE FOR URBAN REDEVELOPMENT The style that predominated was Art Deco. It was not only popular at the time but provided strong reinforced concrete with decoration that would not fall off and injure people as had happened with the Edwardian-style preearthquake buildings.

The Art Deco Trust was formed in 1985 to preserve and promote what is now recognised as a world-class collection of Art Deco architecture. The Art Deco Weekend is organised by the Trust and is described as a not too serious celebration of Art Deco style.

To find out more: ART DECO TRUST, NAPIER 64 6 835 0022 trust@artdeconapier.com www.artdeconapier.com Like us on Facebook: facebook.com/artdecotrust

FUTURE DATES FOR THE TREMAINS ART DECO WEEKEND 19 – 23 February 2014 18 – 22 February 2015 17 – 21 February 2016

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Choosing between platinum or gold:

AN ENGAGING QUESTION TRACING THE ORIGINS OF GOLD he exact date that gold was discovered is unknown, however it was thousands of years ago. There’s no doubt it was one of the first metals known to early civilisation. The lustre, beauty, malleability and high tarnish resistance of gold made it enjoyable to work with and it became a part of every culture.

In 3100 BCE, in the code of Menes, this founder of the first Egyptian dynasty described its value, stating that ‘one part of gold is equal to two and one half parts of silver in value’ while an inscription in the temple at Edfu, Egypt, c. 1320 BCE, records the extensive prospecting and mining for gold carried out by Seti I in Egypt, Nubia, and Sinai.

A little more recently – and most poetically, the Incas (c. 1438 – 1533) referred to this precious metal as ‘tears of the sun’.

Gold has been used for jewellery, in medicine and healing, and historically as currency. In its pure form, gold is a bright yellow colour and quite soft and malleable, often refined with other alloys to increase its hardness and alter its colour.

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MEANING OF CARAT Often 18 carat, for example, is stamped 18 ct, 18 k, 750 or .750, where in this case 750 represents a percentage of gold versus other alloys, and 750 simply means that there is 750 parts of gold per thousand or 75% gold.

Jewellery or other objects of 9 carat can be stamped .375 meaning 37.5% gold, 14 carat can be stamped 585 (58.5% gold) 15 carat can be stamped 625 (62.5%) 22 carat can be stamped (91.6%). However, 24 carat gold in jewellery is often stamped 999 meaning 99.9% pure because it is assumed that there will be 0.01% impurity in the gold.

MAIN GOLD COLOURS The three most common colours of gold is yellow, white and rose or pink gold. White and rose gold is caused by adding alloys that will change the colour of the gold, for example copper is added to make rose gold where the more copper, the more intense the colour.

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White gold is produced by adding either manganese, silver, palladium or nickel or a combination of two of these materials.

However, the alloys used in producing white gold have varied over the years, mainly due to their cost.

Years ago palladium was the metal of choice due to it being able to make the white gold retain its ‘whiteness’ but the cost of palladium has increased dramatically (at one stage overtaking platinum in price) compared to the other metals, meaning the other metals are now used more. It is quite common and accepted to rhodium plate white gold, after a piece of jewellery is made, to give it a high mirror finish look in a pure white.

Other colours that can be produced include green gold by adding cadmium, but this process causes the release of toxic fumes when being melted. Green gold mainly featured during the Art Nouveau period of the late 1800s and as a highlighting gold, such as for gold leaves in a brooch.

Blue gold, black gold (not to be confused with black rhodium) and purple gold can also be made, although it is white, yellow and rose that have remained the clear favourites over the last 100 years.

jewellery, platinum retains its ‘whiteness’ and does not need to be rhodium plated.

It is also able to be drawn into a very fine wire while still retaining its strength and is wonderful in such pieces as brooches with very fine platinum wire even set with diamonds such as in the art deco era, or can be seen in platinum diamond engagement rings for example.

Being denser than gold, a white gold wedding band with the same dimensions and size as a platinum band will be the lighter of the two.

Years ago platinum was considered the choice of metal as it is more rare as well as more difficult and expensive to extract from the ground than gold, making platinum somewhat exotic and used for the higher-end pieces. While all of this remains the same today, the price of gold has risen dramatically and it is very close to being on par with platinum.

Many art deco rings of the 1920s were often created with a gold band (either white or yellow) with the top of the ring made in platinum. Today, it is more common that if the band is yellow gold then the top will be in white gold.

PLATINUM – HOW IT DIFFERS TO GOLD

So which metal is best for a diamond engagement ring? There are a few factors to consider. Previously a loose rule of thumb was that whatever it cost to make in white gold, double that price if it was to be made in platinum. Although this rule does not apply now, the labour required to work in platinum is greater, so still expect to pay more due to labour costs.

Today it really comes down to personal choice. Platinum will always have that more exotic and selective feel about it and, being purer, will not require the maintenance of white gold. However, there will always be more rings out there in white gold than platinum so there will be a much greater choice of ring made in white gold.

There really is no right or wrong as both metals are wonderful and both are set to stay in jewellery making for hundreds more years to come.

Platinum is a very different metal to gold in so many ways. Firstly, even though it was discovered in 1557, it wasn’t really until the early 1900s and slightly later by the art deco jewellers of the 1920s, that platinum was employed in making jewellery.

When platinum is used in jewellery it is kept very pure; it ranges from being stamped 900 (meaning 900 parts of platinum per thousand or 90% platinum) to 935 and 950.

As a side note, 935 is used instead of the middle range between 900 and 950 of 925 due to the fact sterling silver is both 925 and the same colour as platinum and confusing the two would be far too easy.

DURABLE PURITY & DENSITY Platinum is also very durable when compared to gold and due to the high purity used in

CHOOSING AN ENGAGEMENT RING

Damien Kalmar KALMAR ANTIQUES 02 9264 3663 Kalmar@ozemail.com.au www.kalmarantiques.com.au Further reading: www.onlygold.com www.minelinks.com/alluvial/goldPrimitive.html

CITY

FREDMAN SVW F O R M E R LY S Y D N E Y V I N TAG E WAT C H E S We also purchase: Patek Philippe Cartier Vacheron Constantin Jaeger-LeCoultre Audemars Piguet Universal International (IWC) Movado Ulysse Nardin Omega Chronographs Military Watches

Reminiscent of the French jewellery salons of the 19th century and located in the historic Strand Arcade, Victoria & Albert Antiques is a treasure trove filled with interesting and unusual antique, vintage and quality reproduction pieces.

With decades of experience, our knowledgeable staff will help you find the perfect gift, or special treat for yourself.

Dealer in Vintage Timepieces CONSTANT INTEREST IN BUYING ALL KINDS OF ROLEX WATCHES Visit us at

Shop 28, Ground Floor, Strand Arcade 193 Pitt Street Mall, Sydney PHONE: 02 9221 3373 MOBILE: 0407 676 838 MONDAY to SATURDAY

We are strong buyers of all men’s and ladies’ wristwatches in any condition

Victoria & Albert Antiques Shop 17, The Strand Arcade, 412 - 414 George St, Sydney NSW 2000 Ph: 02 9221 7198 Fax: 02 9221 7214 Monday - Friday 9.30 am–5.30 pm Thursday 9.30 am–7 pm Saturday 9.30 am–5 pm Sunday 11 am–4 pm

Shop Online Now We Buy & Sell

WE BUY & SELL

Antique, vintage and selected new buttons Shop 25 Nurses Walk, The Rocks (enter through Surgeon’s Court off George St, opposite Museum of Contemporary Art)

Antiques & Collectables, Arts & Crafts, Art Nouveau, Art Deco, fossicking? .... absolutely!

Ph: 02 9252 0833

Open 7 days

Email: dd@buttonsbuttons.net

Shop 30A Ground Floor The Strand Arcade, 412 George St, Sydney Ph: 02 9222 1848

OPEN 7 DAYS 10am - 5.30pm

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PARTNERING WITH HOWARD PRODUCTS

completes a successful restoration project hen Marie and her husband retired to Ballina, NSW, they discovered the town had a branch of the Australian Men’s Shed Association (AMSA). After making contact with Rob Bruce, the supervisor of the shed, they were introduced to the group which included a number of very experienced woodworkers looking for an interesting project to start on.

Marie had been left a treasured heirloom by her grandfather, a captain’s chair from the very early part of the 20th century. This lovely old piece had been stored in a large box under their house for at least 20 years. As soon as the box was delivered and opened the Men’s Shed group commenced work on the chair.

They found that the chair was in pieces with plywood nailed in place where the hand-made wicker seat used to be.

They began with repairing all the broken pieces and carefully secreting new work within the old joints. This was difficult work as the old glue was hard and brittle and the old wood in the joints had been repaired a number of times making the wood crumbly and dry.

It was a steep learning curve even for these experienced old hands, especially when it came to restoring the chair’s seat. None of the men had ever replaced a wicker seat before.

But by following an old manual that they came across, plus a bit of old fashioned nous, the project wasn’t as impossible as it had initially seemed.

Rob, the supervisor, had seen Howard Products advertised in various woodworking magazines over the years, but it was an article in one of the Antiques & Art in Queensland editions that convinced him that Howard Products would do the job.

Rob ordered the appropriate colour in Restor-A-Finish by email because, as he told me, he had been impressed with the byline in the advertisement – ‘Don’t strip it, restore it’ – which had jumped out at him. Then Rob decided to come to the Working with Wood

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Show in Brisbane where we were exhibiting.

He came to our stand and had a long chat with my partner Sally Gregson who advised him to add Howard Feed-N-Wax and Howard Orange Oil to the Restor-A-Finish he had already purchased.

When he got back to the Men’s Shed the team used the products to finish off the chair to the way you see it on this page.

If you or your group need any advice related to a project you may be working on, please don’t hesitate to email me.

David Foster HOWARD PRODUCTS AUSTRALIA advice@howardproducts.com.au

For marks like these we use Restor-A-Finish • Howard Restor-A-Finish blends away minor scratches, heat marks and water rings instantly and permanently using a simple wipe-on, wipe-off process.

• Available in 8 wood tints plus neutral. Restor-A-Finish blends in with any existing wood colour.

• Feed-N-Wax is recommended after Restor-A-Finish to protect and nourish the new finish.

• If a shine is preferred Restor-A-Shine Polishing Compound used after Restor-A-Finish removes dullness and replaces it with a deep shine.

• For dusting without removing either finish always choose Howard Orange Oil. Howard Products have stockists all over Australia and interactive websites in both Australia and New Zealand. The range pictured here features a specialised product for every kind of situation involving the care of good wood.

“

It was a steep learning curve even for these experienced old hands, especially when it came to restoring the chair’s seat

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Catherine II (the Great) 1785, five roubles

Gupta Empire, Samudragupta, (c. 330-370), gold stater, Asvamedha (horse sacrifice) type

NOBLE NUMISMATICS

Sale 104 realises $2.4 million T his sale saw the successful introduction of full live online bidding allowing clients to bid from anywhere in the world without slowing the auction down. The total realised was near $2.5 million dollars, a clearance rate of 80% of the lots.

The following prices realised quoted include the buyer’s premium of 17.5% plus 10% GST, namely the hammer price plus 19.25%.

The Charlotte Medal remained unsold even though interest and bidding on it to a percentage of the estimate was achieved from private bidders and two national museums.

AUSTRALIAN DECIMAL COINS The first two sessions were mainly Australian decimal coins, which were virtually sold out.

The tokens saw some strong results. The Tasmanian shilling with an estimate of $30,000 achieved the highest price at $28,620.

Best results against estimate were for the four Hall plain letters pennies estimate $500 at $4,174 to a live online bidder. A new record for the Licensed Victuallers Association penny (A.327) was achieved when it sold for $ 1,193 against an estimate of $450. Another new record was set for a common variety Milner & Thompson penny (A.379) at $ 1,312 (est. $400). The three Morrin & Co pennies realised more than ten times estimate at $3,578.

In the Australian gold the finest Adelaide pound achieved its estimate of $35,000. The 1855 sovereign went for slightly under the estimate of $25,000, selling for $23,850 to a live bidder. Of the rare date sovereigns the second 1929 Melbourne did best against the estimate of $2,500 with $4,293.

In Australian Commonwealth proofs, the 1935 penny and halfpenny realised $10,136 (est. $7,500) and $8,109 (est. $2,500) respectively. The 1938 set offered in six individual lots with total estimates of $25,000 achieved a total of $41,022. In florins, top price went to the 1915H (est. $6,000) at $6,320.The 1921 (est. $1,500) realised $4,055.

Of the choice uncirculated Melbourne Centenary florins, lot 1485 (est. $1,500) and lot 1489 (est. $1,000) did best going for $5,247 and $5,963 respectively. The 1922/1 overdate threepence sold well at $4,532 (est. $3,500).The 1930 penny that brought $1,600 in 1976, now estimated at $15,000, sold for $17,888; and the 1930 penny that sold for $1,800 in 1980 went for $16,695.

The two fantasy dollars of China, both estimated at $1500 each, went for $2,743 and $3,578 respectively to a collector in the room.

The USA 1802 cent with error fraction sold for $2,266 (est. $1,500) and the USA medal of 1777 (est. $400) was purchased for $3,935.

In world gold the stand out piece was the Russian Catherine II five roubles of 1785 (est. $2,500) at $9,540.

BRITISH MILLED COINS The Patrick Connolly Collection of British milled coins sold well with most lots achieving estimate or more. The Cromwell half crown (est. $2,000) went for $3,578 and a James II sixpence (est. $1,250) achieved $1,789. The proof halfpenny of William and Mary (est. $1,500) went to a live online bidder at $2,504. A choice William III sixpence 1697 (est. $500) did well at $1,193.

Also achieving a strong result was a proof William IV half crown (est. $1,500) selling for $3,578, while a proof Victoria half crown 1853 (est. $4,000) attracted the top price for the collection at $8,348. The C. Weiner pattern shilling (est. $1,500) went for $4,770 and the Edward VII 1905 half crown (est. $2,000) sold above reserve at $2,981.

MILITARY MEDALS

ANCIENT COINS

An Army of India Medal clasp Ava to Capt.

Hugh Piper sold under the estimate of $5,000 for $4,477; while a Polar medal of 1952-58 went above the estimate of $7,000 for $8,586.

Also going well above the estimate of $7,500 were a trio for HMAS Sydney to H. Pearce at $11,925 and the AFC group of five to G.H. Purvis at $14,906 (est. $7,500).

A Lydian sixth stater (est $1,000) achieved $1,908, a Ptolemy II, gold octadrachm (est. $10,000) was sold for $10,136 and an aureus of Antoninius Pius (est. $5,000) went for $5,247.

Under the estimate was a Lysimachos tetradrachm (est. $5000) at $4,770 and selling well over the estimate of $900 was a tetradrachm of Alexander the Great at $1,789.

WORLD NOTES

STAMPS

This section saw spirited live online bidding competition for the Brunei specimen notes, going well above the estimates of $250 and $200 with sales of $1,670 and $1,431 respectively. A Singapore one dollar (1976) with a one million number also did very well selling for $1,061 (est. $100) to another live online bidder.

There was a flurry of bidding when lot 5038 (est. $400) sold for $1,670. Highest price went to the 5 shilling kangaroo 2nd watermark (est. $1,200 at $1,753. An old album with Persia and China including an 1897 overprint (est. $100) was a good buy at $453.

AUSTRALIAN NOTES

Our next sale takes place in Sydney in the Dixson Room of the State Library on Macquarie Street (opposite our office) on 25-27 March 2014. Consignments are required by 31 January 2014.

May we extend compliments of the season to you all.

The decimal issues were well supported with a first prefix two dollars (est. $500) going for $1,193 and a solid number five dollars trio (est. $200) selling for $596. In the uncuts at the end of the 15th session the series of final paper notes (lots 4538-4542; total est. $8,000) went for a total $17,148, the last three to the same live online bidder. In errors a paper $100 note missing series (est. $500) was bought for $1,193. A Hay Internment Camp shilling (est. $5,000) did well at $9,540 and a specimen unprinted watermarked paper for one pound bearing the portrait of the Prince of Wales, later Edward VIII (est. $300) realised $1,312.

Government of Brunei, 1967 specimen 100 ringgit

CONSIGNMENTS FOR 2014

Jim Noble NOBLE NUMISMATICS 02 9223 4578 www.noble.com.au

Group of five medals awarded to aviation pioneer, G H Purvis. Air Force Cross (GVI GRI); 1939-45 Star; Pacific Star; War Medal 1939-45; Australia Service Medal 1939-45

BRITISH GOLD, SILVER AND BRONZE COINS Highlights in this session were an Edward III pre-treaty period gold noble (est. $3,000) at $5,009; a rare Mary angel (est. $4,000) that realised $10,733 after strong absentee bids were received; an Elizabeth I angel (est. $4,500) that sold for $7,036; an Elizabeth I gold pound (est. $14,000) which achieved the highest price for a British coin at $17,291.

A milled gold half pound (est. $12,500) sold well above the estimate at $15,503. The Queen Anne guinea illustrated on the back cover (est. $8,000) went for $9,540.

In the Anglo Saxon an Edward the Confessor helmet type penny of London (est. $400) attracted a final bid of $1,670.

A rare Newark besieged shilling dated 1645 (est. $3,000) sold for $3,458.The choice but haymarked silver crown of James II (est. $2,000) went to a live online bidder at $3,339. A nearly extremely fine George I crown 1716 (est. $2,500) did well at $3,220 and a unique trial halfpenny of Queen Victoria estimated at $500 finally sold for $2,027 to a live online bidder after spirited competition.

WORLD CURRENCY

INDIAN COINS

The German New Guinea 20 mark attracted $38,160 against an estimate of $35,000. In world coins, the four Ceylon tokens and medal lot sold to a live online bidder for $1,240. Of the ex Wodak Chinese charms lot 1662 did best at $2,981 (est. $100) to an online bidder.

A highlight of the Indian coins was the Gupta horse sacrifice gold stater at $7,155 (est. $6,000). Two unpublished half pice 1930 struck in cupro-nickel, each estimated at $120, realised $1,550 and $1,670 respectively to two different live online bidders.

Queen Anne, 1713, guinea

Queen Victoria, 1853, proof half crown

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Spinning the bowl

Annealing Roger Federer with perpetual trophy

Warwick vase at Burrell Collection, Glasgow, Scotland

Cutting the silver sheet

The making of the AUSTRALIAN MEN’S OPEN TROPHY THE STORY BEGINS part from New Year’s resolutions, January is a time for the tennis. In the sweltering heat of the Australian summertime, this sport is played at an elite level and watched by live audiences of hundreds of thousands and by television audiences around the world.

Tennis Australia stages the Australian Open championship at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne. It is the first round of the four tennis Grand Slam events held each year – the others being held in France, UK and USA. The world tennis focus is on Australia. National and international elite tennis players descend on Melbourne to battle for the glory of being named champions of the Australian Open, be it for the Men’s Singles, the Women’s Singles or the Doubles Championships.

The Australian Open began as the Australasian Championships in 1905 under the auspices of the Australasian Lawn Tennis Association (later to be renamed the Lawn Tennis Association of Australia [LTAA]). It became known as the Australian Championships in 1927 and was renamed the Australian Open in 1969. The successor to the LTAA is known as Tennis Australia. Between 1905 and 1926, various different trophies were presented to the winners. In 1926 it was decided that a new elaborate trophy should become the future perpetual trophy for the winner of the Men’s Singles prestigious championship. Accordingly, a trophy was commissioned through the Australian jewellery business Hardy Brothers.

The magnificent perpetual trophy is named after Australian tennis legend Sir Norman Brookes (1877-1968), a former Australian and international tennis champion and a former president of the LTAA. Since 1927, the winner of the Men’s Singles title has not only achieved fame and glory but has also experienced the pinnacle moment of holding aloft the perpetual trophy, known as the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup. Who can forget the images over the years of Djokovic, Federer, Nadal, Newcombe, Rosewall and Laver, to name just a few, smiling radiantly with the mighty silver trophy cup held on high and with hundreds of cameras clicking to capture it for world-wide circulation?

In recent years the winners have not only walked away with record prize money, they have also been given, as part of the prize, a full size sterling silver replica of the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup. These magnificent replica trophy cups are made by a team of talented silversmiths working at W.J. Sanders in Sydney.

A

THE PERPETUAL TROPHY The impressive perpetual trophy is made of sterling silver and silver gilt, is hallmarked for London 1926 and carries the sponsor’s mark of Hardy Bros. Its design is based on the Warwick Vase, an enormous and elaborate

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ancient marble vase from the second century AD, found near Rome in the late 1770s in the grounds of Villa Adriana, the palatial villa of the Roman Emperor Hadrian. It came into the possession of George Greville, second Earl of Warwick who built a special greenhouse for it in the grounds of Warwick Castle. The vase has been a source of design inspiration since its transportation to England in the late 18th century, and today the original is housed in the Burrell Collection, Glasgow, Scotland.

Three full size replicas were made, one of which is on show at Warwick Castle.

The trophy of our interest, the Norman Brookes Championship Cup, is on public display throughout the year in the vestibule of the offices of Tennis Australia in Melbourne.

When Tennis Australia decided that it would annually provide a sterling silver equivalent of the perpetual trophy for the Men’s Singles champion, it took on the responsibility of funding the project and of finding a suitable manufacturer. W.J. Sanders, a Sydney silversmithing manufacturing business now in its second century of continuous operation, was able to accept the commission and the mighty challenge began for its craftsmen.

THE MAKING OF THE TROPHY Initially a mock-up was made in brass and bronze to iron out the many difficulties of producing such a piece. Only when the replica was perfected could the decision be made to proceed with the first silver trophy.

There were many stages. The first involved creating a bowl which needed to be spun to a diameter of 297 mm and height of 277 mm.

Precise calculations needed to be made to assess the thickness and dimension of the sheet of Australian silver that had to be specially milled for the purpose.

The spinning process required a series of wooden chucks to be made that were the shape of the required bowl. Over the chuck the spinner could work to shape the silver sheet – cut beforehand to a circular shape assessed to be exactly the right size. No wastage.

A spinning project of this magnitude required nearly 30 interludes for the spinner to anneal the silver – a process whereby heat is applied to enable the silver to take the shaping required. If not done carefully or frequently enough, the silver would crack or melt.

The spinner also spun a base and a stem for the bowl to be attached to. A further square base was fabricated to enable the whole trophy to be put upon its square-topped timber pedestal.

Polishing the newly-spun bowl, stem and base came next – another specialised skill.

Such a task involves three different finenesses of polishing compounds to bring the surface to the desired mirror-finish.

DECORATIVE ELEMENTS The decorative elements that needed to be chased on to the outer surface of the bowl were then sketched onto the bowl in their

Polishing outside bowl

Chasing lower leaves

Chased lower leaves

Cast satyrs heads and staffs

Cast vine leaves Trophy made by W.J. Sanders

exact positions. With specialised skill, the chaser set to work, hammer in one hand, chasing tool in other, following the marked lines and gently bringing a third dimension to the decoration. Approximately 80 hours were involved in her first mock-up on the base metal trophy. From the experience of the trial, she was able to complete the same task on the silver bowl in about 45 hours.

The main chased elements are ornate Acanthus leaves rising up from the base of the bowl, embracing the lower body of the bowl as it enlarges. Around the central bowl, on each side, is an elaborate chased depiction of the skin of a panther showing its head, legs and claws.

Of the cast decorations, the handles were the most difficult. The ribbed handles, depicting interwoven grape vines, include leaf decorations and elaborate curvaceous ends which are soldered onto the bowl. Spreading around the upper margin of the bowl from the branches on the handles are cast clusters of grapes, vine leaves, stems and tendrils. Other cast surface decorations include classical Bacchanalian masks in the form of heads of satyrs and associated adornments such as pine cone tipped staffs.

The finished bowl was then fitted to its stem, which in turn was attached to a square silver base. The gilding of the inner surface of the bowl was the last process. The bowl was filled with a gold solution and a current passed through the solution. Correct timing of the gilding process was vital.

The 4.64 kg trophy and its square silver base were then fitted to the square top of the timber pedestal. The full height of the trophy upon its pedestal is 430 mm. Then came the engraved plaque – with a steady hand and accurate spacing, the engraver copied the exact inscription on the original plaque onto a silver plaque for application to the timber base.

Engraved front plate

With warranted pride, the W.J. Sanders craftspeople gathered around the completed trophy.

This team effort of 800 man hours saw each member making a vital contribution with his or her specialist skill. Tennis Australia is understandably very happy with their achievement.

GAME, SET AND MATCH Tennis Australia is to be congratulated for taking the initiative of upgrading the excellence of the trophy given to the Men’s Singles winner of the Australian Open and for supporting Australian industry by commissioning an Australian company to make this trophy – a superb example of the skill and craftsmanship that can still be found within Australia.

Dennis de Muth and his team of highly skilled craftspeople at W.J. Sanders took on this challenge with a certain amount of cautious wisdom. With over 100 years of experience between them, each step along the way was approached with considered thinking and was successful in delivering the final product as per the original brief. There is no doubt that this highly skilled team will be able to provide this annually – at least for the next few years.

