A PRESENTATION CASKET WITH CARVINGS BY JOHN K. BLOGG, 1915
SARAH GUEST
The box seen here shows the superb carving of John Kendrick Blogg, a successful and entrepreneurial industrial chemist who was born in 1851 in Canada, settled in the Surrey Hills region of Victoria in 1877 and died in 1936. His day job involved making perfumes and extracting essential oils. Family legend has it that he began making furniture and ornamental wooden carvings after the death of his first wife, Annie, in 1893. This box carries several examples of his carving and, in terms of Australiana, is as good as it gets.
KING ALBERT’S ‘BIRTHDAY BOOK’, 1915
JOHN WADE
After Albert I King of the Belgians refused safe passage to Kaiser Wilhelm’s troops to attack France, Germany invaded neutral Belgium on 4 August 1914. Britain, bound by an 1839 treaty to support Belgium’s neutrality, declared war on Germany the same day. Australian Prime Minister Joseph Cook offered his government’s support to the British Empire.
The invaders captured much of Belgium including the capital Brussels. King Albert, as Commander of the Army, rallied the nation and delayed the German…
WEDGWOOD, JANE AUSTEN AND WHITE WARE
Roger Elliott, on behalf of Zena Thomas: “Wedgwood, Jane Austen and White Ware.” Writer Jane Austen wrote to her sister Cassandra that she visited Wedgwood’s London Showroom where her brother chose a dinner set in White Ware for his household. With notes and illustrations provided by Zena Thomas, Roger told this remarkable tale of the association of the Austens’ with Wedgwood. Zena is a committee member of the Wedgwood Society of Australia, and generously assisted Roger with material to deliver this talk.
A VERY EARLY DEPICTION OF FRENCH EXPLORERS IN THE VIRGIN EQUATORIAL LANDSCAPE OF ISLAND MELANESIA, PAINTED BY LOUIS-AUGUSTE DE SAINSON, THE OFFICIAL VOYAGE ARTIST ON DUMONT D’URVILLE’S FAMOUS 1826-29 EXPEDITION IN THE ASTROLABE.
DOUGLAS STEWART FINE BOOKS
From a historical perspective, this painting is of great significance as a rare example of early nineteenth- century Pacific voyage art. More specifically, its rarity is underlined by the fact that there are no finished watercolours by de Sainson held in public collections in either Australia or New Zealand. Despite the best efforts of David Scott Mitchell, Sir William Dixson and
Rex Nan Kivell – the latter of whom ‘at one stage spent 35 years tracking down a painting ascribed to Louis Auguste de Sainson’ in his quest for a…
CHUAH THEAN TENG 1914 – 2008
LAURAINE DIGGINS FINE ART
Celebrated as the ‘father of batik painting’ Malaysian artist Chuah Thean Teng is credited as the pioneer of developing batik to a fine art painted medium, elevating the everyday craft to an art form. Combining his training at the Amoy Art Institute in Fujian, China with his batik skills, Teng used the technique of batik to create unique paintings of decorative patterns and intricate figure compositions, depicting contemporary life in Malaysia, including landscapes, flora, fauna and figures. Teng held his first solo exhibition at the Arts Council of Penang…
AND IN FRONT THE LANCERS RODE THAT NEW SOUTH WALES HAD SENT: WITH EASY STRIDE ACROSS THE PLAIN THEIR LONG, LEAN WALERS WENT.
JOHN HAWKINS
Lancer statuette, showing the lance and the emu
feathers in his…
A FOCUS ON COLOURED STONES
RUTHERFORD
18ct yellow gold necklace set with a cushion cut peridot of estimated weight 1.66ct set into a crimp setting (remade) fixed to a length of 18ct yellow gold chain which fastens with a bolt ring the necklace hallmarked for items made in Egypt of 18ct gold in 1919.
Circa 1890, 18ct yellow and white gold ring claw set to the…
AAADA PARTNERS WITH THE JOHNSTON COLLECTION
The Johnston Collection is delighted to announce a new partnership with the Australian Antique and Art Dealers Association (AAADA).
The Johnston Collection (TJC) is an award-winning house museum located in leafy East Melbourne at the historic 1860s townhouse, Fairhall. The museum holds a superb collection of English Georgian, Regency, and Louis XV fine and decorative arts and hosts a unique program of guided tours, lectures, workshops, and events.
Fairhall and the Collection were a gift to the people of Victoria from…
MAXIMALISM & THE DECLUTTERING TREND: CAN THE TWO COEXIST?
Tira Lewis, Australian Antique & Art Dealers Association
Let’s first dissect these two ideas. Maximalism is the art of pairing bold colours, bright patterns, various woods, and patinas with silver, gold, and glass of every colour and style! If this sounds like visual overload, the trend may not be for you, but you can still incorporate elements of it.
Start with something you love, like a set of silver cutlery you’ve had tucked away. Begin by setting the table for dinner, then layer it with additional elements such as a bunch of…
A boxed set of four silver candlesticks mounted on large matched blocks of greenstone.
J.B. HAWKINS ANTIQUES
Between 1885 and 1905 Frank Hyams ran a watchmaking and jewellery business in Princess Street, Dunedin. When his first wife Elle Hallenstein died in 1895, he married her London-based cousin Hilda in 1897 and he moved to London in 1898. The Hallensteins founded a clothing, retail and manufacturing empire in Otago with 34 stores throughout New Zealand by 1900. In New Zealand in 1901 he had made the gift…