15 memorable lots and moments that have stuck with me over the years.
I have an ad hoc relationship with LinkedIn. Occasionally I use it to track someone down, often I forget about it, then a message pops up reminding me of someone’s birthday (a useful feature) and then I forget about it again and inevitably leave someone’s message sitting in there (whatever there means) unattended and apologetically respond weeks later. Its other useful feature is its work anniversary reminder, and it reminded me that this year marked my 15th with Leonard Joel as Managing Director.
So that is my long introduction to explain why I thought I would share with our readers 15 extraordinary lots, moments, and memories, that have stuck with me over this time.
The sale of something can be transformative. It’s most rewarding for me when I see it making a difference to someone’s life. So, I start my list with an item I have no quality image of. It was a rare, raw, and most authentic gold miner’s brooch, brought to me as a young man working at Leonard Joel in 1988 by an elderly gentleman from Beechworth in Victoria who arrived by train and desperately needed to raise some funds. He duly produced from his clean handkerchief this brooch. At the time, we estimated it in the $1,000 – $1,500 range and it eventually sold for $13,200. I recall calling him straight after the auction. He cried on the phone with joy. That felt so very good. It would be around $35,000 in today’s money.
The experience of selling something extraordinary can be imbued with an insight into a moment in history, into human nature, or into the sheer rarity of something that was discovered or simply survived centuries intact. In this sense, every extraordinary thing we sell is to one degree or another nourishing. Yes, it enriches the auctioneer’s knowledge and expertise.
Here are my other highlights!
For the Ned Kelly story to find its way to public auction is beyond a rare event, and to offer this original image for auction, with Kelly descendants present, was more than surreal.
This single, loose natural pearl lay in a box of costume jewellery for decades and it was a sheer miracle that it was never lost or discarded amongst that box’s contents.
This tiny Chinese Imperial dish, measuring no more than 9cm in diameter, displays a remarkable quality and complexity of glazing and has survived intact for more than 500 years.
When collectables have “soul”. This Rolex timepiece followed its wearer to the Vietnam War and back.
This extraordinary 20 carat diamond ring remains the first diamond to break the $1,000,000 mark at auction in Australia and still holds that record to this day.
These Gallipoli medals and diary of Lieutenant Colonel Robert Rankine 14 BN. A.I.F. arrived in a box amongst unremarkable objects and the descendant had no knowledge of how sacred and special they were.
E.U.R. II 1965 had essentially disappeared for more than half a century and its rediscovery filled another little gap in the understanding of Jeffrey Smart’s artistry. © The Estate of Jeffrey Smart
This Sevres vase is the most valuable piece of porcelain ever sold by Leonard Joel. When age, maker, artist, condition, design, and sheer rarity are in perfect alignment.
Poetry by an emperor and the gift of an emperor. This box’s imperial pedigree set it immediately apart from boxes of similar quality.
The centre stone weighing 1.71 carats, this remains the only green diamond sold by Leonard Joel in our 105-year history.
To say that it was an honour to manage the sale of one of only three known Ashes urns in private hands, would be an understatement.
Arguably one of our most important discoveries. This Maori weaving peg sat on a bookshelf as decoration; it’s importance and rarity a complete surprise to its owner.
For more than a century, View of Mt Sturgeon and Mt Abrupt from the Crater of Bald Hill by Eugene Von Guerard lay quietly with one family in rural Victoria and was quite literally discovered in a farmhouse.
John Albrecht, Managing Director & Head of Important Collections
Top Image: It is rare indeed to find works of art depicting an auction scene and rarer still when the painting is by a celebrated artist. Edward Bird’s The Auction remains the finest example of this subject matter ever to present in Australia.
October 2024