Our August 24th sale featured our usual eclectic mix of material, ranging from highly collectible autographs and rare Australiana, to maps and ephemera. We had a full auction room and a lot of online activity, making for a lively and fast moving sale.
Early highlights included a signed first edition of Tarzan achieving $5,000 (ICB), a Sydney Harbour Bridge Contract selling for $7,450 (IBP), a copy of ‘I Me Mine’ by George Harrison reaching $2,050 (IPB) and a Sir Isaac Newton autograph going for $5,520 (IBP). The more contemporary maps were our weakest category overall in terms of percentage of sold lots, however there were strong results for the more collectible ones, including an 1888 Jamaica map achieving $600 (IBP), a 1635 Blaeu Map of India selling for $1,560 (IBP) and an 1872 map of Sydney Harbour going for $400 (IBP).
Once again ephemera proved to be one of the strongest areas. We had a varied range of material, from daybills and tourist brochures to art catalogues and souvenir items. It’s always difficult to value some of these things, as they can be quite obscure, with minimal information regarding previous sales or how many were printed. As a result we are occasionally surprised by some of the prices achieved. Highlights included an album of Tasmanian views selling for $570 (IBP), a lovely Sydney Souvenir album going for $840 (IBP) and an Albert Namatjira Art Catalogue reaching $450 (IBP).
The clearance rate on the day was approximately 85%, with many of the unsold items being sold in the days following. We attracted a record number of online buyers, with many of them coming from outside of Australia. It’s an indication of the increased reach of our auctions and confidence in international buyers to shop online for material that traditionally people preferred to see and handle prior to making a purchase. Our next live sale will once again feature a mix of items and is scheduled for October 19th. We also intend on having an online only sale of maps, posters and prints in the interim.
The catalogue for our recent auction featured numerous fantastic items, many being very scarce and collectible. The Norman Lindsay material proved highly popular, achieving strong results across the board. The three unprinted manuscripts each sold individually for $12,600 (IBP). Other Lindsay highlights included the sale of the original pen and ink drawings done by Lindsay for the book Dust or Polish. All nine of them sold for prices ranging from $2,000 to $3,000 (IBP). ‘Mother Goose Rhymes Censored’ with the Lindsay watercolour on the cover reached $3,720 (IBP) and the three works by Seaforth Mackenzie Inscribed to Norman Lindsay achieved $4,320 (IBP).
Once again, maps proved to be very popular. The 1728 map of the Ottoman Empire sold for $1,320 (IBP), the Mitchell Map of NSW reached $8,400 (IBP) and the 1900 Map of Sydney achieved $960 (IBP). Exploration titles also sold well, with a highlight being the ‘1744 Harris Voyages’ going under the hammer for $9,600 (IBP). Other featured results from the sale included the Kelly Gang CDV achieving $12,000 (IBP), the painting of Kate Kelly going for $3,600 (IBP), the ‘Holtermann’s Life Preserving Drops’ poster reaching $1,800 (IBP), a rare copy of artists book WIPE selling for $780 (IBP) and a copy of ‘The Cricket Match Schottische’ 1857 sheet music achieving $900 (IBP).