Curiosities

Medal – Royal Hobart Regatta [Striking Design] – 2013

Albeit quite modern appears very hard to find.

Superbly struck with high relief – the yachts full sail in “combat” particularly well done. Nice patina, gilt style finish. Xx diameter weighing xxgm

Regatta Medal with a very pleasing design.

$70.00

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New Market, Hobart Town – Original Lithograph – Drawn by William Kay [Hobart] and Lithographed Arrowsmith [London] 1851

A scarce original lithograph of the plans for the New Market at Hobart Town. Produced by John Arrowsmith (1790-1873) from drawings by William Porden Kay (1809-1897) Director of Public Works, Hobart Town. Limited but original colouring.

Shows the monumentally classic front elevation on Macquarie Street with transverse and longitudinal sections and a ground plan detailing the allocation of space to individual shops, the fish market, hay and straw shed, corn exchange and offices. The market was constructed as described in 1851-1853 but unfortunately burned down early in the 20th century and was replaced by the now City Hall.

There do not appear to be any original examples in Australian Libraries. The State library of NSW has a facsimile produced by the Irish Academic Press in 1977

About William Porden Kay

William Porden Kay was born into a family of architects his father was the vice-president of the institute of British Architects. He was the nephew of Sir John Franklin through his first wife and Kay was invited to Van Diemen’s Land because the Franklins objected that the two most highly qualified architects in Hobart Town, James Backburn and James Thomson were emancipated convicts. He arrived in 1842 and was soon appointed Director of Public works. There were claims of nepotism and his appointment was disallowed by the Secretary of State. A spat arose and Kay was in and out of the position several times before matters settled down. He was very active in Hobart until his health started failing around the time of the construction of the New Market. He was pensioned off and returned to England.

Scarce original 1854 architectural lithograph

$390.00

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Original 19thC Watercolour – Australian Squadron, HMS Opal off the New Hebrides [Vanuatu] 1886 – D. F. Gillett

D.F. Gillett was an active British naïve marine artist in the late 19th early 20th Century. This painting is of an event in 1888, and we take that to be the year of the painting.

A nice size, 38cm by 22cm in frame 65cm by 88cm. the wooden frame of unusual and pleasing design. The painting in very good condition, strong colours no fading or foxing.

HMS Opal was an Emerald Class Corvette. Despite having steam power, she was fully rigged Barque. Built in Sunderland, England in 1875 she made her way to the Australian fleet and served between 1885-1890, mainly in the Pacific.

Price $890.00 framed as in image

A rare subject, HMS Opal in the Pacific off the New Hebrides [Vanuatu].

$890.00

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Stylish Deco Lady with Fawn and Borzoi – Designed by Peter Manfredi – Made by Pompeian Bronze, New York – 1920’s.

Simply the most stunning set of original bookends we have had. Exceedingly rare – not included in the key reference by Kuritsky and De Costa.

Based in Brooklyn New York the business registered thirty copyrights for bookends – the last in 1930. Peter Manfredi was their top designer.

Most bookends pairs are either identical or a reflection; rare as with this set to have a different subject for each. Clearly a pair because of the consistent and striking colouring and uniform patina.

Original Pompeian Bronze label to the base of one.

Very intricate designs hard to give them justice in the images. A trifle sign of age, overall in super condition for circa 100 years old.

Large by usual standards – 23 cm high – circa 25 cm in length, hefty 2.7 kg the pair. Dependent on location there will likely be a postage supplement as they pack big for safety.

Extremely Rare design by Peter Manfredi – 1920’s

$840.00

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Botryoidal Goethite – Yaraka Queensland

The mineral Goethite or iron oxy-hydroxide here in a nice botryoidal (resembling grapes) crystal form.

Found in the Yaraka Boulder Opal Field 100km east of Blackhall, Queensland. Last count remote Yaraka had an official population of 20 – they all get along.

Small fist sized weighing 350 gm.

Good lustre to the botryoidal form

$35.00

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Tek Sing Shipwreck Treasure – Dish decorated in Lotus, Lingzhi and Peach – 1822

Qing Dynasty decorated dish recovered by Mike Hatcher from the Tek Sing shipwreck of 1822. Nice condition.

Beautifully decorated with bands of lotus flower around a central spiral and set in alternate designs of lingzhi fungus and fruiting peach. Similar decorations to external rim, potters mark at bottom. Bright and clean. 15cm in diameter 6cm high, weighs 220gm. Retains Nagel auction sticker.

Price $240.00

Bright well decorated treasure from the Tek Sing
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The Tek Sing Shipwreck – Background

The Tek Sing (Chinese for “Bright Star”’) was a large Chinese Junk which sank in 1822 in the South China Sea at the Belvidere Shoals. She was 50 meters long, 10 metres wide and weighed a thousand tons. Manned by a crew of 200. The great loss of life has led to the Tek Sing being referred to as the “Titanic of the East”.

Sailing from the port of Amoy (now Xiamen), the Tek Sing was bound for Jakarta, with a cargo of porcelain goods and 1,600 Chinese immigrants. After a month of sailing, Captain Lo Tauko took a shortcut through the Gaspar Straits and ran aground on a reef and sank in 100 feet of water.

The next morning and English East Indiaman captained by James Pearl sailing from Indonesia to Borneo passed through the Gaspar Straits. He found debris from the sunken Chinese vessel and survivors. They managed to rescue 190 people.

In 1999, marine salvor Mike Hatcher discovered the wreck. His crew raised what has been described as the largest cache of Chinese porcelain ever recovered. It was auctioned by Nagle in Stuttgart, Germany the following year

$160.00

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Medal – Royal Hobart Regatta [Striking Design] – 2013

New Market, Hobart Town – Original Lithograph – Drawn by William Kay [Hobart] and Lithographed Arrowsmith [London] 1851

Original 19thC Watercolour – Australian Squadron, HMS Opal off the New Hebrides [Vanuatu] 1886 – D. F. Gillett

Stylish Deco Lady with Fawn and Borzoi – Designed by Peter Manfredi – Made by Pompeian Bronze, New York – 1920’s.

Botryoidal Goethite – Yaraka Queensland

Tek Sing Shipwreck Treasure – Dish decorated in Lotus, Lingzhi and Peach – 1822

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