Go to www.wjsanders.com.au/wjsandersvideo and watch the making of the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup. Christine Erratt for W.J. SANDERS & CO 02 9557 0134 www.wjsanders.com.au

MARRICKVILLE

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Why everyone is talking about the SOUTHERN ANTIQUES CENTRE A treasure hunt with lunch!

O t’s the place to be! Sydney’s best kept secret is out and people are travelling from all over Sydney and beyond to shop and explore at the Southern Antiques Centre. Leading the way in the field of antiques, it is a hub for all with an interest in antiques and vintage wares. You can lose yourself for hours at the one location, hunting, browsing, shopping, lunching. Why not hop in the car and find out for yourself?

Kim and Michael Hughes established the Southern Antiques Centre 17 years ago and have ensured its continued success by moving with the times. The centre has built its reputation by offering a welcoming atmosphere, impeccable service and a continually diverse, beautifully displayed, high quality product range. Walking through the doors is like entering another realm; you are immediately amazed by the scope of the building and transported back in time by all that surrounds you. Everywhere you look there is a feast for the senses – different eras, strange relics, polished furniture, quirky vintage finds and quality heirloom pieces.

The pricing is extremely competitive and there are bargains galore. While the store is the ultimate treasure hunt everything is readily available for viewing and items are selected for their condition, authenticity or relevance to the demands of today’s collecting and decorating trends. This professional yet relaxed approach offers something for every taste and every budget.

Over 40 dealers under the one roof each source their varied wares with great passion and care. It is astounding how many new things there are to see over the course of just a week – there is a continual flow of new stock, new ideas and unexpected oddities. Service is always professional, yet relaxed and warm: here you feel

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free to take your time and wander at ease through the nooks and warrens.

No shopping experience is complete without food and coffee and the centre has that covered!

Betie’s Cafe, with its welcoming atmosphere and rustic charm, is an attraction in its own right.

Offering a delicious, varied menu with options for lunch or morning / afternoon tea – there is everything on offer here from an unbeatable traditional Devonshire Tea to lunch served in generous portions with only the freshest of ingredients. Ensuring everyone is well catered for, there are several gluten-free choices available and, of course, excellent coffee and delicious treats.

Many positive changes have enhanced an already big year for the Southern Antiques Centre. Now with a flourishing on-line presence, several new dealers in store, books galore and an ever evolving range it has more to offer than ever.

NEW SHOPS OFFERING CHINESE ANTIQUE CERAMICS, VINTAGE RADIOS, CAMERAS & CLOTHING Another exciting development has been in the arrival of new dealers who specialise in vintage cameras and wonderful old valve radios. We also have Bowerbird Vintage clothing where you will be bedazzled with wonderful items from days gone.

A diverse range of shabby chic, vintage, industrial and rustic styles is now offered in excellent ready-to-use condition and complemented by quirky accessories. These individual pieces define a decor and the most surprising element is that it often proves a far more affordable approach to furnishing your home. Why buy melamine when you can purchase a beautiful timber piece with authentic charm and character for the same price or less?

TREASURES FOR A COLLECTION

Of course, if you prefer traditional antiques there is, as always, a distinctive range of authentic, quality antiques and collectables that stretches right across the board and hails from across the globe. From superbly crafted furniture to exquisite porcelain, fine quality clocks and decorative arts there is many a treasure just waiting to be discovered.

You are sure to find that truly unique piece you’ve been hunting for. Southern Antiques Centre is a source of inspiration, education and of course, product. An incredible range of furniture is available at impressively affordable prices with all the decorating accents one could wish for. From single chairs, to lamps, to quirky display pieces and stunning original art, you are sure to find that special piece that will make a statement in your home.

Not surprisingly, the centre has become a steady source of supply for many interior designers, and movie / TV set designers who love to pick through the exquisite range for those select pieces to make or complete the look they are after, the current tastes and philosophy of eclectic decor that reflects an individual’s story.

You can source from the same place and achieve your own signature style.

A COLLECTOR’S PARADISE & A BOOK NOOK For the avid collector the centre is a retail paradise. The categories on offer are hard to list because there are so many covered – and covered well! Everything from toys, linen and lace, Australiana, tins, tools, gas lamps, CocaCola memorabilia, medical, nautical, ivory, jade, ephemera and so much more.

KOGARAH

Southern Antique Centre 30 SHOPS UNDER ONE ROOF

ANTIQUES • COLLECTABLES • BRIC-À-BRAC

We Buy - Sell & Hire Open 7 Days from 10am

BETIES CAFÉ 02 9553 9667

245 Princes Hwy, Kogarah (near St George Leagues)

20 minutes south of the City

www.southernantiques.com.au southernantiques@bigpond.com

P 02 9553 7843 M 0410 436 933

Michael and Kim Hughes

Browsing bibliophiles are thrilled to discover the book nook nestled towards the back of the centre. Here in the centre’s expanding bookshop, the editions have been chosen with the intention of catering to all tastes and budgets – offering everything from contemporary novels to beautiful coffee table books, manuals for the motor enthusiast, early children’s books, art books, vintage selections and antiquarian editions.

GIFTS FOR EVERY OCCASION Southern Antiques Centre has this quandary covered. Whether you are treating yourself or a loved one you are sure to find a unique gift that will delight and be treasured over time.

With several dealers offering different ranges of contemporary jewellery to cover all tastes, you are spoilt for choice with cabinets of carefully selected quality costume jewellery. For something more upmarket there is an exquisite range of high quality gold and silver jewellery with a distinct art deco influence and sparkles galore. Additionally throughout the store, a beautiful collection of

vintage pieces, rhinestone necklaces, delicate brooches and unusual rings can be found.

High quality contemporary homewares are also available and at incredible discounted prices – lamps, vases, picture frames and decorating accents that help create polished home decor at minimal cost. There are fashion accessories, modern and vintage, that are thrilling to discover. All through the store you will find beautiful little bits and pieces, perfect for gifts or treats. Of course there are always exclusive pieces at the opposite end of the price spectrum to drool over or indulge in.

The professional staff is friendly, approachable and happy to offer suggestions or leave you to your own decisions.

JOIN THE FUN & DISCOVER A NEW WAY TO SHOP Filled with charm, individuality and a sense of wonder, as you browse through the centre you will discover things you have never seen before and be inspired to look at objects differently yet, at the same time, you may feel a sense of comfort and nostalgia as you find

familiar things from childhood or from grandma’s house. It’s an intoxicating mix and you may find yourself returning time and again! Each visit will be different from the last with so much to see and so much that changes.

VISIT THE WEBSITE OR JOIN THE CONVERSATION ON FACEBOOK For a comprehensive overview of the antiques centre and all it has to offer, check out the new website at www.southernantiques.com.au.

Sale items are also listed online and post / delivery Australia-wide is offered on the majority of items.

The centre also has an interactive Facebook page and encourages you to share your passion for all things antique and vintage.

‘Like’ the page for exclusive special offers, giveaways, notifications of in-store promotions, antique related events, mystery object guessing games and much more.

Join the conversation at www.facebook.com/SouthernAntiquesCentre.

EASY TO FIND Southern Antiques Centre at 245 Princes Highway, Kogarah, is a short, 20-minute drive from the Sydney CBD with plenty of easy parking available in neighbouring streets. If coming by train, it is a relaxed 10-15 minute stroll from Carlton or Kogarah Station (Carlton is closer).

SOUTHERN ANTIQUES CENTRE 02 9553 7843 www.southernantiques.com.au www.facebook.com/SouthernAntiquesCentre Antiques and

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CARLTON

VINTAGE TIME 2U celebrates 1st birthday elebrating its first birthday is Vintage Time 2U, an antique shop which is fast establishing itself as a thriving mark in the bay in Carlton, Sydney. This is mainly due to all the good ideas from owner Chris and his crew, which between them offer a large reservoir of knowledge of all things old and vintage.

C

WHY COLLECT ANTIQUES? Collecting seems to be something approximating a human instinct. People are almost natural hoarders, and collecting items of interest has

long been a common pastime among individuals of almost every culture. The innate desire to accumulate and to enjoy the items acquired has led many to antique and vintage collecting as a hobby.

Such collecting not only is a great way to enjoy one's spare time but also provides a wonderful opportunity from which to learn.

Few pastimes have such an enriching component. With antique and vintage collecting comes the chance to learn more about the past and develop a deeper appreciation of history as well as the people who populated those older eras. In addition, such collecting creates a valuable knowledge base and brings us closer to our forebears.

Thus, many reasons ranging from historical to sentimental, as well as aesthetic, result in antiques and vintage being very desirable.

STASH OF STOCK Such a passion for everything old and vintage is evident at Vintage 2U, which needs to be seen to be believed. Over 10,000 items inhabit our store, including: motorcycles, bicycles, cars, gas pumps, 1920s pedal boards and surfboards, car registration plates, vintage kids’ tricycles and pedal cars, model trains and model cars for those interested in any transport related modes, models or associated memorabilia; for others seeking items for home decoration there is house and garden furniture, statues, paintings, porcelain signs, chandeliers, dinner sets, vases and French decorative enamel eggs.

Special interests are catered for with antique clocks, antique radios, coin slot machines, accordions, vintage cameras, collectable toys, taxidermy as well as war items and memorabilia. Small items which are perennial collectable favourites include coins, stamps, watches, jewellery, records, books, various unusual artefacts, and many more for which you would need to visit to see and experience. Plus, if Chris and his boys don’t have what you are looking for, write it in their book and they will endeavour to obtain that item for you. After all, that’s how Vintage Time 2U was born.

APPRAISALS & ASSISTANCE A great range of services are also offered.

These include buying from you directly – with pick-up and delivery available – selling to you directly, appraisals, and hiring out items for a special event. So next time you are in Carlton, come over – Chris and his crew will only be too happy to help or advise in any way.

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AUCTION & MONTHLY MARKET Now, after a year, Chris and the boys have started a monthly Sunday market and would love to see you and your family join them at the next market day.

In addition, Vintage Time 2U has launched an auction house – called Auction Time.

Everyone is invited to come and have a great day of bidding for their items of interest while snacking on Dazza’s famous hot dogs!

We hope to see you soon and invite you for a trip down memory lane or just to enjoy the wonderful pieces from times past.

ABOUT THE STORE VintageTime 2U is located at 71 Jubilee Avenue, on the corner of the Princes Highway, and opposite St George Leagues Club, in Carlton. The store is open seven days a week, from 9 am to 5 pm.

VINTAGE TIME 2U Chris 0416 063 999 Gil 0420 406 100

CARLTON

Baker & Houghton ANTIQUES Where quality, beauty and great prices come together for a unique shopping experience

DIRECT IMPORTERS WE BUY, SELL & HIRE Come to us, or we’ll come to you Visit our great showroom & warehouse with onsite parking 66 Planthurst Rd, Carlton NSW 2218 OPEN WEDNESDAY – SUNDAY 10am – 5pm closed Mondays & Tuesdays

P: 02 9547 3698 E: baker.houghton@bigpond.com Online catalogue

www.bakerhoughtonantiques.com.au

BAKER AND HOUGHTON ANTIQUES offers a tour of beauty aker and Houghton Antiques is rapidly developing a reputation as one of the best antique shops in Sydney. Our customers love the ambience, the quality and variety of our stock, the friendliness, the reliability and the honest dealings conducted by the business partners Leigh-Anne, Julie, Peter and Andy. Come through our door for a Tour of Beauty and the friendliest antique, vintage and eclectic shopping experience on offer.

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STYLE & FURNITURE CONSULTANTS As direct importers receiving containers of French furniture every six to eight weeks, hand-selected by the owners on trips to Europe, you will be stunned by our prices and the quality and range on offer. Whether you are looking to completely style and furnish your home, or simply looking for a quality, practical one-off piece, Baker and Houghton Antiques is the best place to start looking. As

experienced antique dealers, we can offer sound advice, style consultations and wonderful initial and post-purchase service to our valued clients.

GIFT RANGE & QUALITY PIECES SHOWCASED Come in and wander through out beautifully appointed showroom, with furniture and accessories to delight the eye. The showroom features gift products, including a range of candles, fragrances and diffusers to create ambience and provide sensory pleasure.

We display some of our most beautiful and

best quality ceramics, glassware, clocks, lamps and other accessories in the showroom, and our customers tell us we have the best range of quality pieces available anywhere in Sydney – and at the best prices!

DISCOVER TREASURES IN THE WAREHOUSE After enjoying the pleasures of the showroom, a 400 square metre warehouse awaits your exploration. Whilst still beautifully presented, there are nooks and crannies for those who enjoy the pure pleasure of treasure hunting to explore at leisure. Lovely furniture – French, English, Australian and European – as well as a huge range of terrific, quality smalls at the best of prices!

More importantly, there are specialist items for collectors, cabinets to rummage through, and practical pieces of quality furniture that have stood the test of time, and will continue to do so. The range is fantastic, and ever-changing.

DECORATOR & DESIGNER PIECES A new generation of younger customers is starting to fully appreciate what our antique shop has to offer. So much from grandma’s attic was pure beauty and pure quality – genuine hand-cut crystal, hand-painted, fine ceramics, wonderful art glass and eclectic collectables. We also have a range of decorator and designer pieces, including cushions, floral bouquets, linen and French-themed accessories which would grace any home.

MANY WAYS TO SHOP Visit us online and view our extensive online catalogue, shop with us on eBay or Gumtree (and don’t forget to save us as a Favourite seller!). Better still, visit our great shop for a lovely, heart-warming experience which brings together beauty, excellent presentation and quality items for any decor.

For more information contact BAKER AND HOUGHTON ANTIQUES 02 9547 3698 / 0418 190 441 baker.houghton@bigpond.com www.bakerhoughtonantiques.com.au Antiques and

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John Constable, A Boat passing a Lock, 1826, oil on canvas, 101.6 x 127 cm © Royal Academy of Arts, London; Photographer: Prudence Cuming Associates Limited

Rupert Bunny, Endormies, c. 1904, oil on canvas, 130.6 x 200.5 cm. National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne Felton Bequest 1911

GENIUS & AMBITION: ROYAL ACADEMY OF ARTS LONDON 1768-1918 at Bendigo Art Gallery 2 March – 9 June 2014 ounded in 1768, the Royal Academy was the primary art institution in the United Kingdom until the beginning of the 20th century. Its position as a national institution ensured that it was the leading venue for the study and display of art, the maker of reputation and renown, and the arbiter on national aesthetic matters.

Genius & Ambition: The Royal Academy of

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Arts London 1768–1918 will draw on the wealth of the Royal Academy’s holdings, ranging from paintings and sculpture to works on paper (drawings and prints) and historic books.

The Royal Academy was established by a group of painters, sculptors, architects and engravers under the protection of the monarch, George III. It was established to provide the professional training of artists, to hold an annual exhibition of works by contemporary artists and to dispense financial support to indigent artists. It continues to this

day to fulfil these roles. In 1870 it acquired a fourth role: the mounting of loan exhibitions.

COMPREHENSIVE COLLECTIONS The collections of the Royal Academy consist of paintings, sculpture, architectural drawings and works on paper deposited by Royal Academicians (members) both at the moment of their election to the Academy (Diploma Works) and through gift, materials relating to the professional training of the artist in the RA schools, including historic plaster casts, anatomical drawings and engravings after old masters, historic books acquired as tools in the formation of students and members, institutional archives and artists’ private papers, and silver donated by individual members since the early 1770s. The collections thus provide a comprehensive review of those artists and architects who, through their involvement with the Royal Academy, shaped the history of British art from 1768.

ACADEMY NOTABLES The exhibition brings together more than 100 works from the Royal Academy of Arts, featuring revered works by JMW Turner, Thomas Gainsborough, John Constable, John Singer Sargent, Sir Joshua Reynolds and Edwin Landseer, as well as many more.

FIRST TOURING EXHIBITION

Sir Joshua Reynolds, Theory, 1779-1780, oil on canvas, 178 x 179 cm © Royal Academy of Arts, London

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This extraordinary exhibition represents the first touring exhibition from the Royal Academy in their 245-year history and the first time these highly regarded works from the RA’s collection have been collectively showcased and toured. Conceived and initiated by Bendigo Art Gallery, the exhibition offers an unparalleled opportunity to see works that cemented the RA’s reputation as one of the foremost institutions of western art from the 18th century. Also included in the exhibition is a selection of works which highlight the Academy’s critical role as educator for generations of artists and the breadth and depth of knowledge offered to its outstanding students.

Frank Cadogan Cowper, Vanity, 1907, oil on panel, 57.1 x 38.1 x 1.8 cm © Royal Academy of Arts, London; Photographer: John Hammond

AUSTRALIAN INPUT For ambitious Australian artists, exhibiting at the Royal Academy was considered paramount for developing their reputation. To complement the works on loan from the RA, 30 significant works by Australian artists such as Nicholas Chevalier, Tom Roberts, John Longstaff, Rupert Bunny, Arthur Streeton, E Phillips Fox, Margaret Preston, Agnes Goodsir and William Dobell – who were educated, then exhibited and subsequently gained reputation through the RA – have been included.

TRAVELLING TO BENDIGO Bendigo is located in central Victoria, only 90 minutes drive from Melbourne Airport along the Calder Freeway and 90 to 120 minutes via V/Line from Southern Cross Station.

Genius & Ambition: The Royal Academy of Arts, London 1768–1918 is on display at Bendigo Art Gallery from 2 March to 9 June, entry fees apply.

For things to do, ticketing and accommodation packages, freecall the Bendigo Visitor Centre on 1800 813 153 or visit www.bendigotourism.com

HURSTVILLE

THE ROTARY CLUB OF HURSTVILLE’S 19TH ANTIQUE AND COLLECTABLES FAIR incorporating the 15th Royal Doulton Collectors Fair 14-16 February 2014 urstville Rotary extends a warm welcome to all to attend the much anticipated 2014 fair, which will be bringing together an exceptional treasure trove

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of antique jewellery, fine china, drapery and linen, books, small furniture, tools and bric-àbrac. Here will be two centuries of collectables, waiting for you!

The fair is to be held in the air-conditioned Marana Auditorium, part of the Hurstville City Entertainment Centre. Our goal is to raise

funds to support Cystic Fibrosis NSW for its important research and ongoing vital work. As a volunteer-run fair, you are assured that profits do reach the charity of our choice.

SYDNEY HARBOUR BRIDGE BUNNYKIN NO. 1 OF 1,000 The Sydney Harbour Bunnykin has been designed by Wendy Boyce-Davies and each one is hand made and hand decorated issued in a limited edition of 1,000 pieces. Each figure is accompanied by a certificate.

The Sydney Harbour Bunnykin will be auctioned on Friday evening, 14 February with all proceeds going to Cystic Fibrosis (NSW).

ROYAL DOULTON FIGURINE Royal Doulton, HRH Mary, Crown Princess of Denmark

Another major donation by Royal Doulton Australia is a figurine of HRH Mary, Crown Princess of Denmark, in her wedding gown, and recreates every exquisite detail including the scoop neckline, sleeves inspired by the elegant shape of calla lilies, the intricate wedding tiara and her beautiful bouquet of flowers. This commemorative figurine is the major raffle prize. Second prize in the raffle is a quilt made by Carole Wright.

1 th Annu al VALUATIONS Phillip Thomas of Raffan Kelaher & Thomas, Jane Reed, a jewellery appraiser, have ANTIQUES and both kindly donated their services for the identification and valuation of visitors’ & treasures brought to the fair. There is a limit of three items per person, with a donation of COLLECTABLES FAIR $3 per item requested.

CATERING DELIGHTS Onsite catering allows visitors to relax over morning or afternoon tea and enjoy a more substantial lunch. Choose from delicious sandwiches, cakes and the legendary scones with jam and whipped cream, all made by the volunteers at our Rose Coffee Shoppe.

OPENING TIMES Opening gala night is Friday 14 February at 7 pm sharp, until 9 pm. The entry fee is $15 which includes champagne, wine and refreshments. Importantly, this night is your opportunity to have first pick among the treasures for sale. In addition, the opening gala night ticket entitles you to free re-entry over the entire weekend fair.

The daily ticket fee is $8 or $5 concession.

Opening hours on Saturday 15 February are from 9 am to 5 pm, and on Sunday 16 February from 10 am to 4 pm.

GETTING THERE The Marana Auditorium is part of Hurstville’s City Civic Centre in McMahon Street. It is a short walk from Hurstville railway station and from the bus terminal (east side). There is ample Council and free street parking, or park in the large shopping centre complex nearby.

A quick drop-off of passengers at the Marana Auditorium entrance is permissible.

For further information contact Dorothy Dixon ROTARY CLUB OF HURSTVILLE 02 9153 6922 / 0428 417 043 dmd2006@bigpond.net.au

ROTARY CLUB OF HURSTVILLE Inc. Invites you to the 19th Annual Antiques & Collectables Fair Incorporating the 15th Annual Royal Doulton Collectors Fair

Gala preview

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1 Annu al ANTIQUES & COLLECTABLES FAIR

Friday 14 February 2014 - 7 pm to 9 pm Admission – $15 per person Includes entertainment and refreshments Saturday 15 February – 9 am to 5 pm Sunday 16 February – 10 am to 4 pm Entry $8 Concessions $5 Children under 15 free must be accompanied by an adult

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Valuation service by Phillip Thomas of Raffan, Kelaher & Thomas Auctioneers & Valuers & Jane Reed jewellery appraiser

Saturday – 10 am to 4 pm Sunday – 10 am to 3 pm $3 per item (limit 3 items per person)

The Sydney Harbour bunnykin No.1 of 1.000

Marana Auditorium McMahon Street, Hurstville Enquiries: Dorothy Dixon 02 9153 6922 0428 417 043 E: dmd2006@bigpond.net.au

Sponsors

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Fig. 4 Extension English mahogany dining table

Fig. 3 Sutherland table

Fig. 1 Gateleg tables Fig. 2 Pembroke table

Fig. 5 Louis XV style oak draw leaf extension table

WHETHER DECORATIVE OR UTILITARIAN

Fig. 6 Henry II oak extension table

the table is an essential furniture item he word ‘table’ comes from the Latin tabula – a board, plank, flat top piece. In French table; and in Old English – tabele.

When we talk of tables through the ages it’s a matter of ‘how long is a piece of string?’ Tables come in a wide variety of styles, materials and sizes, depending on origin and intended use.

In this article I intend to reflect on a few of the more traditional designs providing some background with accompanying illustrations.

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EARLY EVOLUTION Tables used by the Egyptians were more like stands, used to raise things from the floor. The Greeks used small tables, mainly at meal times which were pushed under the couch when not in use. In Roman households, small round tables were popular in the dining room.

The Middle Ages was a time of banquets in wealthy households – a high table reserved for the head of the house, his family and guests with retainers and others relegated to side tables.

These very early trestle tables were designed to be detachable. By the mid 16th century, to accommodate the ever-challenging need to sit numerous guests, the draw-leaf table was invented. In England, the design proved to be a source of inspiration for cabinetmakers and joiners from the Regency period through to the 19th and 20th centuries.

TYPES OF TABLES The average antique dealer might refer to gateleg tables, Pembroke tables, sofa tables, work tables, loo tables, wine tables, Sutherland tables, card tables, tea tables or coffee tables. There is also a wide variety extension dining tables with different extension mechanisms and I will refer to a few here.

Figure 1. Typical gateleg tables were found in English grand houses in the 16th century. They came in all sorts of sizes from very large banquet to small tea tables. The big feature was the ability to fold away when not in use. This type of table most frequently in oak has had many reincarnations and remains a popular design today.

Figure 2 is a Pembroke table said to be named after Henry Herbert (1693-1731) the 9th Earl of Pembroke. A small table usually with a single drawer and hinged drop leaves to each side which when raised to widen the table are supported on wing or fly brackets. First introduced in around 1750, this portable table was popular throughout the 19th century, were rectangular or oval in shape.

They are supported usually on four legs and fitted with casters. Highly versatile they were employed for dining, writing, games, tea or other occasional uses. Although on the expensive side, they seem always to be fashionable.

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Figure 3. The Sutherland table is named apparently after Harriet (1806-1868) Duchess of Sutherland. A flap table, the design was very popular during Victorian and Edwardian times. It has a narrow spine and large wings that come out on hinges supported by gatelegs on casters.

The Victorian examples are frequently elegant and these slim tables made during the Edwardian period are usually simpler and more utilitarian. They fold up into a small space and although stand lower than a dining table, make a useful impromptu breakfast, coffee/tea or occasional table.

They differ from the earlier (usually Regency) sofa table which is higher and sits behind the sofa. It is mainly rectangular in shape, but circular examples were also made. Like the Pembroke, Sutherland tables have winged leaves, the difference being the design with the latter having a very narrow central section and relatively large flaps on either side.

