Collectables Trader 96

DECEMBER 2010 - FEBRUARY 2011

AUSTRALASIA’S LEADING ANTIQUES AND COLLECTABLES MAGAZINE T R A

ONLINE @ worldaa.com Unearthing neglected Australian

ART WARES An introduction to the art of

SILVERSMITHING

A craft that is as modern as it is ancient From jewellery to restoration

GIFT IDEAS FOR ALL SEASONS Catering to all ages, generations and interests HOLIDAY TRAVELS Themed for the collector and family HOW TO Make a visit to a fair child friendly

Aust $9.95 NZ $13.95 ISSN 1445-8160

9 771445 816006

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In this edition AUSTRALIANA FEATURE Australian art potters discovered 12 Amy Harvey from Western Australia

Dr Dorothy Erickson 36 Victoria’s Gwen Watson

Robin Kelly

BUILDING YOUR KNOWLEDGE BASE

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80 The cassone – a marriage or wedding chest

HOLIDAY SPECIAL

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20 How to visit a fair with children

Heather Zubek 52 Gift ideas for the holiday season and more

INSIGHTS ON PRECIOUS METALS

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16 Rebuilding the Lakes Cup

Dennis De Muth 42 From the UK: Jacqueline Mina’s jewellery

Amanda Stücklin 64 Investing in Australian military memorabilia

Peter Lane

NEW COLLECTING THEMES 32 Board games as a fun collectable

Rob Ditessa 74 Lacquer ware from Russia

Melody Amsel-Arieli

TRAVEL FEATURE 6

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New Orleans through the eyes of an

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expert dealer

Roy Williams 58 For the family South Australia’s National Railway Museum

Moana Colmer 68 Explore Vietnam’s art deco heritage

Dr Margaret D McNiven

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Collectables

T R A D E R

REGULAR FEATURES 46 Online magazines

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47 Conundrum 49 Collectables fairs 50 Collectables subscription 85 Out & about 88 Bulletin board 95 Advertising rates 96 Advertisers’ Index

enter our prize draw 12

See page 47

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Travel Feature

New Orleans

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timeless and historic a city of nostalgic remembrances As the Australian dollar rises now is the time for a trip to the USA. If planning to go down south, our feature article by noted antiques dealer Roy Williams on historic New Orleans is an invaluable guide

1 Oak Alley Plantation is the one used in many films, from Gone With the Wind to Interview with the Vampire 2 Royal Street, New Orleans

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Roy Williams ew Orleans looks precisely like the Brisbane I grew up in during the 60s and 70s. Old Brisbane was a gracious, rambling colonial city, all 19th century iron lace strangled by bougainvillea.

That city has long since been demolished and transformed into a Dallas, Texas clone. One of the reasons I love New Orleans is that it allows me to go back to a very much idealised version of my childhood home town.

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It certainly looks absolutely nothing like Paris! Nevertheless, residents of French colonial New Orleans shock me every time I am there by asking, ‘Doesn’t New Orleans look just like Paris?’

While the two cities could not be more different physically, spiritually they are indeed sisters. Here are two cities where life is viewed as an art. Gastronomy is not generally a great passion in the US, but Louisiana is a food oasis, rich with Creole and Cajun culture. New Orleans gave us the cocktail, praise be! There is also an appreciation of faded elegance – worn luxury –

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Sporting history reclaimed The restitution of an abandoned trophy

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WJ Sanders was presented with a formidable task: the rebuilding of what was once a prized golfing trophy that had come to be dumped in a golf club’s basement

Dennis De Muth

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he Lakes Cup, once a

prized and valued silver trophy, was in a sorry state

when rescued. Only the large silver base complete with inscriptions survived, its large cup/bowl and wooden plinth were missing.

Nothing else pertaining to the trophy was found so it is conjecture that the bowl would also originally

Board Games

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More Than Child’s Play

Celebrated comedian Tommy Dean describes his collecting board games as a passionate pastime geared towards having fun Rob Ditessa

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ome collectors are keen to keep their board games in pristine

condition, but the only reason Tommy adds a game to his collection is that he wants the enjoyment of using it. Before coming to the realisation that he was a ‘collector,’ Tommy says his wife suspected it as she watched her precious storage space in their home slowly disappear under an ever-increasing number of games.