Perhaps it is appropriate here to mention that while coffee tables seem to be a product of 1920s-30s, they actually started to be employed in the late 19th century. Japanese decoration had a profound influence on western design in the 1880s-90s and their low tables worked well with sofas and lounges. With the introduction of television in the 20th century, a low table of this sort was essential to see over.

Figure 4 is a large extension English mahogany dining table to seat 12-14. This piece is early Victorian, showing some of the characteristics of the William IV period in the shape of the leg, circa 1850. This style of table was popular thereafter in different sizes and referred to as a 2, 3 or 4, etc leaf table.

As the Industrial Revolution produced more wealth and bigger houses a large table for family and guests in a special dining room was considered not only civilised but gentrified and socially very desirable. Across the channel in France the aspirations were the same, but the styles a little different.

Figure 5 is an oak Louis XV style draw leaf extension table which actually dates back to the mid 18th century and has been constantly popular ever since because of its versatility.

Figure 6 is a Henry II oak extension table and is the same size and serves the same function as the English mahogany dining table (fig. 4) but is quite a different in appearance.

Figure 7 shows a work table which is a small ladies sewing table and were introduced in the second half of the 18th century. They are intricate pieces of skilful cabinetwork and were fitted with small compartments to house all manner of

needles, buttons, thimbles, etc. These charming pieces in good condition command good prices and have found other purposes. Initially made first for function as well as decoration, these days decoration is the main concern as needlework no longer seems to be the occupation of refined young ladies.

Figure 8 is of a loo table, an early 19th century card table that has become a generic term for any single pedestal tilt top round or oval table. It was designed to seat players of the game, Lanterloo (Loo). Round Victorian tables of this ilk consisted of a turned centre column to seat 4,6 or 8 and have been very popular. There are many surviving examples. Inlaid walnut centre tables, sometimes with birdcage pedestals, carry the same name.

Figure 9 is of a tea and card table. By the mid 18th century it became very fashionable to entertain at home and so there was a demand for suitable tea tables to accommodate the fashion for serving tea. Also required for recreational purposes was the card table; gaming and card playing was extremely popular in the 18th century. Specialised tables for these activities were designed but they were of the same family and it was fashionable to have two separate tables made to the same design , the only difference being that the tea table had a polished timber top and the card table had an insert of baize. Again these tables were designed to fold out with a hinged top so that they could recover space when not in use. Indeed, folded over they make a fine hall table, lamp table or other occasional table.

There are of course many other types of tables conceived for either general or specific purposes. Drum tables, bedside tables, wine tables, lamp tables, display tables, dressing tables, chess tables, console tables, draw leaf tables, breakfast tables, billiard tables, hall tables,

stretcher tables as well as many others that I would put under the heading of writing tables or desks.

Garry Auton GLEBE ANTIQUE CENTRE 02 9550 3199 www.glebeantiques.com.au

Fig. 9 Left: Tea table Right: Card table

Fig. 7 Work table

Fig. 8 Loo table

CAMPERDOWN

GLEBE ANTIQUE CENTRE

Regency style mahogany dining table c. 1970; to seat 12 $3950

Regency mahogany tilt top breakfast table; to seat 6 $2250

William IV two leaf extension table French polished; seats 8-10 $6500

Late Victorian oak extension table with four leaves; to seat 12 $5650

Early Victorian mahogany gateleg table set on turned legs with drawer; seats 6-8 $2450

Oak drop side table circa 1920; will seat 6 $1350

French 19th century Charles X style mahogany draw-leaf table with ormolu motifs $4500

Regency style 19th century cedar tilt top dining table set on centre pedestal with carved claw feet $1950

88-90 Parramatta Road, Camperdown NSW 2050 www.glebeantiques.com.au • www.desksofdistinction.com.au • Email : sales@glebeantiques.com.au Open 7 days - 10 am to 6 pm. Phone +61 2 9550 3199 Antiques and

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WEDGWOOD synonymous with quality M ost of us of us think of Wedgwood as the moulded blue and white items commonly found in trinket boxes, vases, plates and cameos; but there is so much more to this pottery that’s been around for over 250 years – and some interesting connections with Australasia.

JOSIAH WEDGWOOD: ONE OF THE WORLD’S GREATEST POTTERS Josiah Wedgwood (1730-1795), the founder, was fifth generation of a family of potters who hark back to the 1600s. He was the youngest of 12 children and had an unfortunate childhood, contracting small pox at a young age and having to leave school following his father’s death to help the family in the pottery factories. Due to this illness he later had his right leg amputated below the knee.

It is strange how illnesses can bring out either the best or worst in people, many great creative minds have flourished due to extensive days in the sickbed. Josiah took his mind on creative journeys experimenting with clays and glazes.

EARLY WARES After serving an apprenticeship under his brother at Churchyard Pottery, which had been owned by their late father, Josiah went on to work for Thomas Alders and then Thomas Whieldon in 1754. In 1759 Josiah Wedgwood started his own pottery in Stoke-on-Trent, one of the five pottery towns located in Staffordshire. There were many potteries located in this region, the clay was good and near the surface of the ground and it was of a type used primarily for making utilitarian items: jugs, mugs and decorative wares.

MARKETABLE WARES Josiah introduced a glaze that was clear and allowed wares to be decorated cheaply at the factory. His shapes were influenced by fashion; tea became more popular at this time.

His most successful range was that of Creamware or Queen’s ware named after the tea service ordered by Queen Charlotte in 1765. It was low in cost to produce, light in weight and well made. Other fine porcelain companies such as Worcester also tried to make a similar range of teapots, cups and saucers.

JASPER WARE

(Photos courtesy of Alan Landis Antiques)

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Wedgwood experimented tirelessly to perfect his jasper body pottery, which was introduced in 1774 and which he described as ‘… of exquisite beauty and delicacy.’ Although there were a variety of objects made of jasper including vases, plaques and tableware, it was used to create his famous cameos and medallions. He produced likenesses of his

contemporaries – over one hundred different profiles have been recorded from poets, playwrights, politicians and explorers. The famous Portland vase is made of jasper body.

AUSTRALIAN CONNECTION Josiah was keen on experimenting – he tried clays from many corners of the world through his friendship with Sir Joseph Banks, both members of the Lunar Society. He heard of the early discoveries of Captain Cook and eventually of Captain Phillip and the First Fleet. He asked that some clay be sent back from the infant colony to see if it was suitable for making wares. Several dozen medallions were made of this clay, each was marked on the reverse: ‘Made by Josiah Wedgwood of Clay from Sydney Cove.’

The original site where the clay was taken is reputed to be the location of the first Government House, today the Museum of Sydney, on the corner of Phillip and Bridge Streets.

MAKER OF USEFUL AND DECORATIVE WARES Wedgwood made other types of wares including black basalt, cane ware and pearl ware. Many of these wares were also made by his competitors, however his were more successful as he was more up-to-date with the fashions in shapes and decoration.

MAKER’S MARKS: WEDGWOOD WARES Wedgwood was the first potter to mark his wares consistently from 1771. Other potters felt this was an extra cost of production, but Josiah Wedgwood felt that this form of advertising was worth the cost as the wealthy would recognise his name and associate it with quality. His very early mark, circa 1780-1798, has the name ‘Wedgwood’ in upper and lower case letters. To date some pieces made in the 1840s, the word Etruria in upper case is stamped with that of Wedgwood.

ANOTHER ROYAL DINNER SERVICE Catherine the Great of Russia ordered a dinner and tea service for 50 people, hand painted with views of English country gardens and houses. Josiah did not make much profit from this order, but it gave him a lot of publicity. A significant amount of the service survives – around 80% – and can be found at the Hermitage Museum in Russia.

KEEPING UP WITH THE TIMES Wedgewood has produced a wide range of styles over the years, other than just the ‘blue and white stuff’ most commonly associated with the brand. Through the years Wedgwood has changed with times and fashions but has always continued making the blue and jasper pieces for which it is famous.

In 1932 an interesting collaboration was formed. New Zealand born architect Keith Murray (1892-1981) was commissioned by Wedgwood to create some contemporary clean line designs. The shapes and patterns applied to vases, coffee wares and other items proved to be very popular. These pure, simple forms were very plain and were underlined by the use of matte glazes in a simple colour palette of white, green, turquoise, straw and grey and are very collectable today. Look for the marking: ‘Keith Murray, WEDGWOOD MADE IN ENGLAND’.

In the late 1930s Murray moved away from pottery design to working as an architect. In partnership with Charles White he was commissioned to design a new factory at Barlaston, Staffordshire for Wedgwood. In 1940, the new factory opened. Today, Keith Murray is regarded as one of the most innovative designers of the 20th century.

WEDGWOOD: A CONTINUING TRADITION Wedgwood became a public company in 1895 and was always English based until it was sold five years ago to an American company.

However, two members of the Wedgwood family are always on the board and continue the association.

The Sydney Antique Centre holds a large selection of Wedgwood from the traditional to the contemporary.

For more information SYDNEY ANTIQUE CENTRE 02 9361 3244 info@sydantcent.com.au www.sydantcent.com.au

WOOLLAHRA / CITY / SURRY HILLS / QUEENSLAND

FELLIA MELAS

JASON BENJAMIN

GALLERY

“WHERE DO WE GO NOW” 180 x 245 cm

FELLIA MELAS GALLERY Woollahra Times Art Gallery

2 Moncur St WOOLLAHRA 02 9363 5616 OPEN 7 DAYS Email: art@fmelasgallery.com.au www.fmelasgallery.com.au

SeanCullip Antiques FINE GEORGIAN AND VICTORIAN SILVER

Pair of George II Hallmark Sterling Silver Four-footed Waiters Thomas England, London 1732 $5,950 the pair

Victoria & Albert Antiques Shop 17, The Strand Arcade, 412 - 414 George St, Sydney NSW 2000 Ph: 02 9221 7198 Fax: 02 9221 7214 www.antiquesinsydney.com.au

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Sydney Antique Centre 531 South Dowling Street Surry Hills NSW 2010 Phone: 02 9361 3244 Mobile: 0427 315 133

PADDINGTON

Chinese and Japanese Quality antique and reproduction furniture and artefacts ESTABLISHED 1989

336 South Dowling Street, Paddington

www.specialpieces.net.au | 02 9360 7104 Monday to Saturday 10 am to 5 pm - Sunday by appointment

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CITY

Kalmar Antiques where you can hold a piece of history in your hand Specialising in antiques, fine jewellery, watches and objets de vertu

Shop 45, Level 1 Queen Victoria Building, Sydney 2000

Phone 02 9264 3663 Email kalmar@ozemail.com.au You can also visit our website at www.kalmarantiques.com.au

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ALEXANDRIA

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CLOSING DOWN SALE!!

setting a new

standard Pair of Murano glass figures of Spanish dancers c. 1930, h: 30.48 cm. $950.00

Hanging ceiling light, gilded fittings, frosted glass with raised ruby decoration of orchids and leaves $895.00

Late 19th century white marble sculpture of a partially draped maiden with amorini at her feet c. 1880, set on a carved marble pedestal; sculpture h: 81.28 cm, pedestal h: 124.46 cm.

P.O.A.

Pair of antique French baluster shaped vases with gilt metal swag mounts to the rim, hand painted scene., h: 51.03 cm. $1,695.00

19th century French terracotta figurine of a reclining putto washing a clam, 33.02 x 33.02 cm, signed ‘Vax’. $1,725.00

Vintage French wrought iron baker’s stand with brass fittings, 210.82 x 152.40 x 45.72 cm. $4,495.00

Georgian style large deep buttoned wingback chair in olive green leather on mahogany stretcher base. $4, 500.00

Porcelain, Glass, Lighting, Metalworks, Prints, Victorian, Edwardian & French Furniture, Ephemera, Watches, Statuary

Alabaster lamp set on a carved marble pedestal c. 1890, beautifully carved detail of a slave trader with a beautiful young slave, possibly royalty due to the fleur-de-lis on her cape; lamp h: 83.82 cm, pedestal h: 109.22 cm. P.O.A.

Gordon B Rees, Untitled nude study, oil on board in a gilt frame, 66.04 x 71.12 cm. $1,295.00 Exceptional French men’s crocodile vanity travel case with affixed .950 silver plaque monogrammed M.M. below a Duke’s crown. Hallmark of a Minerva head and assay mark from Boulogne. The case includes 22 pieces including blotting paper, inkwell, manicure set, locks with the original key.

226.06 x 58.42 x 36.830 cm. $8,500.00

LET’S TALK A NO REA DEAL! SONAB LE OFFER REFUS ED

French art deco occasional table with ornate wrought iron work and marble top, h: 48.26 cm, diam: 83.82 cm. $1,450.00

Art deco brass lady lamp with round mottled glass shade, h: 46.99 cm. $495.00

Victorian mahogany circular wine table with gadrooned edge set on carved column tripod legs, h: 50.04 cm, diam: 50.04 cm $995.00

French 19th century Louis XV style carved coffee table fitted with single drawer, 57.15 x 99.06 x 62.23 cm. $1,995.00

Silver, Ceramics, Advertising, Clocks, Kitchenalia, Bakelite, Perfume Bottles, Oriental, Costume Jewellery, Cruet Sets

LIMITED FLOOR SPACE / CABINETS AVAILABLE. CONTACT DENISE 02 9550 5554 212–220 Parramatta Rd, Camperdown NSW 2050 Phone 61 2 9550 5554 Fax 61 2 9550 4990 www.camperdownmewsantiques.com Open 7 days 10 am–6 pm Off-street parking

WE BUY, SELL, HIRE AND TRADE

CAMPERDOWN / QUEENSLAND

Gold diamond and jade stick pin $3750

Brasac enterprises Girard-Perregaux gyromatic, original band, c. 1960 $1295

Longines Admiral 10k gold filled, c. 1965 $2295 Omega Seamaster 14 ct gold c. 1960s $1895

International Watch Company 18 ct gold, c. 1970, $3950

Of the three nine piece sterling silver tea sets made by Garrard & Co London in honour of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, this is the only known surviving example.

Hallmarked Garrard & Co London 1953/54, weight approximately 11 kilos A selection of English hallmarked sterling silver frames and antique silver available.

CAMPERDOWN MEWS

GOLD COAST ANTIQUE CENTRE

212-220 PARRAMATTA ROAD CAMPERDOWN NSW P: 61 2 9550 5554 M: 0412 229 117

2076 GOLD COAST HIGHWAY, MIAMI QUEENSLAND P: 61 7 5572 0522 M: 0412 229 117

BOTH OPEN 7 DAYS

Antique Print & Map Company Antique Maps and Antique Prints from c.1600: Antique Maps of all countries Antique Prints on all subjects

Antique Print Club 95 Mt Nimmel Rd Neranwood Q 4213 Clubhouse open to all by appointment

Brisbane Antique Emporium 794 Sandgate Rd Clayfield (Entry Junction Rd) OPEN DAILY 10am – 5pm

Brisbane Antique Centre sales@antiqueprintclub.com Ph 07 5525 1363 – 0412 442 283

Exit 30, Pacific Hwy Beenleigh-Redland Bay Rd Antique Prints and Maps &

Heritage Editions reproductions

www.antiqueprintclub.com Purchase securely online 24/7 50

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Girard Perregaux 9 ct white gold 17 jewel stainless steel case back $2750

CAMPERDOWN

French spelter and slate eight day clock, c. 1850, in excellent condition. $1485

Exterior Waterford light fitting. $295

Button back leather upholstered executive desk chair. $1250 Tiffany style leadlight pendant. $485

Pair of solid brass occasional lamps with milk glass coolie shades. $495 each

Tiffany-style standard lamp on bronzed Art Nouveau stand, $495 German timber cased striking clock. Fully serviced includes three month warranty. $600

French walnut bonheur du jour five drawer desk, c. 1900, set on turned legs featuring a pull out tooled leather writing table. $2250 Gilt mirror or overmantle mirror. $1650

Set of ten Victorian-style balloon back mahogany dining chairs including two carvers, in excellent condition. $4500 set

John Guy, The Rogue From Tipperary. NT, oil on canvas, 44 x 59 cm. $950

Rosewood concertina style card table, c. 1850, in good condition. $2250

Glebe Antique Centre Mahogany Charles X style bureau plat. featuring three drawers and tooled leather top supported on cross frame with stretcher. $5,500

Phone: +61 2 9550 3199 Fax: +61 2 9550 3833

French Louis XVI style marble topped walnut nightstand. $950 Victorian oak carver chair with green leather (recent) upholstered seat. $750

88-90 Parramatta Road, Camperdown NSW 2050 Two levels of quality furniture, lighting, jewellery, glass, porcelain and general collectables

Open 7 days 10am to 6pm Email: sales@glebeantiques.com.au Edwardian walnut extension table for eight, single leaf with winding mechanism and repolished top, set on turned legs fitted with original cup and porcelain casters. $3950

French Louis XV style oak draw leaf table to seat twelve, with parquetry top. $3250

Check out our up-to-date websites

www.glebeantiques.com.au www.desksofdistinction.com.au The largest collection of genuine antique furniture in Sydney

Fine quality bird’s-eye maple and walnut five drawer chest, probably Swedish, c. 1920. $1850

French Louis Philippe Comtoise clock, c. 1860, walnut case. $2650 English double pedestal mahogany desk made in London, c. 1850, fitted with Bramah locks and regency style brass handles, featuring ten graduating drawers, two cupboards, tooled leather writing surface; beautifully made and restored. $9850

Four door break front mahogany sideboard base with three drawers to the frieze and half drawers and cellarette to end cupboards. $2550

Large walnut Davenport, American neorenaissance style, late 19th century, $365

French walnut threedoor breakfront armoire fitted with central oval mirror. $2950

Impressive French Louis XV style queen size solid oak bed, c.1900, includes new Biddell spring mattress. $3250

Arts and Crafts oak dumb waiter in fine restored condition. $1650

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VICTORIA

Valentine’s Antique Gallery IMPORTERS OF FINE QUALITY ANTIQUES ESTABLISHED 1947 French ebonised & amboyna Sewing Table c. 1870, with satinwood fitted interior, exquisite marquetry musical inlays to top, ormolu mounts

Superb French walnut Louis XV style marquetry Ladies Writing Desk c. 1870, with central ebonised cameo, ormolu mounts and fitted interior, H:97 x W:87 x D:54 cm

Fine quality Sheraton style satinwood cylinder top Writing Desk c. 1890, with superb marquetry inlays and fitted interior Late Victorian mahogany serpentine shaped two tier Revolving Bookcase c. 1890, with satinwood crossbanding

Outstanding rare pair of Victorian burr walnut three door Display Cabinets c. 1870, with bow ends, open lower central section, highlighted with scrolls and floral carvings, H:145 x W:149 x D: 40 cm; H:145 x W:135 x D: 40 cm

Early Victorian three drawer mahogany Writing Desk c. 1860, with green tooled leather insert, baluster turned legs resting on brass castors, H: 75 x W:137 x D:91 cm

NOW ONLINE

For weekly updates of new stock “LIKE” us on facebook

Please refer to our website: www.valentinesantiques.com.au for a full listing of new stock

Valentine’s Antique Gallery 369 Hargreaves Street, Bendigo Victoria 3550 Phone: 03 5443 7279 Mobile: 0418 511 626 Fax: 03 5442 9718 Email: peter@valentinesantiques.com.au www.valentinesantiques.com.au 52

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Au s t ra l i an An t i q u e a n d Art Deal e rs A s s oc iat i on

VICTORIA

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MATCHAM

GOWRIE GALLERIES AUSTRALIA’S FINEST COLLECTION OF RARE AND IMPORTANT ANTIQUE MAPS

Bunting's famous 1583 map showing what appears to be a pre-Dutch Australia

PRINTED WORLD V Beyond Settlement A catalogue of rare world, Australian, Southeast Asian and Pacific maps from 1493 to 1847 featuring a fine selection of 17th-century Dutch sea charts of Australia

For orders 02 4365 6399

OUR STOCK INCLUDES 15th – 18th century world maps Australian maps from the 17th century onwards Maps of Southeast Asia and the Pacific

❖ ❖ ❖

Expert advice on all aspects of map collecting Full research, evaluation, restoration and framing service Collections and individual items always considered for purchase Extensive range of decorative antique engravings

PO BOX 276 TERRIGAL NSW 2260 Matcham studio: Phone: 02 4365 6399 Mobile: 0417 040 902 Fax: 02 4365 6096 EMAIL: maps@sydney.net • WEBSITE: www.gowrie-galleries.com.au

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Alexandre Descubes, Mauritius, plan of the districts of Moka and Port-Louis, 1879, cartographic material, compiled from the government triangulation estate plans & from many other sources. Courtesy National Library of Australia

Alexandre Descubes, Acacia glaucescens, pencil and watercolour, 43 x 26 cm

Detail: Signature of Alexandre Descubes inscribed on Mauritius, plan of the districts of Moka and Port-Louis, 1879. Courtesy National Library of Australia

Alexandre Descubes, Eucalyptus saligna, pencil and watercolour, with signature detail, 43 x 26 cm

The mysterious Monsieur Descubes A Botanical Thriller owrie Galleries have in stock a set of ten large original botanical studies, in pencil and watercolour, of acacias – Australian wattle – and eucalypts. They are meticulous in their detail, showing each part of the different plants, drawn with loving expertise, painted in accurate and soft tones, and with extensive information hand written in pencil on each page.

These notes include not only the botanical information, but also publications referred to, and the various vernacular names of the plants, when known, whether English, Australian and in some cases, Australian Aboriginal. The elegant signature in ink on each page reads À. Descubes.

Two maps of Mauritius by Descubes are held in the map collection of the National Library of Australia. The library of the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden in Virginia, USA, has 2,500 botanical watercolours of plants of the Indian sub-continent in its special collections.

There is a mystery attached to the life of the author of these works, botanist and cartographer, Alexandre Descubes, who lived and worked in Mauritius and India in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

No one knows for sure the exact place or year of his birth, nor is there any record whatsoever of how, where and when he died.

After his prodigious compiling over twenty years of what is surely one of the world’s most extensive botanical studies by one man, our hero vanished.

There is a discrepancy in the official records of his birth date: the records in Mauritius1 tell us that Descubes was born there in July 1850.

However, they also point out that those of the Indian Surveyor General’s Office record his birth date as 17 July 1854. To help the plot thicken, if not be solved, when the watercolours were offered to Gowrie Galleries, it was through a French-Canadian contact who believed the artist to be from Canada, although without concrete evidence.

The Librarian at the Lora M. Robins Library at the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden,

G

Maggie Southwick, has been researching the life of Descubes for eight years and has provided much of the information that we now have. Yet even she finds missing pieces after eight years on this puzzle and that certain crucial aspects of the life and death of the artist remain enigmas. In her address2 on Descubes her conclusion consisted of questions yet to be answered.

How did Descubes reach Mauritius? Was he a descendant of French colonists? After suggesting that there may have been up to 5,000 botanical drawings, she asks where are the rest? Oddly, there is no discussion regarding the donor of the Descubes collection, Lora M. Robins, after whom the Library at the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden was named.

Even Descubes’ meagre entry in Tooley’s Dictionary of Mapmakers casts no further light.

The one line entry simply reads ‘Descubes, A. Map of the Island of Mauritius, 1880.’

We know that from 1872 to 1877 Descubes worked as a surveyor in Mauritius and was appointed draughtsman in the Public Works Department in 1874. He began his cartographic career in 1877, publishing the maps of Moka and Port-Louis (1879) and of Mauritius (1880), the same as those maps held in the collection of the National Library of Australia.3 In 1885 he resigned from the post with Public Works. From 1887 he worked in the Forestry department of the Indian SurveyorGeneral’s Department, becoming Superintendent in 1904 and in 1905 publishing a map of government controlled forests of India. There are two plans dated in pencil 1912 and 1913, and the latest work is dated 1919.

Those botanical watercolours in the Lewis Ginter collection, which are dated, have a range from 1875 to 1919, and nine are stamped on the verso ‘Imperial Institute Library.’ The Lewis Ginter Library notes4 give no indication as to who commissioned Descubes to fulfil this enormous undertaking.

The following is the description of their items:

‘Along with the individual painting, each sheet also has extensive botanical information including family, genus, species name; full botanical description of the plant; a list of countries and/or habitats in which the plant is found; a list of plant names in the vernaculars of each of these areas or countries; and a list of literature references to the plant. The plants depicted are mostly natives of, or cultivated on, the Indian subcontinent. Each of these sheets has a unique identifying number.’

The watercolours held at Gowrie Galleries match this description exactly – with an extraordinary exception: they are of Australian flora.

Who commissioned these studies? Why are the Australian plants included in the brief? Is it possible that it is true that, according to the French-Canadian connection, Descubes was commissioned by the Indian Government? Yet, after the vast task was completed, Descubes was not paid, so did he proceed to sue? Was he destitute and unable to pay the legal fees, so he handed the collection over to his lawyers?

The final sentence in the biographical notes from the Dictionary of Mauritian Biography is chilling in its pathos, telling us no more than mere guesswork about the ending of the story of this man, Alexandre Descubes. ‘The date and place of Descubes’ death remain unknown but it may be surmised that he disappeared during the influenza epidemic that struck India in 1919-1920.’

The terrible irony of our lack of exact knowledge about him surely would not be lost upon this artist whose fastidious and loving attention to detail, to both botanical and cartographic fact, was remarkable. Perhaps he will remain forever, the marvellous, mysterious Monsieur Descubes.

GOWRIE GALLERIES PTY LTD 02 4365 6399 maps@sydney.net www.gowrie-galleries.com.au

Notes 1. Dictionary of Mauritian Biography from The Lewis Ginter Special Collection 2. ‘Demystifying A. Descubes: Researching a little known botanical artist of the 19th century, or, CBHL Meets CSI and the Power of Serendipity.’ Presented by Maggie Southwick, Librarian, Lora M. Robins Library Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, Richmond Virginia USA to the Council on Botanical and Horticultural Libraries, Annual Meeting, June 2007.

3. National Library of Australia, Alexandre Descubes, Map of the island of Mauritius [cartographic material] compiled from the Government triangulation estate plans, title deeds, & from many other sources by A. Descubes, Public Works Department, Mauritius, 1880 (NLA Ref RM540).

National Library of Australia, Alexandre Descubes, Mauritius, plan of the districts of Moka and Port-Louis [cartographic material]. Compiled from the government triangulation estate plans, etc, etc. by A. Descubes, draughtman, Surveyor General Dept., N. Connal, Surveyor General, T. Dardenne lith., William Crook, lith., 1879 (NLA Ref RM1902).

4. The Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden Library Special Collection notes on the Descubes collection www.lewisginter.org/library/Descubes.

Alexandre Descubes, Acacia harpophylla, pencil and watercolour, 43 x 26 cm Antiques and

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ANNANDALE

END OF AN ERA Final Christmas Sale at Eliza Jane Antiques W e have been very busy in the lead up to Christmas, unearthing many of the last caches of hidden treasures.

The amount of stock that is now coming to light and into the store from restorers and various storage areas that one accumulates after staying in the ‘new’ place for nearly a decade is just a little daunting. So now is the time to SELL everything.

• Quality furniture from France, the UK and the Continent. With the occasional unusual Australian piece to compliment.

• An eclectic range of decorative items, from tiny jewel like items to large ‘focal point’ examples.

• A varied range of jewellery, in both price and styles.

• Original artworks of varied genres, many newly arrived.

ALL STOCK TO BE CLEARED • Exquisite lighting, from early Victorian to the post war period.

• Unique and original table and floor lamps to suit all tastes.

On all items there is a genuine ‘up to 50%’ reduction, with many selling at their cost price.

Eliza Jane Antiques

ON I T A C LO E R / NG I ON S W O L O C N SALE

* SPECIALISTS IN GENUINE ANTIQUE LIGHTING * Large showroom with an extensive collection complemented by quality furniture, timepieces and decorative & collectable items.

Phone 02 9518 6168 34C TAYLOR ST ANNANDALE NSW 2038 BUYING & SELLING Full restoration service for lighting and metal polishing

www.elizajaneantiques.com.au 56

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At the time of going to print, the premises are very close to being actually sold. With confirmation expected in the very early New Year. So the impending move is close to being a reality, and the time has arrived for us to say farewell and pursue a new venture and venue.

We look forward to seeing you at our FINAL CHRISTMAS SALE! With extended trading hours up till Christmas and over to the New Year.

Our best wishes to all for Christmas and the New Year to come.

STILL THE ONE FOR UNIQUE ANTIQUE LIGHTING

Jane Rush ELIZA JANE ANTIQUES 02 9518 6168/ 0416 167 151 jane.rush@elizajaneantiques.com.au www.elizajaneantiques.com.au

We are looking forward to the move. To exciting new premises, with fresh and innovative ideas and stock, to match 21st century living. Lighting of course will still be the core of the business.

‘Sydney’s largest and most comprehensive range of genuine antique lighting’ title will still be held on our reopening. As always, our emphasis will be on the unique and the finest quality. We will always retain our dedicated professional service, as we have over the last 20 years.

So, although we are not sure as to when and how the move will be, we will endeavour to keep you up to date with the latest developments. I would be very pleased to add your email details to our (private) database, ensuring that you will be kept informed of the move. Please send your email address to jane.rush@elizajaneantiques.com.au.

LEICHHARDT

AUCTIONEERS & VALUERS SINCE 1884

ESTABLISHED 140 YEARS BID ON LIVE AUCTIONS EVERY THURSDAY & FRIDAY FULLY INTERACTIVE CATALOGUES ONLINE TRADITION & TECHNOLOGY

LAWSONS.COM.AU 8-16 MOORE ST LEICHHARDT, NSW 2040 EMAIL INFO@LAWSONS.COM.AU TELEPHONE 02 9566 2377 Antiques and

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ROZELLE

ANTIQUE FLOORS NEW SHOWROOM

reveals a wooden flooring evolution I n August, Antique Floors’ showroom at Beattie Street, Balmain, died a quiet and peaceful death. Given a fresh canvas of 250m2 at 88 Lilyfield Road, Rozelle, craftsman John Fredriksson has taken to it with hammer and tongs giving birth to a new chapter in the life of Antique Floors. The phoenix has risen from the ashes, as a collaboration between the sawmillers at Ironwood and the artisans at Antique Floors.

LARGE RANGE OF HUES AND TONES In days gone by, architects and interior designers were advised to first select a timber

Antique Floors invite you to visit our large showroom designed to show the floors in many different settings, with an extensive range of parquetry and wide board European oak. We also offer a range of architectural elements including antiques, custom made tables, libraries and wine cellars.

Showroom: 88 Lilyfield Road Rozelle NSW 2039 Ph: 02 9810 8838 E: info@antiquefloors.com.au www@antiquefloors.com.au

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species then match the colour of other finishes around the flooring. Today, the finite range of Australian species in creams, browns and reds is no longer the limiting factor in the design of your home, restaurant, cafe or office space.

True artisans can now create subtle variations in hue by treating wood with a range of finishes such as fuming, double smoking, roasting or even application of a pre-colour prior to sealing with European oils that allow the wood to breathe and age gracefully.

At Antique Floors’ new showroom, you can conveniently walk through and select a colour range from light to mid to dark browns, with perhaps a hint of chiraz or walnut. Or you may decide on European oak and have the soft grain lightly wire brushed to give depth to the finish, or have it heavily brushed to create a weathered antique look.

Even more amazingly, there is an opportunity to select a black undertone or perhaps you would prefer white or antique white undertones.

These will subtly highlight the grain of the timber and then the process can be finished with European natural oil or pigmented oil – much like a master chef drizzles golden olive oil over your pizza just as it comes out of the oven to bring out the fullness of flavour.

To see these variations, the possibilities, the hues and fine distinction between red-brown and heritage-brown for example, you should pop in to see John and his team of dedicated artisans.

Bring over the macaroons from Adriano Zumbo (nearby on Darling Street in Balmain) and the Antique team will provide a cup of tea to set you off on an eye-opening journey to experience wood flooring like you’ve never seen before.

INSPIRED RECYCLING The new wine cellar floor is a startling revelation in the way recycled train line sleepers are used. Most flooring contractors barely know of the existence of wide boards the size available at Antique Floors. In the showroom you can see, touch, smell and feel the depth and warmth in each floor. On one wall there are oak floorboards finished in no less than six shades of grey showcasing the ability to create a patina and colour scheme that will please the eye as well as harmonise with the fittings and furniture your architect or interior designer has chosen.

John’s masterpieces emanate in part or in full from the workshop ‘out back’ – with pride and joy, he cuts, sands and oils his timber, each piece being encouraged to bring forth its own distinctive identity and character. Here he shows me the knots, shakes and wanes in the wood and describes how, in recent years, these imperfections were shunned – while now, for others, they are treasured marks of the history of that tree – it grew, it had branches and the growth rings tell the story of time and the sawmiller’s choice of cut. The natural beauty these boards reveal will always be recognised.

I enjoy the feeling deep down which tells me I just met a true craftsman who loves to design and create beautiful works in wood and leave a little piece of history in my heart and my home.

Steve Krsticevic for ANTIQUE FLOORS 02 9810 8838 info@antiquefloors.com.au www.antiquefloors.com.au

PYMBLE

E D I W E R O T S F F O % 0 5 20

OPEN 5 DAYS

993 Pacific Highway Pymble (opposite Pymble Hotel) 02 9488 9298 www.chosungallery.com.au Check website or call for trading hours

CHOSUN GALLERY FOR unique Asian furniture and artefacts C hosun Gallery has been servicing Sydney’s north shore for almost 30 years and it has just entered a new era with Kym Yea Seon continuing the tradition of sourcing quality art, antiques, reproductions and collectables from Asia. Chosun Gallery has been synonymous with quality pieces at reasonable prices and continues to deliver this to Sydney providing a personal doorway to unique Asian furniture and artefacts.

PIECES CHOSEN FOR BEAUTY AND STYLE Specialising in pieces from Korea, China and Japan, Kym selects each piece for its beauty and style which complements nicely with any décor and becomes a signature piece within your home.

The unique styling and fine workmanship of furniture from Korea incorporates secret drawers, brass hardware and other finishing touches which provide a sense of style and beauty. Our quality pieces of furniture from China come in a variety of styles from coloured lacquer pieces to natural timber. Special features include relief carving detail, hand carved detail, hand-painted decorations and exquisite carpentry and joinery.

size from small make up pots, vases and cups to decorative tea sets and large vases. In today’s busy society, to surround one with beautiful items has a soothing and relaxing effect.

PRIZED CHINESE CLOISONNÉ Cloisonné was developed centuries ago and now Chinese cloisonné ware is very popular. The process is involved and takes part in multiple stages with the artisan starting with bare copper as the base. Every design and shape is handmade and then through a special process, each cloison (constructed wire designs) are attached to the copper base then fired in the kiln. This provides a new base for the artist to work with.

The artist uses a variety of coloured powdered enamels that are mixed to ‘fill’ the pattern. This is a long process and the piece is left to dry before firing in the kiln. This process is repeated a number of times for the enamel to fill the pattern between each cloison. The artist uses sandstone and running water to make the piece smooth. A gilding/electroplating process finishes the piece which gives the piece a beautiful finish. The final

result is a beautiful piece of art that is colourful and intricate and has taken much time to produce.

There are varying types of cloisonné and there are many different pieces on display and available for purchase at Chosun Gallery.

On display is a large cloisonné decorative charger plate featuring the Nine Dragons.

It measures 75 cm wide and with the stand – it is over one metre tall!

Chinese cloisonné and Korean celadon are both highly collectable, with fine examples found in major museum collections. The intricacies of how these pieces have been made are often overlooked and underappreciated as a great deal of workmanship goes into each piece providing something special and unique for every individual.

Chosun Gallery is located at 993 Pacific Highway, Pymble (opposite the Pymble Hotel).

For further information contact CHOSUN GALLERY 02 9488 9298 www.chosungallery.com.au

EXQUISITE KOREAN CELADON Particularly popular is Korean celadon, the calming green porcelain with a fine crackle glaze often with distinct decorative elements such as cranes, fish and flowers. The artist painstakingly carves the design and inlays various other coloured clays to achieve the different colours for their design. Korean celadon pieces are beautiful additions to any collection with pieces ranging in Antiques and

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TURRAMURRA

MEMBER

Abbott’s Antiques

MEMBER

The Established Name for Quality Antiques since 1931

Fine 19th century Italian alabaster figure group titled The Two Wrestlers after the Greek 3rd century BC bronze original on a green marble pedestal, c. 1890

A fine French silver and mauve enamel bedside clock with ribbon mount, c. 1900

Fine George III mahogany demi-lune sideboard with banded drawer surrounds and square tapered legs, c. 1800

Victorian sterling silver 3 piece engraved, octagonal shaped tea service, London 1842

Japanese Meiji period signed ivory pomegranate seller okimono, c. 1890

Set of 4 George III Sheffield plate telescopic candlesticks, c. 1820 and a Sheffield plate decanter stand with 3 original cut crystal decanters, c. 1810

Pair of 19th century ruby glass and white overlay gilt decorated tulip shaped vases, c. 1850

19th century Japanese Meiji period Imari scalloped edge charger Diam: 46 cm, c. 1870 and floral decorated Imari vase, H: 38 cm, c. 1880

Pair of Minton floral painted and gilt decorated covered vases, c. 1855

Fine pair of George III sterling silver and Sheffield plate crested 3 light candelabra with all over embossed scroll and shell decoration, Sheffield 1820

Minton Parian allegorical figurine of Ariadne riding a panther, c. 1850

Thomas Webb lemon ground and floral carved white overlay cameo glass perfume bottle with sterling silver mount for Gorham, New York, c. 1900

Specialising in Fine English 18th & 19th century Furniture, Sterling Silver, Porcelain, Jewellery, Sheffield Plate, 18th century Drinking and Table Glass, Bronzes, Paintings, Art Nouveau and Art Deco

14 Eastern Road, Turramurra NSW 2074 • Tel 02 9449 8889 Visit www.abbottsantiques.com.au for a further selection of current stock 60

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NARRABEEN

ANTIQUE GENERAL STORE

a Northern Beaches find f you love all things vintage, you will love the Antique General Store on Sydney’s beautiful northern beaches. This North Narrabeen store is an institution in the area, having occupied the same rambling building for nearly 30 years. If you live locally you probably know of us – you may even be one of our ‘regulars’. But if you live on the other side of the harbour, or are a visitor to Sydney, it is well worth spending a day visiting the northern beaches. The long stretches of stunning beaches and fabulous restaurants and cafes make it easy to spend a relaxing day exploring the area and it would not be complete without a visit to the Antique General Store.

I

ECLECTIC RANGE With ten dealers, our stock is varied, and each room is bursting with an eclectic range of furniture and decorator items. Collectors will love our selection of china, linen, silver and jewellery. There’s usually a range of vintage outdoor furniture from cane to cast iron and for indoors there are bedside cabinets, vintage kitchen chairs, rustic benches and cupboards as well as tables of all kinds.

CLASSIC ANTIQUES, VINTAGE & DECORATOR ITEMS A lot of our loyal customers are stylists looking for that unique piece to fill a room – or a corner – a fabulous farmhouse table or a

drop-side cedar dining table – a charming rustic stool with remnants of paint from the ’50s – an even older pine meat safe or dresser to complement a very modern kitchen or a mid 20th century side table topped with a Barsony lamp. Whatever your style – whether you live in a beach house, an inner city apartment or terrace, or a suburban bungalow the Antique General Store will have something to suit your decorating style.

ANTIQUE GENERAL STORE 02 9913 7636 antiquegeneralstore@gmail.com www.antiquegeneralstore.com.au

QUALITY MIX Some of our regular customers have been purchasing from us for decades – changing their décor to suit the times, and first-time visitors are always complimentary and surprised at our large range of stock and our reasonable prices. If you haven’t yet discovered us, we’d love to see you soon at the Antique General Store on the beautiful northern beaches. Our store is bursting with a quality mix of classic antiques, vintage, rustic, industrial, nautical and interesting lighting and decorator items.

We buy and sell interesting items

ABOUT THE ANTIQUE GENERAL STORE The Antique General Store is open seven days a week, from 10 am to 5 pm on the beautiful northern beaches of Sydney. Visit us at 2 Warraba Road on the corner of Powderworks Road at North Narrabeen or check out our website at www.antiquegeneralstore.com.au.

10 rooms bursting with a quality mix of classic antiques, vintage, rustic, industrial, nautical and interesting decorator items.

Cnr Powderworks & Warraba Rds North Narrabeen

02 9913 7636 www.antiquegeneralstore.com.au Open 7 Days 10am-5pm Antiques and

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CLYBUCCA

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EDWARD MILLER BURNERS he lamp burner is often the forgotten part of a lamp as usually it is the smallest and least decorative part.

Without the burner you would not have light, so really it is the most important part! Since the discovery of kerosene in 1857, inventors from around the world strove to improve the light output of burners and to adapt them for different applications. Hence the variety of designs—from the single flat wick burners, which took over from the whale and heavy oil burners to the more complex (Aladdin) incandescent mantle lamp burners of the earlier part of this century.

To me the burner is the most important part of a lamp: if it is not working at its best you just have a large ornament. I have listed some of the burners produced by Edward Miller and Co. and as you will see they did not only produce centre draft burners. You will also see that some designs are very similar to other manufacturers.

In some cases I don’t think we will ever know who invented which burner first.

Figure 1. The 1904 E.M. Duplex – Made of heavy quality brass and fitted with an extinguisher, it used a normal size duplex chimney but used a #3 or ‘D’ size thread – the thread is larger than that for an English duplex burner. This burner was used on the better quality table and banquet lamps and

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was usually supplied in polished brass but could be had in other finishes.

Figure 2. The Apollo Duplex – This burner in my opinion was one of the best duplex burners produced. It was easy to light and to clean and also gave little trouble. It was available in polished brass or other finishes including rich gilt. It used a #3 or ‘D’ size thread. This burner and the 1904 burner could also be supplied with a reduction collar to fit into a standard ‘B’ thread which was found on the lower priced lamps.

Figure 3. The Luna – This burner has a decorative blaze cone and was made of solid brass. It was available in #1 or ‘A’ and #2 or ‘B’ sizes. The ‘A’ uses a ” thread and the ‘B’ uses a 13/16” thread. The burner was also fitted with a small gas tube, which was located up against the wick tube. In theory it was used to channel the air/gas mixture from the font, which was produced when the air in the font expanded from being warmed by the heat from the burner, to the wick where it could be burned, to prevent explosions. I am not sure if this worked, as ideally the font should not get warm at all, but many burners were fitted with them.

Figure 4. The Victor – This burner was similar to the Luna without the decorative blaze cone and was available in #0 or ‘E’ size as well as ‘A’ and ‘B’. The ‘E’ burner uses the same thread size, ”, as the ‘A’ but is smaller in overall size and uses a smaller wick.

Antique, old and new Kerosene Lamps Spare parts including shades, shade holders, burners, mantles, lamp oil, specially treated wicks for better burning, custom made high quality chimneys. ● Aladdin Mantle Lamps that produce 60 watts of light with no smoke or smell, ideal for emergency lighting. ● Restoration and repairs, brass polishing, nickel plating, copper plating and antique copper finish for small items. ●

The Everburning Light 2265 Pacific Highway, Clybucca NSW 2440. Phone/Fax: 02 6565 0104 e-mail: oil-lamp@zip.com.au Website: www.zip.com.au/~oil-lamp/

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Figure 5. The Venus – This burner was made of good quality solid brass and was considered a better burner than the Victor. It was available in ‘E’, ‘A’ and ‘B’ sizes.

Figure 6. The No. 2 Solar – This burner was equipped with both ‘B’ and ‘D’ size thread eliminating the need for a separate reduction or expansion collar. It has a single 1½“ wide wick and was used for applications where more light was required without the need for a more expensive duplex burner.

Figure 7. The Excelsior Sun Hinge – An interesting invention using the hinged blaze cone where the chimney could be secured by the use of a screw, so the burner could be lit without removing the chimney entirely from the burner. The chimney had a flared fitter to prevent it slipping out. The little handle in front of the wick tube is for lifting the perforated plate out for cleaning of the burner. These burners were available in ‘E’, ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘D’ sizes.

Figure 8. The Brooder, complete with chimney – This burner is similar to the Sun Hinge but instead of a glass chimney it is fitted with an iron chimney including a mica window to be used in an incubator or brooder.

The brooder boxes and incubators had an extension chimney to vent the fumes to the outside.

Figure 9. The Improved Favourite – This burner is similar to the above. Instead of the blaze cone flipping back for lighting, the upper part which holds the chimney was set on two rods enabling the entire unit to be lifted vertically. The hinged blaze cone was flipped back for trimming the wick. It was used in place of the normal ‘B’ burner on hanging lamps where it was easier to light by just lifting the upper part instead of having to remove the chimney entirely from the burner saving a lot of broken chimneys and shades.

Figure 10. The Zenith, No Chimney – An amazing innovation for kerosene burners, it worked without a chimney – so no broken glass! This type of burner was used mainly in an enclosed box such as ships’ lamps or barn lamps and even chicken brooders and incubators. They were available in ‘A’ and ‘B’ sizes.

Figure 11. The Signal, No chimney – These burners were made of steel, brass plated, and were used in ships’ signal lamps and for railway lamps etc, wherever the lamp was in a situation where it could be bumped or if there was constant movement. If there was no chimney it could not be broken!

Figure 12. The Boudoir – This is similar to the European Kosmos burners of the late 1800s. Edward Miller was, as far as I am aware, the only American manufacturer who used this type of burner. This burner fitted an ‘A’ collar so was used on smaller lamps such as hand lamps for the bedroom; these burners gave significantly more light than an ‘A’ burner. The burner folded a flat wick starting at the bottom into a round wick at the top and used the same constricted chimney as a Kosmos burner.

Figure 13. The Smokeless Heater – Miller not only made lamps but also heaters. The heaters were similar in shape to the English ‘Valor’. The following is an explanation of the parts from an old advertisement: The Miller heater cannot smoke because the flame spreader B, held in place by nut A, limits the upward movement of extinguisher C and the extinguisher C limits the upward movement of wick D. The extinguisher C is separated from the flame spreader B for convenience in cleaning. It works automatically with the wick D and must be kept clean. Some of these burners were similar to the centre draft burners as used on lamps which is why the heater containers are often mistaken for lamps.

Figures 14 and 15. The Incandescent Gas – Miller also produced gas burners – these were upright burners and used a glass chimney and a pre-formed mantle. The burners were fitted with a side wheel for regulating the gas flow and were finished in polished brass.

Juergen Weissner THE EVERBURNING LIGHT 02 6565 0104 oil-lamp@zip.com.au

CENTRAL COAST

A guide to ANTIQUES & COLLECTABLES DEALERS ON THE CENTRAL COAST 1. AVOCA BEACH ANTIQUES Now incorporating the Beecroft Treasure House Specialising in antique jewellery with the largest range on the coast and an exceptional range of silver and extensive selection of fine porcelain and rare collectables. Open 7 days Early Victorian pearl and 173 Avoca Drive, Avoca Beach spinel locket back cluster 02 4382 1149 or 02 4381 0288 ring set in 15 ct yellow avocabeach.antiques@bigpond.com gold, c. 1840 $1480

2. ACCENT ANTIQUES

Victorian onyx and pearl star burst locket set in 15 ct yellow gold, c. 1880 $1360

Pair French 18 ct tri colour gold tassel earrings c. 1870 $2890

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Accent Antiques have been at the Crowne Plaza Terrigal for 23 years. We specialise in antique and estate jewellery and have a wonderful selection of oddities. Many of our stunning pieces are purchased in France. Within sight and sound of the beach, enjoy a stunning view while you search out a treasure.

We are open seven days a week 10-5 pm.

Shop 16, Crowne Plaza, Terrigal 02 4385 1997 ldecarne@gmail.com adecarne@gmail.com

COLLECTORS’ COTTAGE ANTIQUES No longer trading from the Central Coast.

Please ring 02 4332 8183 for any enquiries or requests. Otherwise please visit our shop in Newcastle: Shop 7A & 7B Centenary Antique Centre 29 Centenary Road, Newcastle (100 metres north of Civic Station) also: www.antiquesplus.com.au search for Collectors’ Cottage to see hundreds of items for sale.

Signed Livio Seguso (Murano) dachshund figurine $785

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Swiss G. Varnez 14 ct yellow gold double cased fob key wind fob watch $2200

Pair of Victorian, robin’s-egg-blue, glass lustres $895

A WORLD OF KNOWLEDGE for ALL COLLECTORS OF THE ARTS and INVESTORS

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A GUIDE FOR NEW COLLECTORS THE ONLY MAGAZINE OF ITS KIND IN AUSTRALIA INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITIONS WITH CURATORS' EXPERT COMMENTARY

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FRESH RESEARCH ON COLLECTING FROM THE TRADITIONAL TO THE CUTTING EDGE

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Bitten by the collecting bug? WAA has the antidote!

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Comprehensive Includes works in silver & gold, ceramics & porcelain, furniture, jewellery, textiles, fashion & accessories, costume design, numismatics & philatelics, photography, prints, Old Master art, contemporary art & sculpture Auction prices and records PLUS images A timeless companion and invaluable reference with expert and original information

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NEWCASTLE

Australian Art Pottery 1900-1950 Edited by Kevin Fahy, John Freeland, Keith Free and Andrew Simpson, this superbly illustrated publication reveals much new information about a number of significant Australian art potters, including Merric Boyd, John Castle-Harris, L.J. Harvey, Harry Lindeman and Grace Seccombe.

Nine scholarly essays explore different aspects of this area of Australian decorative art and are accompanied by an illustrated dictionary containing over 480 colour photographs and detailed biographical entries for 118 potters and china painters prepared by 23 contributors, including curators, collectors and historians.