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‘Once you start doing little things like plastic bagging your pieces, laminating rules and other paper components and even getting extra bits to replace the plainer things in a game, then you start to see you are in deeper than you think,’ he tells Collectables.

As an enthusiast computer and console games player, he had quite a collection, but slowly began to remember what fun it was playing with board games as a child, as opposed to the solitary experience of console games.

Coincidentally, he met someone

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Gwen Watson

(1916–1994) A remarkable Australian ceramicist Art ware is highly

ROBIN KELLY

sought after so

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when an artist whose work until recently has slipped under the radar comes to the public eye, the excitement amongst researchers, dealers and collectors is palpable

Robin Kelly and her collection of Gwen Watson ceramics

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Collectables Trader

MAKINGS OF AN ARTIST

Gwen Gidney was born and raised in the rural Gippsland. In an interview printed in The Argus (3 Nov 1950) Gwen recalled the first time she handled clay. In 1937, while convalescing after an illness, her mother brought home clay unearthed from a landslide at Koonwarra. She ‘shaped it into a fish … and has been modelling with clay ever since.’

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NATURAL TALENT

By 1940, married and now Gwen Watson, with a young family, she was unable to attend pottery classes. Living in rural Victoria, Gwen sourced information and pottery techniques from books and learned by trial and error. As related in the Argus feature, her implements were her hands, darning needles and a hair pin. The pieces modelled in the kitchen, and then fired in the electric kiln in her bedroom.

Through the eyes of a consummate

artist-goldsmith

Jacqueline Mina is regarded as one of the United Kingdom’s leading artist goldsmiths, with an international reputation for her technical brilliance and unorthodox approach to traditional goldsmithing techniques 2

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Amanda Stücklin xploring the ideas and processes of an artisan enhances the understanding and appreciation of their work. Historically, Jacqueline’s designs may remind the observer of the tenets of Art Nouveau – the natural world metamorphosed into fluid forms – yet her jewellery designs speak of the artist and are representative of her times.

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CONCEPT TO FORM

Jacqueline rarely sketches an idea in advance and works directly with the metal, letting it ‘speak to her,’ before creating the final design. Constantly experimenting and exploring ways of combining gold and platinum to bring out their qualities, her jewellery is about

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Collectables Trader

Auction Review

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Following the

trends

For Collectors of Numismatics A review of a recent Brisbane auction reveals that investing in Australian military memorabilia while continuing to be affordable, is achieving stronger prices

Peter Lane

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ome thousand lots went under the hammer at an auction recently held in

Brisbane. On offer were seldom seen historical pieces that were snapped up by astute collectors at estimate or above. Australian war medals attracted the more financially well-heeled collector.

Prices were around expectation.

The war medal section highlight

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Collectables Trader

was a group of six WWI and WWII medals that included an Australian Flying Corps WWI Military Cross won during the taking of Jerusalem.

Although passed in, the group sold immediately after the auction for a respectable $45,000 including buyer’s premium.

Poignant reminders of lives lost, a family group of WWI medals, with a Military Medal won at Messines, were awarded to brothers both killed in action on the Western Front. The

e b o i T cr bs ow u S N

k c i re l C e H

Welcome

To The Collectables is published bi-monthly with each edition bringing fresh insights and fun collecting themes.

Discover the latest collecting craze; explore the quirky and traditional collectable; learn how best to start a collection. There are tips on preserving and caring for valued possessions. Read the diary and plan a visit to a fair.

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Intriguing World of Collecting

Avid Collectors Sharing their prize collections with readers More to read • Book reviews • Memorabilia • Trader: Buy & Sell

Collecting Trends What might seem like yesterday’s junk could be tomorrow’s treasures. A fun and affordable introduction to collecting

The Collector’s Travel Guide From the East to the West, tips to follow and pitfalls to avoid

Fashion From recognising classic designs to accessories, vintage and retro.

Appreciate, collect and wear

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