OPEN 4 DAYS 10 am - 5 pm

AUD $295* HB 372 pp

Australian Furniture Pictorial History and Dictionary 1788-1938 Written by Kevin Fahy and Andrew Simpson, this book is an essential reference for curators, private collectors, dealers, auctioneers, investors, social and cultural historians. It includes over 660 entries for Australian furniture and picture frame makers, retailers and designers – the result of seven years gallery, museum, library, and field research. Superbly illustrated with over 1000 illustrations, 600 in colour. Australian Furniture: Pictorial History and Dictionary 1788-1938 was the recipient of the 1999 National Trust / Energy Australia Heritage Award and is the most comprehensive survey of quality furniture, its marks and makers, yet undertaken in this country.

AUD $485* CHB 527 pp *Price includes postage, handling and GST. Most major credit cards accepted

PO Box 324 Bondi Junction NSW 1355 Tel: (02) 9389 2919 Web: www.worldaa.com Come and browse through our 2000 sq ft showroom where you will find a dazzling range of furniture, china and collectables. We stock an extensive range from Victorian through to retro, including some stunning pieces from the art deco period. Recent additions to our collection include an inspiring range of decorator items, antique and art deco style wall mirrors that complement modern or traditional decors.

When travelling to Newcastle and the Hunter Valley please pay us a visit, you will be glad you did.

• TRADING FOR 20 YEARS • FREIGHT CAN BE ARRANGED AUSTRALIA WIDE • • LARGE RANGE OF ROYAL DOULTON CHINA •

105-111 MAITLAND ROAD, ISLINGTON, NEWCASTLE Ph: 02 4961 0533 • Rod: 0414 610 533 • Tim: 0415 495 967 Open Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday 10 am - 5 pm • 3 km from the City centre

ORDER FORM (Send to JQ Pty Ltd PO Box 324 Bondi Junction NSW 1355) Name........................................................................................................................................................................

Address...........................................................................................................................Postcode........................

Please send me...........copies of Australian Furniture Pictorial History and Dictionary 1788-1938 Please send me...........copies of Australian Art Pottery 1900-1950 I enclose my cheque/money order for $...................made payable to JQ Pty Ltd or please debit my Visa / Mastercard / Bankcard / American Express / Diners Club Card Number .............................................................................................................. Expiry date......../.........

Cardholders name................................................................................................................................................

Cardholders signature..........................................................................................................................................

ISLINGTON ANTIQUES in Newcastle since 1990 W elcome to over 2000 square feet of antiques and collectables and furniture from Victorian through to retro.

At Islington Antiques we have a special emphasis on quality Art Deco furniture at affordable prices, most lovingly restored by our skilled craftsman. If you want a special piece restored, we will do it in our own workshop.

Stripping, polishing, lock repairs and mirror resilvering are a few of the services we offer.

We restore old brass beds, including converting a double to a queen size bed.

Royal Doulton is one of our specialties, in a showroom housing an enormous range of quality china and porcelain. We have 1500 Royal Doulton pieces in stock including

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dinner service pieces, Series Ware, Bunnykins and Flambé. We also sell and stock a selected range of new Royal Doulton.

MIRRORS FOR EVERY ROOM

In our mirror showroom is a selection of modern, traditional and Art Deco mirrors displayed in all their different shapes and sizes. If you are renovating, redecorating or building we have a mirror for every room in your home – from lounge and dining to bedrooms and bathrooms.

Decorator pieces are another enhancement to find in our store. Hand-selected from importers from all around Australia, you can decide on lamps, figurines, paintings, prints and new furniture, any and all of which will complement both traditional and modern decors.

Our second store – Our Style Furniture and Decor opened seven years ago and is dedicated to handcrafted solid timber furniture which we import directly. The stock includes traditional English styles in mahogany and cedar, French provincial dining suites, Louisstyle chairs and sofas in fruitwoods and creampainted furniture.

Newcastle, the gateway to the Hunter Valley, is a leisurely two-hour drive from Sydney. Please visit us on your next trip.

We can arrange freight Australia-wide.

ISLINGTON ANTIQUES 02 4961 0533

NEWCASTLE

Spoons, knives and forks

GASTRONOMIC IMPLEMENTS poons, knives and forks – why in this order? Because this is the order that they evolved. Let’s begin with spoons.

Spoons are thought to be the oldest of the three basic eating implements. The first spoon was probably a shell bound to a stick for scooping up water. With the discovery of fire and eating hot foods, next came carved wooden spoons for stirring. At this time soup was consumed direct from a bowl, no eating implement was used.

During the Middle Ages spoons and knives were prized. Evidence of their value is that they were included in the wills of the wealthy.

They were carved in various woods or cast in bronze, gold or silver. The earliest shape was of a fig that pointed towards the handle. The oval shape developed in the 17th century.

When tea, coffee and chocolate were introduced into Europe in the 17th century, there came a demand for new vessels. For example, there needed to be a device to measure tea. Another development was the introduction of tea spoons as there needed to be spoons proportional to the size of the smaller teacup.

Knives were initially designed for use as a tool or weapon. Early knives were dagger like, sharp-edged on both sides and pointed.

Stories abound about how round ended knives evolved. One such tale is that in the 17th century, Cardinal Richelieu of France decreed it illegal for cutlers to make pointed dinner knives in an attempt to minimize the frequent dinner stabbings at inns. Regardless of the myths and legends, a round-ended knife with one cutting edge is what is used today.

Forks appeared first in Italy in the 11th century, brought to Venice in the trousseau of a Turkish princess. They were regarded with suspicion as the prevailing view was that forks were against God’s wisdom as He had given fingers as natural forks. In the 16th century Catherine Medici wife of Henry II introduced forks to the French court, but they were still thought to be an affectation, and as late as the 18th century the English still chose to eat off their knife.

In the Middle Ages hosts were not expected to supply cutlery and wealthy guests would carry their own utensils in a leather case. In the 16th century a method for making sheet metal had been developed and so it became possible to produce die-stamped utensils. The development of sets of matching cutlery was

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an outcome of this. The term flatware relates to this die-stamped cutlery.

INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION When Queen Victoria came to the throne in 1837, banqueting became very popular in England and as a result, many new and different foods were being prepared for the table. The Industrial Revolution and the subsequent mechanisation resulted in the significant output of products once limited to the upper echelons of society. The development of electroplating by Elkington in the mid 19th century meant that the growing middle class could afford the glamour of owning silvered items.

The Victorians had a specialised implement for every conceivable food so they would never have to touch anything with their hands, for example, marrowbone scoops, terrapin forks and walnut picks. Sets of matched silverware included as many as 140 different pieces. Continental and American canteens of the 19th century offered some more unusual implements such as pea and spaghetti forks.

Canteens made for the English market in the late 19th century included fish knives and round soup spoons.

In the 20th century, designs and lifestyles became more streamlined, reflected in the number of pieces found in modern canteens. The typical modern canteen contains only 42 pieces.

To protect the piece, lightly spray with vegetable oil.

Collecting cutlery can be a fascinating hobby. Moreover, it is functional as well as decorative and is something that gives pleasure every time it is used. Each piece is a part of the history of the industry. From the maker’s marks, stamps and patterns you can trace the country of origin, fashion trends and technological advances as well as admire the fine workmanship on handcrafted pieces. So happy hunting and enjoy your purchases.

Patricia Mitchell CENTENARY ANTIQUE CENTRE 02 4926 4547 centenaryantiques@hunterlink.com.au

References Peri Wolfman and Charles Gold, Forks, Knives and Spoons (Thames & Hudson, 1994) ‘Treasures in Your Home’ Reader’s Digest, 1993 ‘Edwardian Table Silver’ Times Past, part 54 Collectables Trader, Nov 2000 – Jan 2001

MATERIALS USED Blades – steel, silver plate, stainless steel Handles – silver, ivory, bone, Bakelite, horn, mother-of-pearl, wood, resin, plastic

CARE Silver – is best washed by hand but forks and spoons can be washed in the dishwasher.

Knives if two separate parts soldered together should always be washed by hand. Buffing with a silver cloth will maintain a soft glow and if living near the sea protect from salt air.

It is advisable to store silver cutlery in a silver cloth bags.

Ivory, bone, horn, mother-of-pearl, wood, faux ivory – these will be damaged by soaking in water. The adhesive joining the handle to the blade will be affected. Cracking, warping and discolouration are caused by extremes of temperature and soaking.

Steel – will rust. Never put old steel items in a dishwasher. Use an abrasive cleaner to remove rust on steel and then dry thoroughly.

30 SHOPS UNDER ONE ROOF Open 7 Days - 10 am to 5 pm • Visit our Old Grocery Store Museum

29 CENTENARY ROAD, NEWCASTLE 2300 – Phone: 02 4926 4547 centenaryantiques@hunterlink.net.au

www.centenarycentre.com.au Antiques and

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HAMILTON Right: Fig 4: Georgian style chair, probably English, added cedar panel, reupholstered Below: Fig 3: Chiffonier, maker unknown, late 19th century, cedar panels, carved backboard features Prince of Wales feather to centre

Fig 1: Chiffonier by Joseph Sly (1802-1887), c. 1850, Australian rosewood and cedar

Fig 2: Wardrobe, maker unknown, late 19th century fitted with secret compartments

Right: Fig 5: Cedar chest of drawers, maker unknown, c. 1850s, set on turned and carved feet

HUNTING FOR FINDS IN THE HUNTER ven though Australian colonial furniture dates to the 1800s, it is still often hard to trace the origins of examples made during that time. Customers are always interested in the story behind a piece of furniture or its provenance and a few such items have turned up recently in the Hunter Valley. How they got to where we found them is usually a mystery but sometimes, some of the history is known or discovered.

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POPULAR COLONIAL CABINETMAKER The lovely chiffonier pictured (Fig. 1), for example, circa 1850, was manufactured by Joseph Sly (1802-1887). It has all the hallmarks of Sly’s fine cabinetwork and is typically stamped ‘J. Sly’ – found on the centre panel on the rear of the cabinet. In 1834 Sly arrived in Sydney from London and became listed as a cabinetmaker in the directories of

Rare Find Country Antiques A selection of our quality and rare Australian chests of drawers

The Hunter’s largest selection of genuine Australian antique cedar furniture, most of our stock is pictured on the website: www.rarefindantiques.com.au Opening hours: Saturdays 10 am - 4 pm or by appointment.

We are there most of the time as we live on-site.

Chiffonier made by John Osborne of Singleton in 1863

38 Denison St, Hamilton Ph 02 4969 3801 Mobile 0418 684 724 66

Antiques and

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1835 to 1861. He worked in various locations up and down Pitt Street in Sydney. Well known for his superior cabinetwork, Sly supplied furniture for prominent colonial families, including James and William Macarthur at Camden Park in Sydney, and their brother-inlaw, Dr Bowman, at Lyndhurst in Glebe.

Indeed The Sydney Morning Herald, 20 March 1850, informed its readers that ‘The superiority of Mr Sly’s manufacture having now been established and maintained for so many years renders any kind of recommendation from the Auctioneer quite needless.’ Some of his lovely pieces are held by the National Trust of Australia (NSW).

This particular chiffonier has extensive crossbanding across the drawers, top and shelf. The doors have book matched cedar panels and the interior shelves are adjustable. One interesting feature is that the astragal (strip closing the gap between the doors) on the bottom doors is Australian rosewood, which matches well with the cedar but is much harder and remains undamaged. Although such an identifiable pedigree may not be attributable to other pieces in store at present, many still showcase the fine workmanship of earlier times.

WARDROBE’S SECRET VALUE The wardrobe (Fig. 2), although not particularly early, is in lovely original condition. This piece also offers two secret compartments which have been there since it was made. One compartment is next to the bottom drawer and hidden behind a screwed panel, which is a fitted box, locked into place between two supports. A second compartment is within one of the internal drawers and has a false bottom creating a void the size of the draw and about an inch deep. A panel slides and then lifts to expose the secret space.

The handsome Georgian chair (Fig. 4) is probably English and has lovely early turnings and a highly figured cedar panel across the front, which may have been added later.

LOCAL RARE FIND The very early cedar chest (Fig. 5) was discovered in the Hunter Valley. It is full cedar and the cabinetwork is reminiscent of the English cabinetmakers’ style with fine dovetails – indeed the whole carcass is made like a dovetailed box. One interesting feature which is rarely seen on Australian chests of drawers is the turned and carved feet, again indicating its early form. The drawers all have dust covers and the timber throughout has outstanding figure and is very dense, as you would expect from such an early piece.

Last is the large cedar sideboard (Fig. 6) which, although not particularly early, is extremely appealing and has outstanding carving to the backboard. Made not too far away in the Grafton area from locally cut cedar, the sideboard has some lovely wear on the cabinet.

Obviously people and their furniture moved around quite a bit and it is often hard to discover the full story but if something is good, it shouldn’t matter where it came from or where it was found.

Michael Lee RARE FINDS 02 4969 3801 / 0418 684 724 rarefind@bigpond.net.au www.rarefindantiques.com.au

FINE DETAILS The second chiffonier (Fig. 3) has no maker’s label but has an astonishingly carved backboard with lovely scrolls and Prince of Wales feather carving to the centre. Again, there are choice cuts of cedar and nicely turned half columns on the doors.

Of full cedar construction, the top of the large and impressive blind bookcase has been fitted out as a folio cabinet with many compartments and pigeon holes to accommodate files and documents. The top and bottom doors also have lovely ribbon grain cedar panels.

Fig 6: Cedar sideboard made Grafton area by unknown maker, late 19th century

NEWCASTLE / HUNTER VALLEY

NEWCASTLE & HUNTER VALLEY ANTIQUES TRAIL

featuring bed & breakfast accommodation and art galleries 1

The Centenary Antique Centre

Islington Antiques

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105–111 Maitland Road, Islington, Newcastle

UNIQUE ANTIQUE ECLECTIC

Ph: 02 4961 0533

29 Centenary Road, Newcastle

OPEN Friday, Saturday, Sunday

Ph: 02 4926 4547

& Monday 10 am – 5 pm

OPEN 7 days, 10 am – 5 pm

Trading in Newcastle for 20 years.

28 shops under the one roof:

We stock a large and varied range of

Newcastle’s largest antique centre and home

quality furniture, china and collectables

to the Old Grocery Store Museum.

in our 2000 sq ft showroom.

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Antiques & Collectables on Darby 2

Memory Lane Antiques & Decor 82 Elder Street, Lambton (opposite Lambton Park)

1/158 Darby Street, Newcastle

Ph: 02 4957 8233

Ph: 02 4926 3003

OPEN Monday to Friday 10 am – 4.30 pm

OPEN 7 days, 10 am – 5 pm

Saturday 9 am – 3.30 pm.

Closed Sunday & Public Holidays

15 dealers: collectables, china,

Affordable antiques – interesting china,

glass, jewellery, furniture and smalls.

jewellery, lamps and clocks. A range of items to suit the discerning buyer.

3

Boutique splendour.

Brunker Road Antiques

WINNER of Hunter Small Business Awards 2011 Antiques and Gifts

35 Brunker Road, Broadmeadow

OPEN Friday – Sunday 10 am – 5 pm

Heartland Antiques & Arts

The place to come when you want

321 High Street, Maitland

something different.

Ph: 02 4933 9923

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Mob: 0437 417 512

OPEN Six days 10 am – 4 pm. Closed Tuesday Most unusual mix of decorator pieces and

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traditional antique furniture along with old

Coliseum Antiques

pine and period styles, china, chintz,

118 Maitland Road, Mayfield

pottery, paintings, posters and prints. All

Ph: 02 4967 2088

things suitable for furnishing a country

OPEN 7 days 10 am – 5 pm

house, a farmhouse, a weekender or the

A large centre within a heritage building.

odd ranch with both flair and decorum.

Buying and selling: furniture and collectables,

Steptoes

9

huge selection. Coffee shop and art sales Georgian – Victorian – Retro.

105 Lang Street, Kurri Kurri Ph: 02 4936 1511 OPEN Monday – Friday 9 am – 5 pm

5

Ambleside Antiques Cottage

The largest antique and second-hand

108 Maitland Road, Islington

furniture warehouse in the Hunter.

Ph: 02 4962 1532

Furniture is our forte.

Saturday 9 am – 3 pm Sunday 10.30 am – 3 pm

Enquiries: gayleandy@bigpond.com

Rare Find Country Antiques

OPEN 10 am – 5 pm. Closed Tuesday

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Attractive decorator pieces to enhance your home or that wanted item to add to your

38 Denison Street, Hamilton

collection. Large affordable range: linen,

Ph: 02 4969 3801, Mobile: 0418 684 724

tools, glass, china, furniture, jewellery, sewing items. Ample free street parking nearby. Air-conditioned.

Open by appointment only

TO ADVERTISE ON THIS PAGE PLEASE PHONE 02 9389 2919

* In the interests of better service for our customers, if you enjoy the convenience of this map, please tell the shops you visit. Thank you.

Specialists in Australian antiques, specialising in cedar.

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WINDSOR

Kurrajong Antique Centre

Peter and Phil Jurd, Empire Beds

Windsor Restoration Supplies

John Koster, Kostercraft

Maureen Partridge, Thompson’s Country Collectables

Darren & Lucille, Guy Stuff Gifts and Collectables

Megan Wood, The Bank Bazaar

WINDSOR & THE HAWKESBURY

Antiques & Collectables Trail indsor and the Hawkesbury is reestablishing itself as a great destination for antiques, collectables and old wares. Windsor is a comfortable drive north west of Sydney in the picturesque Hawkesbury Valley. It is a popular short break, weekender and day trippers’ location. It is also a popular stopover point for city folk heading to the Blue Mountains, Hunter Valley and Central West as well as the North and South Coasts.

Windsor boasts some magnificent historic buildings, its own paddle wheeler and horse drawn restaurant with the region being home to great national parks and the picturesque Hawkesbury River. Windsor and the Hawkesbury is also home to 19 unique antiques, collectables and old wares shops within a short drive of each other.

On Sundays, you can enjoy the Windsor Craft Market in the mall from 9 am – 4 pm.

If visiting on a Saturday you must fit in a visit between 10 am and 2 pm to Empire Beds. Phil and Peter Jurd’s workshop is good fun for blokes and fascinating for iron and brass bed enthusiasts. Phil has been ‘in beds’ for over 25 years and this is Sydney’s one-stop brass bed shop for made-to-order, restoration and extensions from double to queen.

In the middle of town in the pedestrian mall at 149 George St, stands Guy Stuff Gifts and Collectables, a blokey paradise. Featuring over 5000 collectables for sale, almost all of which are male-oriented, this mega store of over 400 square metres offers a vast array from which to choose. This includes limited edition die cast model cars and aircraft, Royal Australian Mint coins, collector pins, aviation

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and Ned Kelly memorabilia, retro robots, NRL merchandise and more.

Walking down George Street to New Street you will see Maureen’s delightful dusky pink rendered store, Thompson’s Country Collectables. Maureen has an elegant range of antiques and collectables from 1750 to 1950, but specialises in Victorian furniture, silver, jewellery, china and glass.

Around the corner from Maureen’s is Windsor Restoration Supplies. Arguably the Hawkesbury’s most comprehensive supplier for the restorer including brass and period lighting, cabinet fittings and handles, traditional timber finishes and period home restoration supplies, they also have an elegant range of outdoor furniture.

Jump in the car and head out to The Junkyard at Londonderry. Sue and Gary have five acres of recycled farmyard and building materials, bric-àbrac from antiques to op shop stored in a variety of sheds, old bus and train carcases. The astute collector can find real bargains here – its nickname is ‘the five acre garage sale’ and you should allow some serious scrounging time here.

One the boys will love for sure.

Take Windsor Street and continue to The Bank Bazaar, a haven of mysterious and stunning antiques, furniture, artworks, designer jewellery and so much more. Situated in the historic town of Richmond, The Bank Bazaar is housed in the old 1880s bank that has been lovingly restored, and complementing the antiques are one-off pieces of furniture and a refreshing mix of contemporary decorator items for the home.

The pieces range from pianos and marble mantelpieces to tea cups and model planes.

Customers are welcome to sit amidst the wares and enjoy a cappuccino from the coffee shop with a piece of cake and a good book, or relax with friends for lunch under the shade of a giant elm in the tea garden.

John and Anne Koster, of Kostercraft, further on in North Richmond can help you out when you have found that special piece, but it is need of some TLC. They specialise in preservation and restoration of antique and modern furniture and art. They can also repair and restore distressed ceramics.

The Junkyard

Further along the trail, Kurrajong Antique Centre has a very large range of antiques and collectables. Brian has several large rooms, an upstairs and a downstairs filled with English china, glassware, art, furniture, toys – there’s probably very little he hasn’t got. Brian’s is the kind of large rambling antiques emporium you remember from the old days and has a wonderful yesteryear feel.

We all look forward to seeing you on our trail one day soon.

WINDSOR & THE HAWKESBURY

WINDSOR & THE HAWKESBURY antiques & collectables trail 1

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5 8 7

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To advertise on this page please phone

02 9389 2919 Email: info@worldaa.com

3. WINDSOR RESTORATION SUPPLIES, WINDSOR Proprietor: Dave Crawshaw Phone: 02 4577 4853 Opening Days & Times: Mon to Fri 9 am to 4.30 pm Sat 10 am to 2 pm Public Holidays: Closed Address: 268 George Street, Windsor

1. EMPIRE BEDS, WILBERFORCE Proprietors: Phil Jurd & Peter Jurd Phone: 02 4575 1223 Website: www.empirebeds.com.au Email: jurdp1@optusnet.com.au Opening Days & Times: Mon to Fri 9 am to 5 pm Sat 10 am to 2 pm Public Holidays: Closed Address: 2/11 Ti-Tree Place, Wilberforce

2. THOMPSON’S COUNTRY COLLECTABLES, WINDSOR Proprietor: Maureen Partridge Phone: 02 4577 2381 Email: dandyprat@hotmail.com Opening Days & Times: 7 days 10 am to 5 pm Public Holidays: 10 am to 5 pm Address: 11 New Street, Windsor

4. THE JUNKYARD, LONDONDERRY Proprietors: Gary & Sue Evans Phone: 02 4572 5211 Opening Days & Times: 7 days 10 am to 4 pm (weather permitting) Public Holidays: Closed Address: 11 Bennett Road, Londonderry (Just a 10 minute drive from the centre of Windsor)

5. KOSTERCRAFT, NORTH RICHMOND Proprietors: John and Anne Koster Phone: 02 4571 1320 Mobile: 0412 571132 Email: kostercraft@hotmail.com Website: www.kostercraft.com.au Opening Days & Times: Mon to Fri 9 am to 6 pm Sat, Sun: Available for enquiries and drop offs Public Holidays: Available for enquiries and drop offs Address: 27 Elizabeth Street, North Richmond

6. KURRAJONG ANTIQUE CENTRE, KURRAJONG Proprietor: Brian Briggs Phone: 02 4573 1683 Opening Days & Times: 7 days 10 am to 5 pm Public Holidays: 10 am to 5 pm Address: 101 Old Bells Line of Road, Kurrajong

7. THE BANK BAZAAR Proprietor: Megan Wood Phone: 02 4588 6951 Opening Days & Times: Weekdays 9 am to 5 pm, Saturday 9 am to 4 pm, Sunday closed Address: 290 Windsor Street Richmond NSW 2753 www.bankbazaar.com.au

8. GUY STUFF, WINDSOR Phone: 02 4577 2797 Email: Windsor@GuyStuff.com.au Website: www.GuyStuff.com.au Opening Days & Times: Open 7 days 9 am to 6 pm (9pm Thursday Nights) Address:149 George Street Windsor

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WINDSOR

1973 XA Falcon Cosmic Blue

Ford AX Falcon Blown Custom Coupe Black

1975 Bathurst Winner LH Torana

1963 EH Holden Kalgoorlie Gold

1971 Ford XY Flacon GTHO Phase III Rothmans Blue

1980 Peter Brock VC Holden Commodore

1971 Ford XY Flacon GTHO Phase III Track Red

1993 Brock Bathurst Holden VP Commodore

1958 Holden FC Special Red & Ivory

ESPECIALLY FOR THE GUYS at historic Windsor VISITING WINDSOR he 200 year old Windsor township is set on the magnificent Hawkesbury River and steadfastly celebrates its

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history and country village atmosphere.

A complete escape for the Sydney-sider and only 40 minutes down the M2, you can enjoy the charms of shopping, browsing, historic

buildings, entertainment, alfresco dining, people-watching and great coffee.

Shopping and browsing opportunities abound for all ages and stages. The Windsor Craft Markets are every Sunday and offer great locally grown food and handmade crafts.

An eclectic selection of discount stores and specialty shops means you can buy a leather purse, English humbug confections, a ukulele, hand-beaten Peruvian silver jewellery, a poncho and scented candles. There can also be found hand-beaded necklaces, handmade soaps, shoes, designer dresses, Bali or French-inspired home wares and footy team collectables.

Charger Highway Patrol Police Car

GUY STUFF GIFTS AND COLLECTABLES

www.GuyStuff.com.au A unique retail concept offering a large range of gifts and collectables for men GUY STUFF BAULKHAM HILLS Shop 9, Stockland Mall Shopping Centre 375 Windsor Road Baulkham Hills NSW 2153 P: 02 9688 6388 E: BaulkhamHills@GuyStuff.com.au Open 7 Days 9am to 6pm (9pm Thursday Nights) GUY STUFF NARELLAN Shop 2, Narellan Town Centre 326 Camden Valley Way Narellan NSW 2567 P: 02 4648 1606 E: Narellan@GuyStuff.com.au Open 7 Days 9am to 6pm (9pm Thursday Nights)

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GUY STUFF WINDSOR 149 George Street Windsor NSW 2756 P: 02 4577 2797 E: Windsor@GuyStuff.com.au Open 7 Days 9am to 6pm (9pm Thursday Nights)

Authorised Dealer

In the middle of this historic township is a collector’s dream come true. Guy Stuff Gifts and Collectables, located in the middle of the pedestrian mall at 149 George Street, is a 400 square metre retail store with over 5,000 different collectables on sale. Ninety-nine per cent of the items in this mega store are male orientated.

Some of the vast array of collectables include thousands of collector pins, limited edition die cast model cars, die cast model aircraft, Royal Australian Mint coins, tin toys and signs, retro robots, NRL merchandise, Ned Kelly, CocaCola, Aviation, Ford and Holden memorabilia, movie collectables and more.

NED KELLY MEMORABILIA Edward (Ned) Kelly (1855-1880), the bushranger, was born at Beveridge, Victoria, the eldest son of John (Red) Kelly, an Irish exconvict transported for stealing two pigs and his wife Ellen (nee Quinn). Views about Ned Kelly are mixed. Some opinions hold him to be a police murderer and criminal, while others regard him as the iconic folk hero and see him in the light of an Australian legend.

Following an incident in April 1878, Kelly became a wanted man by Victorian police. In October that year Kelly and his gang–consisting of his brother Dan Kelly, Steve Hart and Joseph Byrne–ambushed the police camp at Stringybark Creek. Constables

1977 Holden HZ Sandman Panel Van Black

Lonigan and Scanlon and Sergeant Kennedy were killed.

For the next two years the Kelly gang eluded the police. The final confrontation occurred in the Victorian country town of Glenrowan in June 1880. The gang, wearing armour made from plough mould boards that gave them a false sense of invulnerability, were killed. Kelly, in his infamous metal headpiece and home-made body armour, was captured.

Kelly’s trial for murder was held on 28-29 October in Melbourne. He was convicted and sentenced to death by hanging which occurred on 11 November at the Melbourne goal. It is believed that his last words were ‘Ah well, I suppose it has come to this’, or ‘Such is life’.

For the convenience of visitors to Windsor, Guy Stuff is open every day from 9 am to 6 pm, staying open until 9 pm on Thursday.

For more details contact GUY STUFF WINDSOR 02 4577 2797 windsor@GuyStuff.com.au www.GuyStuff.com.au

KURRAJONG

THE SCENIC HUNTER VALLEY perfect for antique hunters rom small shops specialising in music collectables or toys to the larger centres, the Hunter Valley caters for all tastes. You will find everything from buttons and linen and stunning art deco pieces to exquisite Georgian furniture, tools and old farm rustics to delightfully kitsch ’50s and ’60s home-wares and charming country pine furniture. Just a two-hour drive north of Sydney, you could be enjoying the many delights of the Hunter Valley this weekend.

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NEWCASTLE Founded in 1804 as a penal colony, Newcastle is a city rich in history. Discover Newcastle’s convict past and the birthplace of Australian industry; visit Victorian mansions and villas; marvel at the grand cathedral; or learn about the area’s colourful maritime history and how Fort Scratchley was built to protect the city from possible Russian invasion.

Newcastle Tourism’s visitor information centre on Hunter Street will supply you with details on heritage walks through the city, art galleries and museums, just a few of the delights Newcastle has to offer.

Of course, another delight is hunting through Newcastle’s many antique shops and centres. A fabulous city to explore, stay awhile and enjoy the comfort and history that Newcastle’s bed and breakfast homes can offer you.

Australia’s sixth largest city and the capital of the Hunter region, Newcastle has much to offer the visitor here on a short break or an extended stay. Newcastle is a beachside city boasting a spectacular coastline with some of Australia’s best

surfing beaches. Newcastle has a large working harbour, its entrance guarded by Nobby’s breakwater and lighthouse, probably the most famous Newcastle icon.

THE MAITLAND REGION Maitland is a lovely heritage city in the heart of the Hunter Valley, a short drive from the famous Hunter Valley vineyards and acclaimed wilderness areas. Just minutes from Maitland you will discover the most delightful villages and towns.

East Maitland: The original city site, this is an architecturally heritage-rich town with many beautiful buildings to appreciate including churches, the old Maitland Gaol and great antique hunting opportunities.

Rutherford: A few minutes on the other side of Maitland is Rutherford, home to the historic Annanbah House, where the Australian movie 15 Amore (2000) was filmed, with still more antique hunting to enjoy.

Lorn: Located just over the bridge from Maitland is Lorn. Fine examples of Federation houses, together with wonderfully preserved late Victorian homes set in magnificent gardens, make this place a true delight. Enjoy the Heritage Walk or just indulge in more antique hunting.

Bolwarra: Just a few minutes along the road is Bolwarra with even more charming historic homes and gardens and even more antique hunting. This lovely town sits on the edge of some of the most beautiful, gentle farmland in the region.

DUNGOG With the first European settlement of the township occurring in the 1820s and 1830s, historic Dungog has much to offer visitors.

There are quality antiques to discover in Dowling Street and a B&B set in magical rural surrounds in which to soak up the country atmosphere.

The Visitor Information Centre on the corner of Brown and Dowling Streets (02 4992 2212) can supply you with maps and details on the many historic buildings in this beautiful township.

Dungog is the perfect base for exploring the nearby Barrington Tops National Park.

This unspoiled World Heritage listed area offers so much to experience, from cascading rivers and primeval wilderness to rare and endangered species of plants and animals.

The many walking trails in the park cater to all, ranging from 20 minutes to the 22 km Link Trail Walk.

NEWCASTLE AND HUNTER VALLEY ANTIQUES TRAIL 02 4974 2999 www.newcastletourism.com

KURRAJONG ANTIQUE CENTRE spanning 740 sq metres (8,000 sq ft)

Antiques and Collectables LOTS OF NEW STOCK Come up and visit our centre now with an increase to over 50 fully stocked display cabinets with china, glass, silver, silver plate, jewellery, crystal, porcelain and bric-à-brac.

We have a large range of original art (oils, watercolours, etchings and lithographs), brass, as well as Victorian and Edwardian furniture (cedar, mahogany, pine and oak).

All in a lovely old Art Deco Cinema/Theatre

UP TO 30% OFF ON VARIOUS CABINETS

101 OLD BELLS LINE OF ROAD, KURRAJONG • PHONE 02 4573 1683 OPEN 7 DAYS 10 am - 5 pm Antiques and

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BLUE MOUNTAINS

Photograph of the Victory Theatre taken in 1917

Star Theatre, Kalinga, Qld. Photo courtesy: R Thorne, Picture Palace Architecture in Australia

The Victory Theatre’s original facade, 2010

Southern Cross Theatre, Neutral Bay Sydney, c. 1920

The Victory Theatre entrance, 2010

local residents, acting as a source of recreation and entertainment for 45 years.

In the 1900s, cinemas were erected in any space which could fit numerous chairs and people. Between 1910 and 1920, the sites for Australian cinemas fell into three main categories: new or rebuilt richly fronted buildings; existing

BLACKHEATH, BLUE MOUNTAINS

VICTORY THEATRE ANTIQUES & CAFE 17 Govetts Leap Road, Blackheath www.victorytheatre.com.au

buildings which were converted with little exterior change; or large, shed-like structures.

The first category dominated the style of cinemas built during this period. Classic examples of this highly decorative manner can be seen in the elaborate facades of Melbourne cinemas, such as the Britannia and Majestic of Melbourne.

However as movie projectors and screens were transportable, cinemas began to pop up throughout many country towns. Such cinemas were very simplistic and built only for their purpose. Like most country theatres, the exterior of the Victory Theatre resembled a large shed and thus fell under the third category – along with such renowned ‘country’ cinemas of the time in Sydney as the Southern Cross Theatre in Neutral Bay, the Willoughby Picture Theatre and the Campsie Picture Palace.

In the 1960s, the Victory Theatre closed down due to declining attendance. In 1977 it was leased out as a junk yard, later transforming into the Victory Theatre Antique Centre, which still operates successfully today. The building itself is of state heritage significance for many reasons.

RECORD OF GROWTH As well as being associated with former prominent residents of the area such as Herbert Neate and Reginald Delaney, the Victory Theatre’s construction exemplifies the growth of Blackheath in the first two decades of the 20th century. It represents the growing tourist and local population in the 1900s and their willingness to spend large expanses of money on a public facility as well as the activities associated with Australia’s production and performance of the time.

ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE The facade of the cinema is important to the streetscape. Minimal modifications were undertaken in 1954 by architect Guy Crick – one of the most influential designers of cinemas in Australia throughout the 1930s to 1950s – so fortunately it retains most of its original

More than 50 dealers selling bric-à-brac, antiques & collectables Largest antique centre west of Sydney Open 7 days 10am–5pm Phone: 02 4787 6002 72

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Family portrait of the Simpson family, Blackheath, Blue Mountains, NSW, Edward Challis Kempe, May 1914, photographs of the Australian bush in the area of the Brotherhood of the Good Shepherd.

Courtesy National Library of Australia

Campsie Picture Palace, Sydney. Photo courtesy R Thorne, Picture Palace Architecture in Australia

Victory Theatre at the Blue Mountains: A SIGNIFICANT HISTORICAL SITE T he Victory Theatre Antique Centre is not only a haven of hidden treasure and great food but also a site of historic and cultural significance. Located in Blackheath, west of Sydney, the centre was built by architects Hassel and Stockham in 1915. Its original use was as a cinema for

The Royal, Branxton, NSW, small town movie theatres which display the shed like characteristics.

Photo courtesy: R Thorne, Picture Palace Architecture in Australia

characteristics. The strong imagery and features of the Arts and Crafts Movement is still evident throughout the building. The coffee shop walls display the original tiles and the movement’s distinctive style can also be seen in the pressed tin roof of the projector room.

A RARITY Victory Theatre is the only cinema to have been built in Blackheath and, as such, was an important social venue in providing entertainment for local residents. Its rarity extends to it being one of only three cinema buildings remaining in the Blue Mountains – the others being the Savoy and the Empire, both located in Katoomba.

The Victory is the oldest and showcases earlier design and decoration. The facade represents the free classical architectural idiom employed by architects in the first and second decades of the 20th century in cinema design.

PLACE IN HISTORY The theatre is one of three original historic buildings in Blackheath, built alongside the Gardener’s Inn and the Ivanhoe Hotel. It stands out from its neighbouring shops because of the magnificent exterior mural, which was painted by renowned local artist Jenny Kee in the 1990s, and due its sheer size.

Upon entering the building, two large doors open to the front cafe. Past the cafe lays the fabulous antique centre which houses 51 dealers who source a great assortment of antique furniture, fine jewellery, porcelain, china, Australiana, silver and vintage clothing.

When travelling up to the Blue Mountains, stop by for a coffee or lunch, browse through the amazing space and visit the Victory’s eclectic mix of dealers and large assortment of goods.

Victory Theatre is commended in The Burra Charter: The Australia ICOMOS Charter for Places of Cultural Significance 1999 as a place of ‘aesthetic, historic and social value for past, present and future generations.’ So put it on your list of must-sees when next travelling through the Blue Mountains.

Jana Byrne VICTORY THEATRE 02 4787 6002 victorytheatre@bigpond.com www.victorytheatre.com.au

SOUTHERN HIGHLANDS / WINGEN

BRAEMAR

BERRIMA

THE OLD POT FACTORY 44-54 Old Hume Highway Braemar NSW 2575 Tony Healy 0419 417 721 Specialising in architectural antiques, particularly the restoration and sale of marble fireplaces. Also deal in spectacular and monumental pieces for the garden, marble and stone statues, cast iron urns, fountains, marble and stone gazebos.

MOSS VALE

Sutton Forest

VILLAGE ANTIQUES A TOUCH OF BRASS Jellore Street, Berrima 2577 02 4877 1366 Open Wed, Thur, Fri, Sat 11am - 4pm Sun, Mon, Tues by appointment Huge selection of antique beds in metal (fancy iron, and brass and iron) and various timbers, pine sleigh beds, mahogany half-tester beds, French beds, etc. All sizes.

MITTAGONG SALLY BERESFORD/FRENCH FARMHOUSE 02 4869 3736 www.sallyberesford.com.au French farmhouse tables made to order, French provincial antiques, industrial, architectural and decorative items.

MITTAGONG ANTIQUES CENTRE

PEPPERS MT BROUGHTON A SOUTHERN HIGHLANDS GRAND COUNTRY ESTATE Kater Road, Sutton Forest 2577 02 4868 2355 Fax 02 4868 3257 The estate’s extensive facilities include an à la carte restaurant, cocktail bar, swimming, tennis, cycling, volley ball, gym and walks through the glorious old gardens. A round of golf at the adjoining Mount Broughton Golf and Country Club can be arranged.

85-87 Main Street (Hume Hwy) Mittagong 2575 02 4872 3198 Fax 02 4872 3216 Open 7 Days 10am - 5pm 650 sq metres (7,000 sq ft) with large variety of stock. Plenty of parking. Excellent loading docks. Eftpos & credit cards welcome.

VISIT THE HIGHLANDS

BestRegional Attraction*

over 45 Antique Dealers plus a coffee shop all under the one roof!

B URNING M OUNTAIN

ANTIQUES & P LOUGH I NN NEW ENGLAND HIGHWAY, WINGEN, NSW 2337 TELEPHONE: 02 6545 0235 Barry and Stephen Daniel FOR AUSTRALIANA AND COLLECTABLES

OPEN EVERY DAY 10.00AM TO 5.00PM 85-87 M AIN S TREET • M ITTAGONG T ELEPHONE 02 4872 3198 • FACSIMILE 02 4872 3216 porcelain • fine arts • furniture • silver • books • & more

* WINNER

BEST

OF THE 1999 SOUTHERN HIGHLANDS OUTSTANDING BUSINESS AWARD FOR

REGIONAL

ATTRACTION

Everything from antique furniture, jewellery, memorabilia & other paraphernalia.

Housed in the Historic Old Post Office in Wingen, on the New England Highway about 20 minutes north of Scone

OPEN 7 DAYS • TELEPHONE: 02 6545 0235 Antiques and

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HUNTERS & ANTI Clockwork automation used in window displays, c. 1910, h: 47 cm

Scottish sterling silver table top snuff box, c. 1860s, length: 12 cm

Ivory figurine by L. Sosson, c. 1930s, h: 23 cm

English automation, c. 1880s, h: 50 cm

Art Deco spelter lamp, c. 1930s, h: 39 cm

Black Forest carved clock with French movement, c. 1880s, h: 68 cm

Eight day chiming oak cased clock by Lenzkirch (Germany), c. 1860s, 42 x 28 cm

French art glass by GallĂŠ

Christofle Flatin, Equine figurine, c. 1850s, bronze, 30 x 37 cm

8 Bowral Road Mittagong, NSW 2575 (80 minutes south of Sydney)

Tel: (02) 4872 1661 or 0414 449 366 www.huntersandcollectorsantiques.com Au s t ra l i an An t i q u e a n d Art Deal e rs A s s oc iat i on

MEMBER

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Open 7 days 10 am to 5 pm Rod Cauchi & Kathy Kasz

MEMBER

MITTAGONG

COLLECTOR S NEW QUES Vist ou r GOOG new LE VIRTU AL SHO P TOUR www.hun te

rsandcol lectorsan tiques.co m

Carved orangutan skull from Borneo, c. 1850s

Melrose possum jug, c. 1930s

Top: Flintlock blunderbuss made by Barber (London), c. 1770s, with spring loaded bayonet, length: 75 cm; bottom: Flintlock blunderbuss pistol, c. 1770, length: 50 cm

Cow horn swivel armchair, c. 1920, with cowhide upholstery

Rare Melbourne enamel sign, c. 1910, 122 x 90 cm

English pond yacht, 1920s, 154 x 150 cm

Taxidermy zebra, shoulder mount, c. 1880s

16th century Spanish polychrome figure of Jesus Christ, h: 80 cm

Japanese Samurai puppet head, c. 1880s, h: 30 cm

We buy, sell & hire Antiques & Collectables from the 18th, 19th & early 20th century With special interest in Australiana, antique firearms, advertising paraphernalia, daggers, bronzes, boxes, ivory, whaling items, maritime, taxidermy, Whitby jet, vintage clothing & classic labels, leather gloves & vintage sunglasses.

All things interesting & unusual Antiques and

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MITTAGONG

Pendragon Antiques A good selection of Chinese porcelain always in stock

An interesting range of sewing boxes, needlework tools and associated items available

A range of bronze & spelter statues available

Collection of antique firearms Large Victorian majolica centrepiece.

A variety of majolica items stocked

Chinese lapis lazuli carvings. A variety of Chinese stone carvings in stock

Porcelain 19th century oil lamp

by Sitzendorf (Germany) with a pair of vases

Josef Szabo (1927-1984), Still Life, oil

Victorian mahogany chest of drawers. Always in stock

A well proportioned Victorian mahogany secretaire / bookcase

Georgian mahogany fall front bureau, c. 1800

Pendragon Antiques 24 Bowral Road, Mittagong Open 6 days a week – Closed Tuesdays Hugh & Dianne Arthur

Tel: 02 4872 2397 • Mob: Hugh 0402 274 608 or Dianne 0402 274 609 Email: pendragonantique@internode.on.net 76

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BRAIDWOOD

provincial architectural industrial & garden antiques

string, natural fibres, hand made traditional French hemp & linen string 104 Wallace Street Braidwood Thurs – Mon & Public Holidays 10am – 5pm Longbarn 50 Ryrie Street Braidwood Thurs – Sun & Public Holidays 10am – 5pm Longbarn at The Gate Gallery Wollombi, Hunter Valley NSW Fri – Mon 10am – 3pm phone: Jane at string 0414 820 250 Gary at Longbarn 0417 436 223 w w w. l o n g b a r n . c o m . a u Follow us on facebook Longbarn & string

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Moche culture (North coast 100-800 CE), Stirrup vessel in the form of a feline, ceramic; 21.7 x 22.6 x 12.9 cm. Museo Larco, Lima © Photograph Daniel Giannoni

Vicús culture: Frías style (North coast 100 BC-400 CE), Female figure known as The Venus of Frías, c. 200-600, gold and platinum; 15.3 x 8.7 cm. Instituto Nacional de Cultura, Piura © Photograph Daniel Giannoni

Inca culture (Central, south and north 1400-1533 CE), Llama, gold, 6.2 x 5.5 cm. Museo Oro del Perú, Lima © Photograph Daniel Giannoni

NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA

Gold and the Incas: Lost worlds of Peru 6 DECEMBER 2013 – 21 APRIL 2014 CANBERRA ONLY he National Gallery of Australia presents a magical exhibition which showcases the splendour of ancient pre-Hispanic cultures of Peru. Art, gold, silver, turquoise, shell, textiles and ceramics will excite visitors and provide a new experience.

More than 200 objects, from scintillating gold pieces made to decorate the body in life or in the grave, intricate jewellery, elaborate embroidered and woven cloths to breathtakingly sophisticated ceramic sculptures, are included.

Australian audiences will encounter the aesthetic depth, drama and beauty of the famous Incan empire and its predecessors.

As well as being highly-skilled metalworkers, potters and weavers, the artisans of the Peruvian civilisation included in their works various religious and political ideas based on the importance of the natural world. Lively depictions of animals, birds and fish decorate the works of art. Technological inventions such as the knotted string quipu provide a new outlook on the sophisticated world of the Incas.

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INCA EMPIRE BEFORE THE SPANISH CONQUEST The Chavín, Moche, Chancay, Chimú and Huari cultures were eventually overcome by Inca warriors in the decades after 1400, themselves to be conquered by the Spanish in 1532. Although the conquistadores under Francisco Pizarro easily vanquished the Inca empire with horses and superior weaponry, the Incas had established control over a vast territory that stretched from modern Colombia in the north, east into Bolivia and Argentina, to Chile in the south. They defeated the Chimú kingdom and carried off their craftsmen. In this way we can often trace cultural traditions which continued under the triumphant new rulers.

IMPACT OF SPANISH CONQUEST Then the Spanish came, razing the Inca capital Cuzco and looting vast numbers of gold and silver artefacts, which were melted down for their ore. Twenty percent was reserved for the Spanish throne. It is estimated that perhaps 90 percent of the native population were killed or died of introduced disease. Despite this looting and destruction, an amazing amount of the brilliant art of the previous two millennia has been discovered and excavated in the last century. Many of these masterworks are on display in Canberra.

SYMBOLISM IN PRE-HISPANIC ARTEFACTS

Chimú culture (North Peru 1100–1450 CE), Pair of ear ornaments, gold and copper; 22 x 10 x 5.5 cm / 22 x 9.5 x 5.5 cm. Museo Larco, Lima © Photograph Museo Larco

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Dualism underlies much of the world view of pre-Hispanic Peru: day and night, gold and silver, the sun and the moon, male and female.

Sometimes these elements are combined within a single object. Creation stories divide existence into three planes. The sky is dominated by gods and rulers, symbolised by birds, the human realm of earth and sea is represented by felines such as the jaguar and fish, while the underworld is ruled

by reptiles and insects. All these worlds are fertilised by liquids – rain, blood and semen – which are exchanged between the three levels of existence to continue the cycle of life. So a fearsome sea creature is invoked to help catch food, to propitiate nature, and probably to represent the occupation of the person with whom it was buried. Lively and decorative, the animal (whale) or fish (shark) is based on observation and enhanced with magic and imagination.

AMAZING ARTEFACTS RECOVERED FROM BURIAL SITES Most of the works have been disinterred from burial caches, where they accompanied the dead in their journey between worlds. Vessels such as these contained ceremonial liquids for ritual purposes, and remains of chicha or corn liquor have been found, which was meant to nourish those buried with it. Similarly, some glorious textiles of the Paracas culture survive, up to 30 layers wrapped around bodies found in dry and dark caves in the southern desert. The skill and sophistication of their makers is unparalleled, combining as they do intricate weaving and embroidery techniques with images of gods, animals and humans.

Some of the most surprising survivors, often many hundreds of years old, are the brilliant feathers of Andean birds, especially the macaw and other tropical species. They were trapped, or traded, or even bred. The Lambayeque culture unku (tunic or cloak) uses thousands of bright yellow feathers for the body, with a black and blue motif of felines, probably jaguars, morphing into birds on the front. The creatures' bodies are made up of triangles, simple yet immediately recognisable. At the bottom is a stylised red wave, so that the components symbolise the earth, the heavens and the sea.

Sparkling minerals and shells such as mother-of-pearl decorate wooden and ceramic

sculptures. The litter to carry royal or noble Chimú personages displays four divine figures, recognisable from their headdresses. The red shell is spondylus, imported from Ecuador in the north into the Andes for its brilliant, unusual hue. The use of such materials, including gold, silver and copper, was restricted to the ruling class, as they were separated by their physical brilliance from ordinary people who wore fibres native to Peru, such as camelid wool and cotton. Similarly, precious and semi-precious stones were used with gold for spectacular jewellery to decorate the living and the dead.

COLLECTION TRAVELLING FROM LATIN AMERICA TO AUSTRALIA The works of art in Gold and the Incas come from the Museo Nacional de Arqueología, Antropología e Historiadel Perú (the National Museum) and its fraternal collections, the Museo Arqueologico Rafael Larco Herrera (Larco Museum), the Amano Museum and the Museo Oro del Perú (the Gold Museum of Peru).The exhibition is staged as the National Gallery’s major contribution to the AustraliaLatin America Year of Cultural Exchange, and is organised in co-operation with the Peruvian Ministry of Culture. 2013 also marks the centenary of Canberra.

A major catalogue, consisting of essays, entries, maps and timeline, as well as colour illustrations of each object, accompanies the show.

Christine Dixon Senior Curator, International Painting and Sculpture NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA 02 6240 6411 http://nga.gov.au First published in Artonview, issue 75 © National Gallery of Australia, 2013

CANBERRA

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NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA Walter B Woodbury: photography in Indonesia 1850s –1940s n 1852, at the age of 18, Walter B Woodbury left behind his engineering apprenticeship in Manchester to try his luck halfway around the world in Australia’s Victorian goldfields. On arrival, he realised the easy pickings were gone and he took a variety of jobs, soon changing from a rather sheltered British ‘new chum’ into a seasoned colonial.

Not long after, in Melbourne, recalling his boyhood experiments with cameras, Woodbury invested his meagre remaining funds in a camera. This time, however, his

I

impulsiveness paid off. Woodbury rapidly became expert in the new process of wet-plate photography on glass, and he went on to make the earliest photographic panorama in Australia.

ENTREPRENEUR & INVENTOR By 1854, Woodbury had a studio in Beechworth, and in 1855 he teamed up with young James Page from Kent. In 1857, finding there were too many competing studios in Victoria, the partners in Woodbury & Page set off for Java, their first stop on a planned business circuit of exotic ports.

21 FEBRUARY – 22 JUNE 2014

In one of his first letters home from Java in 1857, Woodbury declared, ‘I cant (sic) tell you how beautiful it is’; but, his photographs could, and he regularly dispatched prints home, some of which survive in his personal album. A year later, on 15 June 1858, Woodbury triumphantly reported, ‘we each of us 7 or 800 pound richer’. He persuaded his brothers Henry and Albert to join him.

In 1863, Woodbury returned home, newly married to his beautiful Dutch-Indonesian wife, Marie Sophie. His fine home and studio in Jakarta remained as the headquarters of the

firm until 1908 under various successors, including brothers Henry and then Albert from the 1860s to 1880s.

Woodbury’s career from the 1860s was chiefly as an inventor. His super fine-quality photomechanical process, the woodburytype, was patented in 1864 and showcased in his own 1875 deluxe travel book Treasure spots of the world.

However Woodbury’s various inventions and ventures were ultimately not lucrative, and he died in ill health aged 51. Henry and Albert similarly returned home rich but did not hang on to their tropical fortunes.

A MAJOR PHOTO ARCHIVE In its decades of operation, Woodbury & Page, however, maintained the brand. The firm’s distinctive rich-toned, detailed prints survive today as the major archive of Jakarta and 19th-century colonial Indonesia.

The work of the Woodbury brothers and their successors will feature prominently in the National Gallery’s exhibition Garden of the East: photography in Indonesia 1850s– 1940s, which opens in February 2014.

Gael Newton Senior Curator, Photography Curator of Garden of the East: photography in Indonesia 1850s–1940 NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA 02 6240 6411 www.nga.gov.au Note Article first published in Artonview no 75, spring 2013, National Gallery of Australia 2013

“

Woodbury rapidly became expert in the new process of wetplate photography on glass, and he went on to make the earliest photographic panorama in Australia

” Thilly Weissenborn, ‘Ballineesch dansmeisj in rust’ (A dancing girl of Bali, resting), c. 1925. National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, purchased 2007

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CANBERRA

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CANBERRA

WELCOME TO CANBERRA’S Forrest Hotel and Apartments T he Forrest Hotel and Apartments is one of Canberra’s best value hotels with a choice of standard to executive nonsmoking rooms. The award-winning, three-anda-half star Canberra property also offers state-ofthe-art conference facilities, restaurant and function areas. Renowned for its hospitality, guests enjoy all the comforts of home complemented by outstanding service.

CLOSEST HOTEL TO PARLIAMENT HOUSE Situated in the prestigious leafy suburb of Forrest, with views to parkland and beyond to Parliament House, Forrest Hotel and Apartments is renowned for its quiet and tranquil location which is also in the Parliamentary triangle so, leave the car and follow a picturesque route to many of Canberra’s major icons. From the hotel, Parliament House is a 10 minute walk.

Manuka shopping village and Manuka oval are also only 10 minute walks. If looking for more exercise, both Lake Burley Griffin shores and Old Parliament House is a 20 minute stroll and it takes approximately 30 minutes to walk to Questacon and the National Library.

Even closer by car is the Australian War Memorial which takes six minutes, and if looking to drive to the CBD for entertainment and shopping, this is no more than five minutes by car as is the National Convention Centre.

Or, if not wanting to go very far then the Italo Australian Club is next door to the hotel.

It is also the ideal stopover for a skiing holiday in the Snowy Mountains ski fields of Thredbo and Perisher, which are only two hours from the Forrest Hotel and Apartments.

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DINE IN THE FORREST Located on the ground floor, Sherwoods Restaurant is fully licensed offering a seasonal menu of wonderful dishes, excellent boutique wines plus al fresco dining. Ideal for business and private occasions, free Wi-Fi is available during breakfast and evening meals when the restaurant is open.

CONFERENCES IN CANBERRA Forrest Hotel and Apartments is ideal for day, half day or residential meetings. Conveniently located, the Forrest Hotel ensures your delegates enjoy a calm environment, not bound by four walls or the fuss of bigger establishments. For your conference or meetings venue, book today.

The Nottingham Room, overlooking the parkland, caters for up to 80 delegates and includes state-of-the-art presentation facilities.

To find out more contact FORREST HOTEL AND APARTMENTS 02 6203 4300 reservations@forresthotel.com www.forresthotel.com

JAMBEROO / CANBERRA

Nerilee Antiques Fine Antiques since 1971

Canberra’s annual ACT Autumn Antique Fair

A ROTARY EVENT 21 MARCH - 23 MARCH 2014 hat better way to welcome autumn to the nation’s capital than visiting the Rotary Club of Canberra City’s annual Autumn Antique and Collectables Fair to be held in Yarralumla’s Albert Hall.

Whether you’re seeking dining tables and chairs, fine china dinner sets and damask table linen, kerosene lamps, or diamonds, one of the 23 antique dealers taking part is sure to have something for everyone.

Are you more interested in less expensive collectables? Prices range from around $20 to…whatever you’re happy to pay for your passion. And don’t forget the excellent selection of light meals, morning and afternoon tea in the supper room.

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PROSPECTIVE BUYERS ARE ASSURED OF THE QUALITY AND AUTHENTICITY OF ALL ITEMS A Canberra institution, these traditional antique fairs always feature an excellent blend of high quality, genuine, affordable antiques, old world nostalgia and wonderful bric-a-brac for sale. No reproductions or new

The Hall Attic CANBERRA’S NEWEST ANTIQUE SHOP

Looking for that elusive item or gift?

You may well find it at The Hall Attic, an eclectic range of antiques, collectables, old wares and craft.

Located in the delightful village of Hall, ACT, take a browse through The Attic and then enjoy a Devonshire Tea at the local coffee shop. We are always interested in buying antiques and old wares.

We also sell on consignment Tim & Glenda Bloomfield 6 Victoria St Hall ACT 2618 Tel 02 6230 9377, Mob 0418 162 830 0pen weekends and public holidays 11am - 4pm

merchandise are allowed and all items must be accurately described. A purchaser will be told if any restoration has been carried out.

The Rotary Club of Canberra City and exhibitors are proud of the standard of the fair and what it gives back to the local community.

PROCEEDS FOR CHARITY Proceeds from the fairs always stay in Canberra. Proceeds from this fair will help the Zonta Club of Canberra Breakfast in various projects which advance the status of women in the Canberra region. Sponsors are WIN TV, 1st Choice Liquor Superstore at Phillip, ACT and CosmoreX Coffee, Fyshwick, ACT. Opening night will be Friday 21 March from 6 pm to 9 pm. The fair continues on Saturday 22 March from 10 am to 5.30 pm, and on Sunday 23 March from 10 am to 4 pm. Entry to the fair is $7 ($5 concession).

Children 14 years and under are free.

Wheelchair access is available.

For further information contact Les Selkirk ROTARY CLUB OF CANBERRA CITY 02 6231 5244 / 0418 631 445

Selkirk

Open 10 – 5pm, Thurs, Fri, Sat, Sun & Mon 26 Allowrie St, Jamberoo NSW 10 km from Kiama

Telephone: 02 4236 0389

ACT SEASONAL ANTIQUE FAIRS present

2014 AUTUMN

ANTIQUES AND COLLECTABLES FAIR in the

ALBERT HALL COMMONWEALTH AVENUE CANBERRA FRIDAY NIGHT 21 March 2014 SATURDAY 22 March 2014 SUNDAY 23 March 2014

6 pm - 9 pm 10 am - 5.30 pm 10 am - 4 pm

Presented by Rotary Club of Canberra City Admission $7 Concession $5 (children under 14 years admitted free)

Offering personalised service and sales Specialising in Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian mahogany and walnut furniture

Established Genuine Antiques and Collectables Fair Enquiries: 02 6231 5244 or 0418 631 445

Small silver items, both sterling and plate

R E F R E S H M E N T S AVA I L A B L E

Selkirk Antiques have selected pieces of Doulton, (including Flambé), Shelley & Moorcroft Ceramics Furniture restoration service available

Proceeds will aid the Zonta Club of Canberra Breakfast in their various projects which advance the status of women in the Canberra region.

29 Summerland Circuit, Kambah ACT 2902

Wheelchair access is available

ANTIQUES & RESTORATIONS

02 6231 5244 Fax 02 6231 3656 Mobile 0418 631 445

Sponsors of the Fair include WIN TV, and other local businesses Antiques and

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Hourglass or sand-glass in early Italian fresco, c. 1337-1339, held by figure middle right

THE BEGINNINGS OF TIME in horology 1300 – 1500 T he mechanical clock appeared around 1280-1300, along with the crucial invention of the ‘crown wheel and verge’ escapement. This device requires a crown wheel, with an odd number of teeth to the side, like a hole-cutting saw blade mounted vertically. Across the crown wheel is a vertically mounted arbor or shaft, with a balance wheel on top. Two small projections of steel called pallets are mounted on this arbor (the verge). Each pallet face meets a tooth of the crown wheel alternately spinning the balance wheel each way, allowing the crown wheel to escape (release) one tooth at a time.

The regulating of this escapement was controlled by adjustable driving weights, and required frequent adjustment to time. The crown wheel was held, the verge lifted out, the train let run freely to the desired time, stopped on crown wheel and verge replaced and set going. This required an attendant of some skill; considering that the clock may have taken two years to make, a mistake would be costly. The basic crown wheel and verge escapement lasted with several improvements for almost 500 years.

An alternative soon appeared to the crown wheel and verge. A horizontal bar was attached to the arbor in place of the balance wheel and suspended by pig or horsehair. At each end of the bar were notches where weights could be moved in for faster or out for slower. The new escapement was a ‘crown wheel and verge foliot’, known as a verge foliot. It worked the same way as the verge balance but was able to be regulated independently. This system was very robust, would tick away almost forever as long as its moving parts were kept oiled. However it was still a very poor timekeeper, but better than the crown wheel and verge.

The oldest surviving clock in England is in Salisbury Cathedral. It was verge foliot, has no dials but strikes the hour. It was made about 1386, for historical accounts show that in 1386 provision was made for a house for the use of the clock keeper. Ralph Erghum was bishop of Salisbury and was a regular visitor to the court of King Edward III. He later moved to Wells Cathedral in Somerset and commissioned another clock in 1388, having it installed in 1392. Both these clocks are the oldest surviving

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clocks in England and have been found in more recent times to be made by the same craftsmen.

These two clocks have now been attributed to Johannes Lietuijt, or the brothers Johannes and Williemus Vrieman, a group of three clockmakers invited to England in 1368 by King Edward III from the Low Countries (Belgium, Luxenbourg and the Netherlands).

The Salisbury clock was replaced by a new mechanism in 1884. It was saved from oblivion in 1929 when TR Robinson drew attention to its great antiquity. As can be seen, the wrought iron clock frame is held together with wedges. These earlier clocks were ground-mounted like the water clocks. The weights were suspended from pulleys higher than the clock. Eventually these clocks were put in a tower with weights hung below, becoming known as Turret or Tower Clocks.

In 1931 the original mechanism was cleaned up and put on display, and finally in 1956, with the help of Rolls Royce, certain parts were Xrayed to see what was original. By using original parts and some new, it was restored back to verge foliat from a previous pendulum alteration.

The restored Salisbury clock is probably the oldest clock in the world today still running.

The Wells Cathedral clock of 1392 strikes the quarters as well as the hours. It has two dials, one astronomical and three separate automata. The original movement now resides in the Science Museum in London, having been replaced in 1835 and that movement in turn replaced c.1890. The original astronomical dial at Wells Cathedral is the finest still preserved in England.

Around the early 14th century the hourglass finally appears to have been developed. The first known illustration of the hourglass is in an Italian fresco painted between 1337-1339 in the Palazzo Pubblico in Sienna; the sandglass is held aloft formally indicating something of great or of new importance.

The invention of the hourglass or sandglass had required a form of breakthrough in technology. Not in the glass, but rather in the need for an alternative to sand. Sand, because of its abrasiveness, would soon grind and enlarge the hole thus destroying the time keeping. The introduction of the hourglass required a manmade medium, and this was finally overcome

areas could limit the advancement of skilled Salisbury Cathedral clock, 1386

with the use of evenly crushed eggshell. The hourglass was used widely for timing at sea where it was not affected by the sway of the ship, often used to set the four hour watch. In industry, it was used as a timer in manufacturing. On Sundays it was used to time the sermon, where it was also known as a sermon or pulpit glass. If the clergy were so inclined they would say ‘Brethren, we will take another glass’ and turn the glass upside-down to continue the sermon for another hour.

European knowledge of the planet grew more rapidly in the 15th century than ever before. The ships and long range navigation needed for maritime enterprise were available from the 14th century making possible the great exploration which led to the 15th century being called the ‘Age of Reconnaissance’. Exploration turned southward heralding the age of discovery which was to transform the globe and create one world.

Education had largely been the responsibility of the Church. The most important development at this time was the creation of universities, which went on to become the major transmitters of information and culture. By 1400 there were more than 53 universities, resulting in the revival of the training of the clergy and ensuring that the education of a substantive number of laymen was done in institutions under the control of the Church and so suffused with religion.

The spread of education allowed for the development of a merchant and artisan class. In relation to horology, this meant the application of new techniques and an expanded understanding of mechanical devices. These early timepieces were manufactured from examples and drawings given earlier as gifts. An example was the Arabian water clock given by Haroun al Rashid to Charlemagne in 807 where up to 12 bronze bells were struck, with 12 horsemen emerging at noon from windows, which closed behind them.

During this time the setting of standards, regulation and institutionalising of apprentices passed into the hands of the craftsmen, with these artisans organised into guilds. These guilds grew as part of the social commune and achieved special jurisdictional independence for free men in medieval Europe. Many urban areas developed without guilds. In some ways the guilds in small

Drawing crown wheel, verge and foliot

Wells Cathedral clock outer dial, 1392

VICTORIA

Below: Domestic iron clock of the late Middle Ages with a painted dial plate with castellated cresting, turret style fourposter frame with verge escapement and foliot, and double-barrel winding system

Diagram illustrating the fusee and barrel

Above: French (Burgundy) chamber clock with gilt brass case, c.1460. British Museum, London. Highly important and a contender for the oldest surviving spring-driven clock in existence. All internal parts are of iron, was originally spring-driven and later converted to weight-driven for both time and strike

areas could limit the advancement of skilled labour, whereas the larger towns eventually became the domain of merchants and craftsmen.

Within the first year the apprentice had to pass the required reading, writing and drawing exams for acceptance before full training commenced. At this time literacy was probably limited to one percent of the population resulting in those able to undertake an apprenticeship being a select group. Perhaps this is why it appears that horology was kept within a small nucleus, often within family groups.

An early example of the guilds and their workings in domestic clockmaking in Europe is that of Germany and central France. At this time clockmaking was not a separate guild in France but part of the Guild of Smiths which incorporated blacksmiths, locksmiths and the like. The first clockmakers guild was established in Paris in 1544, with seven masters listed.

The gold and silversmiths guilds in France controlled gold and silver use and yet somehow the early French clockmakers were able to access precious metals. Sometimes complete gold cases were created. Whether this was because of cooperation or because the king wanted something made and decreed that clockmakers could use gold is uncertain.

Not many examples of these early French clocks have survived, probably melted down because their gold content was used to manufacture other items. Far more German examples exist from this period as the German gold and silversmiths guilds did not allow the use of gold or silver by another guild.

Their clocks were mainly made with wrought iron cases with few examples of collaboration between guilds where the iron was gilded. This may explain how for many years it was thought that Germany was the original area for the manufacture of domestic clocks, but most likely this was fuelled by the early examples found, aided by the paucity of complete French examples.

Early highly skilled artisans travelled to different cities undertaking commissions as requested, making the mechanism and then returning to their home. However, on occasion groups of master artisans removed to other towns or countries because of health (epidemics), political or economic reasons.

It was during this period that many members of the Italian artisan class relocated to France due

to political and religious pressures. Earlier, Italy had attracted many craftsmen from all over Europe. In turn France lost this educated class with the persecution of the Huguenots. Some went to Switzerland with most resettling in the Lowlands (Holland) and England, a few making their way to Sweden.

The major invention of the period was the spring-driven timepiece. This appears to date back at least to the first quarter of the 15th century. Its invention made possible portable clocks and later watches and was crucial to the development of horology. The first reference is found in Italy written by a contemporary of Filippo Brunelleschi who in around 1410 was involved in the construction of various and diverse kinds of springs.

However a more accurate account of a French made miniature clock dated from around 1440-50 portrays in great detail the mechanism of a spring-driven mechanism.

The other major innovation of the period was the increased accuracy of the portable clock. This was achieved by the invention of the fusee in the last half of the 15th century, as documented in drawings of the time. A fully-wound spring released power in decreasing amounts.

The fusee is best described as a torque converter that evens out the power loss of the spring. In simple terms it is a truncated cone with a spiral thread cut into the surface. The power is delivered via a cord from the spring held in a barrel, the power fully-wound to the smallest end of the cone; as the spring power drops, the delivery of power goes up in torque value on the cone in an increasing leverage value, equalising the force delivered.

The fusee was the pre-eminent power equalisation system for over 400 years and was used in manufacturing until the 1960s in England and is still used today by clockmakers crafting individual pieces. With the current sophistication of manufacturing techniques the rationale for incorporating the fusee is primarily aesthetic.

References Eric Bruton, The History of Clocks & Watches, Little, Brown & Company, 1979 Carlo M. Cipolla, Clocks and Culture 1300-1700, Collins, London Winthrop Edey, French Clocks, Walker And Company, New York Cedric Jagger, The Worlds Great Clocks & Watches, Hamlyn

Kristen Lippincott, The History of Time, Merrell Holberton Joseph Needham, Wang Ling & Derek J. Price, Heavenly Clockwork, Cambridge University Press Hugh Tait, Clocks in The British Museum, Trustees Of The British Museum G J Whitrow, Time in History, Oxford University Press Colin Wilson, The Book of Time, Jacaranda Press

Michael Colman COLMAN ANTIQUE CLOCKS 03 9824 8244 www.colmnantiqueclocks.com

Colman Antique Clocks WAT C H & C L O C K R E S T O R E R S

The case is complete with green silk backed fine filigree timber fretwork panels (total 8 panels) to front, sides and rear door

The movement is beautifully made with early generous acanthus styled hand engraved back plate, original verge escapement and pendulum, with 5 pillars striking the hour on the larger of the bells, and quarter hour pull cord repeat on the nest of six bells

The break arch case has full size opening doors, glazed, to front and rear

Fine early Georgian bracket clock by London maker John Taylor, c. 1730, housed in an ebonised break arch case with inverted bell top surmounted by a carrying handle, resting on bracket feet. John Taylor was a listed clockmaker and a member of the Clockmaker’s Company of London.

The dial with gilt spandrels to corners and arch, with silvered finishes to strike/silent regulation in the arch, main chapter ring, engraved name plate bearing Taylor’s signature, a date aperture above 6 o’clock and further aperture for verge mock dial window with lovely handcrafted blued steel hands

The strike mechanism has a pull cord repeat. The repeat occurs in the quarter you are in 2:32 = 2 peels of six bells and 2 of the hour 4:20 = 1 peel of six bells and 4 of the hour 7:50 = 3 peels of six bells and 7 of the hour

1421 Malvern Road Malvern, Victoria 3144 Australia Ph: 03 9824 8244 Fax: 03 9824 4230 Email: michaelcolman@optusnet.com.au Website: www.colmanantiqueclocks.com Member of the Watch and Clock Makers of Australia (formerly HGA) and the BHI

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VICTORIA

Solitaire diamond ring, 3.51 ct.

Sold $38,940

Pair of ivory and silver plate candlesticks by Joseph Rodgers and Sons Sheffield, c. 1900, pattern 2821. Sold $2741

Chinese Qing dynasty (1644-1912), Rhinoceros in 900 silver. Sold $1888

Tanzanite & diamond bracelet. Sold $5664

Japanese Meiji period (1868-1912), Pair of Kinkozan Satsuma vases. Sold $3068

Ruby & diamond collier necklace. Sold $15,340 English Regency mahogany table clock, movement by William Halksworth (Fleet Street, London), c. 1840s. Sold $5192

Russian silver sugar basin, assayer’s mark ‘AA’, Moscow, 1891. Sold $542

Japanese Meiji period (1868-1912), Silver tea ladle. Sold $1652

Seven piece teak dining setting, c. 1950-60s, in the Fler style. Sold $1652

AUCTION SCHEDULE 2014 Accepting items for consignment:

FINE & DECORATIVE ARTS, ANTIQUES & JEWELLERY HEAD OFFICE: 47 GLENFERRIE ROAD, MALVERN 3144 T: +61 3 9509 6788 F: +61 3 9509 3455 email: philips@philipsauctions.com.au www.philipsauctions.com.au

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Fine and Decorative Arts Modern and Antique Jewellery Closing for Entries Viewing

Sunday 16 February Monday 17 February Thursday 23 January Wed 12 - Sat 15 February

Fine and Decorative Arts Modern and Antique Jewellery Closing for Entries Viewing

Sunday 23 March Monday 24 March Thursday 27 February Wed 19 - Sat 22 March

Fine and Decorative Arts Modern and Antique Jewellery Closing for Entries Viewing

Sunday 4 May Monday 5 May Thursday 10 April Wed 30 April - Sat 3 May

Visit www.philipsauctions.com.au for details of all current lots

QUEENSLAND

A SPECIALIST FURNITURE MANUFACTURER

Churchill Chesterfield made in Australia ased on Queensland’s Gold Coast, Churchill Chesterfields are leather chesterfield and bespoke furniture manufacturers.Proudly Australian made, the firm makes an extensive variety of designs.

Choose from English reproduction traditional chesterfields, a range of Queen Anne wing chairs and recliner chairs.

There are leather office/study swivel chairs, such as Captains, Admirals, Director’s, Gainsborough, Mountbatten’s, London swivel and larger wing swivels, also office/study or commercial compact chesterfield tub chairs, plus many more designs. All furniture is hand made by one of Britain’s most experienced craftsmen, using only the best possible resources available today to create everlasting masterpieces.

all from renewable forest plantations, the timber is the same used by 95% of UK chesterfield manufacturers. All frames come with a 10-year structural guarantee, are dowelled glued and screwed. The looks include traditional mahogany; dark, medium, golden and light oak; walnut, plus many more.

SPOILT FOR CHOICE

The bespoke service is designed to addressa customer’s special requirement. This is a personal made to measure tailored manufacturing facility. The foams are standard fire resistant, are of the highest quality resilience, and carry a 10-year warranty.

Churchill Chesterfields

WHERE & WHEN THE CHESTERFIELD WAS FIRST INTRODUCED

Manufacturers of high quality Bespoke English Reproduction Chesterfield leather furniture

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Our many ranges are all available in leather and fabric in a wide range of colours. We use original English antique rub off leathers plus the aged distressed pull up aniline and waxed aniline leather which are imported from the UK exclusive to us. The leather is fire resistant and is of the finest A grade hides.

Imported from the UK are five leather ranges with a choice of over 70 different colours. If preferred, choose fabric or velvet upholstery.

Perhaps you have a fabric already purchased – let us make it up in the style of your choice.

FRAMES AND MORE Match your choice of fabric or leather with our selection of timber.Our frames are made of the finest European beech hardwood timber

A MODERN CHESTERFIELD SOFA

OUR SPECIAL CHESTERFIELDS The chesterfields are made with sprung seats and hand-built sprung backs units, dispelling the myth that these designs are uncomfortable.

Our designs, many not seen in the country before, are soft and luxurious, designed to suit a customer’s preference.

For something different, there is the Art Deco range of plain unbuttoned chesterfields with mixed contrasting leather fabric combinations.

BELOW THE SURFACE

referred to as ‘odd motions, strange postures and ungenteel carriage.’ In our opinion, we assume this to be the forerunner of the now famous chesterfield sofa.

The deep-buttoned leather chesterfield is one of the most distinguished luxury products of the British Isles, renowned worldwide for the craftsmanship used in its construction and for its beauty.

Due to modern health and safety legislation, the old methods of producing a chesterfield sofa have changed. Our chesterfield sofas feature full flame retardant leather and foam fillings amongst many other modern refinements ensuring the safety of you and your loved ones while retaining the original character of chesterfield furniture.

CHURCHILL CHESTERFIELDS 07 5530 2648 info@churchillchesterfields.com.au www.churchillchesterfields.com.au

In England a chesterfield evokes an image of elegance and sophistication. This deep-buttoned sofa is synonymous with traditional English furniture design, its origin dating back to mid 18th century. In circa 1773 the fourth Earl of Chesterfield commissioned noted furniture designer Robert Adam to design a piece of furniture that would permit a gentleman to sit with the back straight and avoid what the Earl

Visit our web site www.churchillchesterfields.com.au

8 Moondance Court Opening hours 8am to 5pm Bonogin, Gold Coast Monday to Friday Queensland 4213

By Appointment Mobile: 0424 882 144 Saturday & Sunday only Telephone: 07 5530 2648 Email: info@churchillchesterfields.com.au

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Mark your diary for the annual ROTARY ANTIQUES, COLLECTABLES & BOOK FAIR AT JUPITERS HOTEL & CASINO GOLD COAST 9 – 12 JANUARY 2014

27th ROTARY ANTIQUES, COLLECTABLES & BOOK FAIR jewellery, porcelain, china, silver, clocks, pottery, furniture, historic documents, rare books, prints, posters, maps and postcards – and much more!

BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE ROTARY CLUB OF PALM BEACH

he eagerly anticipated Antiques Collectables & Book Fair will again be presented by the Rotary Club of Palm Beach from 9 – 12 January 2014 at the popular Jupiters Hotel & Casino’s Pavilion Room at Broadbeach.

Having grown to become an institution for locals, holiday makers and serious collectors, the fair is being presented in a superb setting for the display of an array of fine pieces. This venue has the added bonus of offering visitors an opportunity to enjoy the spectacular entertainment and excellent dining options available at Jupiters.

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WHAT’S ON OFFER

Jupiters Hotel & Casino Pavillion Room Broadbeach Queensland

Thursday 9 - Sunday 12 January 2014 January 2014 Fair Dates

Admission

Thursday 9 Jan 5 pm – 9 pm Adults $12 Friday 10 Jan 10 am – 6 pm Concessions $10 Saturday 11 Jan 10 am – 8 pm Under 17 Free Sunday 12 Jan 10 am – 3 pm For FREE Jupiters Parking – validate your parking ticket at the Antiques Fair

All proceeds towards purchasing neonatal cots for three local maternity hospitals Phone: 07 5577 2771 / 0411 649 242 Website: www.rotaryantiquesfair.com Email: AntiquesFairChairman@tpg.com.au 88

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Over 70 dealers from interstate and locally will be exhibiting in spacious air conditioned surroundings. They will be displaying and selling an eye-catching selections of jewellery, clocks, silver, porcelain, furniture, coins and toys. Antiquarian collectors can find historical documents, as well as books with an enticing selection of literary treats gathered from many parts of the world – including old and rare volumes, children’s classics and books on a wide range of subjects.

Enjoy the buzz of browsing among an inspiring array of antiques, collectables and books presented by dealers from around Australia.

FUND RAISING FOR CHARITY Revenue generated from the 2014 fair will be donated towards raising funds for a Neonatal Retrieval System and associated equipment needed to transport sick new born babies to other facilities for additional treatment. The equipment is to be used by the Gold Coast’s three maternity hospitals: Pindara, Gold Coast and John Flyn.

We look forward to welcoming one and all at Jupiters in January for our 27th annual fair

and thank dealers, sponsors and the public for their continuing support.

For more information contact Peter Campbell ROTARY ANTIQUES COLLECTABLE & BOOK FAIR 07 5577 2771 / 0411 649 242 AntiquesFairChairman@tpg.com.au www.rotaryantiquesfair.com

QUEENSLAND

Copperplate engraving c. 1772-77 of Loggia arch fresco by Raphael (1483-1520)

The brilliance of 18th century artworks

Bernard Picart (1673-1733), Amor, c. 1725, copperplate engraving

AT BRISBANE ANTIQUE EMPORIUM

this extravagance. Since that time, the decorative designs, particularly from Raphael’s loggia, have inspired and influenced generations of decorators, architects and designers. They were a standard of excellence and style for the world to follow, and exemplified the classical design of the Renaissance period.

Eighteenth-century classical design encompasses some of the grandest wall decoration from any era. Imagine how grand they would look on your own walls! Many of these rare original antique engravings are available in the current spectacular exhibition of classical 18th century engravings at the Antique Emporium in Clayfield, Brisbane – not far from the airport!

esigned and painted by Raphael during 1518-1519, the magnificent frescoes in the Loggia at the Vatican were the final work by Raphaello (Raphael) Sanzio da Urbino (1483-1520). Raphael is considered one of the finest artists of the Renaissance period, and his Vatican frescoes a High Renaissance masterpiece of classical design.

Continuing Donato Bramante’s decoration of the Vatican, Raphael had previously adorned the rooms of the private apartment of Pope Julius II. The next Pope, Leo X, commissioned Raphael to design and paint the colonnade adjoining the Pope’s residence. With his assistants, Raphael painted his designs on the 13 pilasters (support pillars), and ceiling arches and vaults.

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RAPHAEL’S GENIUS RECORDED IN COPPERPLATE ENGRAVINGS To record Raphael’s brilliance, by order of Pope Clement XIII, the intricate designs of his early 16th century frescoes were engraved onto copperplates 250 years later for Le Logge di Rafaele nel Vaticano (The Loggia by Raphael at the Vatican). The central vertical folds on the large copperplate engravings of the ceiling arches indicate the size of this grand publication. The images are approximately 33 x 57 cm.

To show the magnificence of each tall pilaster two large copperplate engravings were joined.

Each pair measured 105 x 44 cm and was superbly hand-coloured to accentuate Raphael’s imaginative grotesque motifs of beribboned flowers and fruit, gods and graces, and other mythical figures. Where the frescoes had deteriorated too far to be legible, elements from Raphael’s Vatican tapestries were incorporated to remain faithful to his design. The grace and classical beauty of Raphael’s design – particularly the grotesques – greatly influenced the popularity of the neoclassical style.

The grand engravings of Raphael’s pilasters were considered to be so important that ten years later they were engraved in pairs half the size of the first publication, each 37 x 50 cm. In 1813, these exquisitely detailed copperplate engravings were published in Paris by French draughtsman and engraver, Pierre-Philippe Choffard (1730-1809). Once again they are brilliantly hand-coloured in gouache and watercolour.

FRESCO WALL DECORATION WAS NOT A NEW IDEA The Vatican contracted hundreds of talented professionals. Swiss architect and engineer Domenico Fontana (1543-1607) was responsible for much of Rome’s redevelopment. In 1600 Fontana accidentally discovered the buried region of Pompeii during tunnelling for the construction of a viaduct. Not then identified as a great municipium, dedicated excavation of these ruins did not begin until 1748 – and haphazardly continued for the next 112 years.

Another great municipium of the 1st century, Herculaneum was not discovered until 1709 when men digging a well uncovered a decorated wall of the city. A town had been built above, so excavation did not begin for 30 years.

POMPEII AND HERCULANEUM IN COPPERPLATE ENGRAVINGS Artefacts and decorated walls from Pompeii and Herculaneum were illustrated as they were uncovered. Engravers were employed to transpose them onto plates for prints to be made to circulate the findings. Some of the finest classical engravers of the day were employed to engrave the frescoes for the most important 18th century archaeological work Le Antichità di Ercolano Esposta (The Antiquities of Herculaneum Exposed), published in Naples between 1757 and 1792. Some of these wonderful copperplate engravings have cross-hatched shaded sections indicating where the paint or mosaic had been destroyed, which reminds us of their source.

Kathryn & Derek Nicholls ANTIQUE PRINT CLUB 07 5525 1363 / 0412 442 283 sales@antiqueprintclub.com www.antiqueprintclub.com

Copperplate engraving c. 1772-77 of Loggia pilaster fresco by Raphael (1483-1520)

Antique Print Club www.antiqueprintclub.com Purchase securely online. Email sales@antiqueprintclub.com for assistance DAILY at Brisbane Antique Emporium 794 Sandgate Rd (-Junction Rd) CLAYFIELD DAILY at Brisbane Antique Centre at Exit 30 Pacific Hwy (Beenleigh-Redland Bay Rd)

BERNARD PICART: ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS ENGRAVERS OF THE 18TH CENTURY A contrast of 18th century classical artwork are the engravings circa 1725 by Bernard Picart (1673-1733). Picart was a distinguished designer and engraver who is better known for his religious illustrations. His engravings of (much magnified) medallions portraying ancient kings, and Greek and Roman gods and mythology, recorded antique carved engraved gems that he was given access to in important museums and libraries.

Classicism was paramount in the 18th century. The epitome of elegance would have been to have the walls painted with frescoes, but obviously only the wealthy could aspire to

Niccolo Vanni (fl. 1750-1770), Herculaneum landscape, fresco, c. 1757, copperplate engraving

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QUEENSLAND

TOOWOOMBA GRAMMAR SCHOOL’S

Heidi Tansey, Hatching, mixed media and collage, 120 x 120 cm

Autumn weekend art show 29 – 30 MARCH 2014 FEATURE ARTIST: HEIDI TANSEY litterati bugs, lollipop bugs, travel bugs – be mesmerised by Heidi Tansey’s unique perspective on bugs, trees and nature! Feature artist for the 2014 Toowoomba Grammar School Art Show, Heidi Tansey creates fascinating mixed media and collage pieces, inspired by the colour palettes captured in her travels to Europe, India, Nepal, Thailand, Indonesia, Guatemala and indigenous Australia and her life-long intrigue of beetles and the myths associated with them.

Tansey’s naïve and modernistic work belies an attention to detail and design, which make the pieces quite mesmerising.

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MORE ARTWORKS ON SHOW TO CHOOSE FROM With 30 percent of the 600 exhibits selling last year at the two and a half day show, the curatorial team have been working hard to secure an even better range of paintings, aiming to provide something that appeals to everyone. The exhibition features novice and emerging talent to high-end investment art from 200 artists, including 40 new artists for 2014. Prices start as low as $40, up to sixfigure masterpieces, with the art show generating over $120,000 of sales each year.

A PLATFORM FOR NEW AND EMERGING ARTISTS Providing exposure for talented emerging artists and young people is a commitment of the curatorial team of the Toowoomba Grammar School Art Show. Some of the gifted young

people exhibiting in 2014 include Jessie Wright (25 years) with his lamps constructed from intricately folded book pages, Jade Moroney (17 years) with her edgy design interpretations of the anime genre, Oliver Lilford (16 years) whose three watercolour paintings sold very quickly at the last art show, and Georgia Shine (19 years), a current cello and languages student at the University of Queensland who has developed a solid following for her mature, atmospheric and simply beautiful pastel life drawings.

SIGNIFICANT INVESTMENT ART ON SHOW Established artists for the 2014 art show include Margaret Olley, Robert Dickerson, David Boyd, Pro Hart, Patrick Kilvington, Norman Lindsay, Hugh Sawrey, Kate Smith, Geoffrey Proud, d’Arcy Doyle, Denise Daffara, Antje Collis, Suzy Platt, Elisabeth Lawrence, Christian Morrow, Judith Da Lozzo, Starr, Di Elsden, Anna Petyarre, Betty Clubb, Jacqueline Hill, Brendon Mogg, Harriet Posner and Damien Kamholtz.

Whilst a lot of art is bought online these days, it does not compare to seeing the actual art with all its detail and fine nuances. Set against the backdrop of the magnificent garden city of Toowoomba with its spectacular autumn leaves in March, the Toowoomba Grammar School Art Show provides a wonderful event for an indulgent weekend, combined with the beautiful cafes, boutiques, winery and gardens of Toowoomba.

Heidi Tansey, Web Tangle, mixed media and collage, 54 x 54 cm

TOOWOOMBA GRAMMAR SCHOOL 07 4687 2500 tgs@twgs.qld.edu.au http://artshow.twgs.qld.edu.au Below: Lamp by Jesse Wright

Artists include: Margaret Olley, Robert Dickerson, David Boyd, Pro Hart, Patrick Kilvington, Norman Lindsay, Hugh Sawrey, Kate Smith, Geoffrey Proud, d’Arcy Doyle, Denise Daffara, Antje Collis, Suzy Platt, Elisabeth Lawrence, Christian Morrow, Judith Da Lozzo, Starr, Di Elsden, Anna Petyarre, Betty Clubb, Jacqueline Hill, Brendon Mogg, Harriet Posner and Damien Kamholtz.

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Images supplied by Tiffany Jones Fine Art Gallery

Left: Georgia Shine, Repose, pastels

Heidi Tansey, Flaming Groovy, mixed media and collage, 65 x 90 cm

QUEENSLAND

Graham Lancaster Auctions

FORTHCOMING AUCTIONS

3 Railway Street TOOWOOMBA QLD 4350

Saturday 15 February 2014 (Toowoomba Bottle Show Weekend)

Call Graham on 0418 730 904

‘OUR ANNUAL EVENING BOTTLE AUCTION’

Email: info@gdlauctions.com

Lancaster’s Auction Rooms

View Catalogue & Photos One Month Prior to Each Sale:

Saturday 12 & Sunday 13 April 2014

‘THE DENNIS O’HOY COLLECTION’

www.gdlauctions.com.au

On-site Bendigo Victoria

FEBRUARY 2014

‘AN EVENING AUCTION’ of antique bottles, pot lids and stoneware

APRIL 2014

‘THE DENNIS O’HOY COLLECTION’ Day One: An important offering of Bendigo Pottery & Australian Ceramics Day Two: A huge collection of antique bottles, pot lids and stoneware

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THE AUSTRALIAN ANTIQUE & ART DEALERS ASSSOCIATION The premier organisation for antique dealers and commercial art galleries in Australia FOLLOWING THE TRENDS: FASHIONS IN ANTIQUES n recent times there have been some remarkable developments in the antiques trade. To many buyers and consequently dealers, antiques began to seem ‘old fashioned’! Well if not distinctly old fashioned, then out of fashion.

While fashion has always had a place in the antiques business, as in every of other facet of luxury retailing, much of the appreciation of antiques is also linked to an awareness of quality in terms of design and craftsmanship.

With Victoriana declining in appeal and Edwardian seemly passé, either being sold off at bargain prices or given to charities, dealers and buyers were looking elsewhere for the next ‘new’ thing. In reality this does not make sense. Good workmanship and design did not stop with the accession of Queen Victoria, it was market forces – albeit fashion – that prompted the change in taste.

With the price of the Georgian ideal becoming prohibitive, the Victorian era had come under greater scrutiny and with appraisal, and on reflection, admirers of good taste recognised that the Victorians still had much to offer. We witnessed this process repeating itself with ever increasing regularity.

Many of the finest Victorian pieces were attracting good prices, and the best of Edwardian style was not only being appreciated but appreciating in value. Taste was on the move and there was no stopping it.

Art Nouveau has always held favour but Art Deco, that sleek, sexy angular look of the Jazz Age, has become the taste for the trendier collectors. The best pieces of deco furniture can now command prices which match, or even surpass, any earlier period and justifiability so.

In recent harder times in the antiques market it was often the traditional favourites which were shunned, while deco and 20th century design were finding more converts.

And it was not just younger buyers with little or no interest in period brown furniture who were buying.

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DEALING IN 20TH CENTURY DESIGN RECOGNISED This marked change in taste has been recognised by the Australian Antique & Art Dealers Association (AAADA) and there has been a revision of datelines which means that 20th century design is now an integral area of dealing for many of the members.

With this growing trend of traditional quality for modern living, it must be emphasised that despite the burgeoning popularity of late 20th century design, it is not a case of anything goes, and connoisseurship is far from dead. Quality and workmanship do count. Dealing in 20th century design is just as demanding as in any earlier period, as it is the acquisition of stock along with an inherent eye for detail and style that enables dealers to spot the appeal of things considered modern.

Interior decorators and designers, along with adventurous collectors and dealers have all played a role in bringing attention to 20th

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century work. But it is more than just a new look for sleek apartments. Remarkably quickly, the turn of the 21st century has made a whole range of styles legitimately collectable. How easily we talk of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s as vintage – in much the same way as we spoke of Edwardian and Victorians eras in the last century.

It is not just a matter of fashion – the furnishings of the recent past have actually become the next ‘new’ thing and are playing their part in an era of connoisseurship when antiques of all periods are appreciated on their merits and not their age.

AAADA SYDNEY FAIR 2014 BACK AT ROYAL RANDWICK Dates TBA Visitors will again be able to access the most diverse range of antiques, plus decorative and fine arts in Sydney, in the one place, at the one time. Exhibitors will be coming from all states of Australia, bringing the very best of centuries old pieces up to the modern day, sourced by AAADA members throughout Australia and from all over the world.

Although the emphasis is on showcasing antiques, they do allow individual contemporary items of particular quality and merit to be offered for sale. The AAADA Sydney Fair 2014 will be held at the Kensington Room, Royal Randwick Racecourse, Alison Road, Randwick however dates are yet to be advised – please check our website www.aaada.org.au/sydney.

SOMETHING’S COOKING IN RUSHCUTTER’S BAY! AAADA member Martyn Cook has completed the move from his previous Redfern premises to his new shop at 98 Barcom Street, Rushcutters Bay, just around the corner from another prominent dealer, Hartley Cook’s Grafton Galleries. To have two dealers of such standing so close will contribute to the area being an even more important destination for Sydney’s designers and decorators; a place they can bring clients to choose those extra special furnishings, antiques and decorative items for homes, apartments and offices.

By moving to this specialist part of Sydney with partner, American designer Lew Wallack, who is renowned for his ability to integrate eras and styles, Martyn expands his appeal from the purely antique collector market to the ‘interior design world’.

NEW SOUTH WALES SPRING LECTURE SERIES 2013 The NSW Spring seminars get more successful every year and the 2013 series has enjoyed another record season, with some evenings so popular that bookings had to be limited.

The seminars provide the public a clear window into the world of art and antiques by introducing them to the role of the AAADA and to the expertise of our dealers. To promote the series with virtually no marketing budget, we use every trick available and this year a listing on the Sydney Talks website brought in new bookings.

One outstanding lesson is that one can never predict just who will be interested in what subject. For instance, at Ben Stoner’s evening which featured the phenomenal restoration Ben did of the 100 year old Sydney Turf Club’s racecourse clock, perhaps the most interested attendee was a leading Australian saxophonist who’d actually backed Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. Dealers who cheerfully support the association each year and put effort into producing fascinating educational experiences include Anne Schofield, Martyn Cook, Hartley Cook, Alan Landis and Jolyon Warwick-James.

GOLDEN CELEBRATION FOR NEW SOUTH WALES CHAPTER

Long standing participants at Victoria Greene’s talk, Marlene Arditto and Ecila Simpson have been coming for at least 10 years

From the grand surroundings of Martyn Cook’s showroom to the stunning celebration cake with its pure gold flakes and Association logo, top-level catering and wines, the Golden Anniversary Celebration of the founding of the New South Wales chapter of the Australian Antique & Art Dealers Association was a night to remember.

Entering the rooms, members and their guests were enthralled by the magnificent settings, decorations and flowers. The table settings were particularly stunning with superb silver lent by a number of members.

Particularly generous was Brian Abbott who amongst many treasures contributed a near full setting of 18th century silver flatware.

During the evening, new president Hartley Cook entertained with his usual wit and insight, followed by a fascinating history of the association and its past presidents by life member Charles Aronson.

All in all, a very special night honouring and remembering 50 years of the work and expertise of many very special people and a unique opportunity for current members to meet and relax together. As one member was overheard to say as he enjoyed a final glass of that special red wine: ‘It’s a tough business, but I wouldn’t be in any other!’

AAADA MELBOURNE FAIR 2014 8-11 May 2014 The AAADA Melbourne Antiques & Art Fair is the association’s flagship event in Melbourne with exhibiting members from throughout Australia offering for sale the finest and most diverse range of fine art and antiques in this antiques and art emporium.

The venue is the wonderful Royal Exhibition Building at 19 Nicholson Street, Carlton and the gala preview will be held on Thursday 8 May from 6.30 pm until 8.30 pm. General admission hours are: Friday 11 am – 6 pm; Saturday 11 am – 6 pm; and Sunday 11 am – 5 pm.

FIND US ON THE INTERNET The association is accessible on the Internet.

Peruse the AAADA website – the user friendly search tool for antiques and art makes the hunt for that special piece so much easier.

Another useful feature on the site is the online version of The Essential Buyers’ Guide, a valuable resource for collectors seeking special pieces for their collections.

Plus you will find listings of restorers of jewellery, fine art, furniture and carpets as well as specialist and general valuers and consultants among our service providers.

JOIN OUR MAILING LIST If you would like to receive information about future events, join the mailing list at www.aaada.org.au.

FACEBOOK Join the AAADA Facebook page today for your chance to win a free subscription to World of Antiques and Art magazine.

Dawn Davis AUSTRALIAN ANTIQUES AND ART DEALERS ASSOCIATION 0401 995 501 secaada@ozemail.com.au www.aaada.org.au

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FOR AULD LANG SYNE

Art Gallery of Ballarat celebrates our Scottish heritage 12 April – 27 July 2014 early one Australian in ten claims to have Scottish roots, and in some regions like Ballarat and the Western District the percentage is much higher. While Australians have been exposed to some aspects of Scottish culture, few people are aware of just how significant was the contribution of the Scots to the formation of the national psyche.

An ambitious exhibition at the Art Gallery of Ballarat – Auld Lang Syne: Images of Scottish Australia from First Fleet to Federation – will celebrate the extraordinary contribution which Scots have made to the cultural and political life of Australia, whether as pastoralists and philanthropists; preachers, teachers and doctors, governors and administrators, explorers and scientists, architect and engineers. There is practically no aspect of settlement and development of the colonies in which they did not play a substantial role.

No exhibition before this has drawn together the extraordinary story of Scottish Australia through rich visual heritage in all its forms. It will include objects and artworks from national, state and regional collections and from private collectors.

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EARLY COLONIAL ARTISTS Some of the earliest artists associated with the British discovery of Australia were Scots such as Sydney Parkinson (c. 1745-1771), the artist on Cook’s voyages, and Thomas Watling (1762-c. 1814), the so-called ‘Limner of Dumfriess’, who was transported in 1792 for forging Bank of Scotland notes. Their reportage and depictions of the exotic landscape, flora and fauna of the new continent informed and inspired both the scientific communities and potential emigrant populations of Europe. A key feature of the exhibition will be a selection of original drawings by Watling, on loan from the Natural History Museum in London. This will be the first time these important drawings have returned to Australia.

LEADERS IN MANY FIELDS Governors or military figures were also botanists, astronomers or collectors of natural

history; civil servants were also explorers, artists or writers; and pastoralists were also sportsmen, art patrons or anthropologists.

Early settlers and officials – including Governor Lachlan Macquarie (1762-1824) and Mrs Macquarie (1778-1835), Sir Thomas Brisbane (1773-1860), John Hunter (17371821), Major Sir Thomas Livingston Mitchell (1792-1855), and Alexander Macleay (17671848) – all testify to the multifaceted nature of the activities and passions of the Scots.

The early Scots in Australia also proved particularly adept as businessmen and traders, exploiting the wider imperial maritime system such as Robert Campbell (1769-1846), a merchant, pastoralist and politician, and making the most of the possibilities of new technology, like Sir Macpherson Robertson (1859-1945) and his Steam Confectionery Works, at one time the largest confectionery works in the Commonwealth.

Scots were equally well represented within the professions – Scottish emigrants likewise dominated the pastoral industry. For example, the Western District of Victoria, the so called ‘Australia Felix’ an extensive fertile farming area discovered by Major Mitchell – was settled by Scottish pioneers whose homesteads and properties were recorded by leading artists of the day.

David Tulloch, Golden Point, Ballarat, 1851. Kerry Stokes Collection

CULTURAL & LITERARY INFLUENCES The Scots brought with them cultural activities and celebrations in the form of their music, sport, literature and art. The significance of the poetry and writings of Sir Walter Scott and Robert Burns cannot be underestimated for their influence on iconic Australian poets such as ‘Banjo’ Paterson, who helped shape the Australian national identity. In association with the exhibition, the Gallery will be publishing a lavishly illustrated book which will include five or six essays by leading scholars on various aspects of the Scottish presence in Australia.

CALENDAR OF EVENTS While there is a serious side to the project, it will also be an opportunity to relish the rich imagery generated by the Victorian vogue for things Scottish. From Queen Victoria down, Scottish music, literature and art and even a romanticised appreciation for the idealised Scottish lifestyle became a daily part of the lives of people throughout the British Empire.

There will be a comprehensive calendar of public programs including bagpipe performances, highland dancing, Scottish country dancing, spoken word and musical presentations, an event to commemorate the 700th anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn and a Research Your Scottish Ancestors Day. For more information about these events as well as on the exhibition, go to www.forauldlangsyne.com.au or www.artgalleryofballarat.com.au.

Sperm whale tooth scrimshaw

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Gordon Morrison Director ART GALLERY OF BALLARAT 03 5320 5858 www.artgalleryofballarat.com.au

E Phillips Fox, Sir John Forrest (1847-1918). Western Australian Art Gallery