Wieneke Archive Book 4h : Art Sales Presscuttings

REED Antiques century &Glass \TIONS ra. 32 9292 tturday 10 to 12, SALEROOM ... with Terry Ingram A CONTROVERSIAL basket from Australia has returned to the "colonies." The basket, described as an important George II fruit bas- ket by noted silt ersmith Nich- olas Sprimr':,t, was sold by Peter Pickles at an auction of antique silver, mostly from a North Shore antique dealer, at the Boulevard Hotel at Kings Cross, Sydney, in August, 1973. 'The basket was bought by London dealer S. 1. Phillips for 55500 apparently atgely on photographic evidence. Phillips wasted no time in selling it. The basket is now the property of Arthur Gilbert of Beverley Hills, California. It is on loan from Mr Gilbert to the Los Angeles County Mu - fine brooch pendant In Ivory carved in cbante. In gold frame. Italian, circa 1850. exquisite, elegant, en of love or for the sheer omething rare and beautiful. who buy antiques for s few equals. For, unlike r, the antique jewel is the ment that can be worn. rity, craftsmanship and jewels will never again be ch individual piece has an untered in most pedestrian ,dern jewels. 'ers the discerning collector ustralia's finest range of eriod jewels. Georgian, lian, Art Nouveau and Art e under a hundred dollars, ands, but each piece of fine nd great beauty. re guaranteed genuine and Lte of authenticity together for insurance purposes is With each purchase. ra, Sydney 2025. Telephone 32 1326 Jrsday, February 27, 1915 Australians fall for some real baskets seam with other pieces from Mr Gilbert's collection. The niti SCUM'S curator of decorative arts, William beetle Junes, is anxious to establish the proven- ance of the basket, and to obtain any information avail- able on bow it arrived in Australia, whose collection it was from and when it was par - chased. Mr Gilbert is gising his en- tire collection to the museum. I he fate of the basket hardly resolves the controversy it aroused at the time. A .ity dealer, Mr Stanley I.ipscombe, described the basket as "the most important silver find ever discovered in Austra- lia." (Presumably,. the most im- portant antique silver finds in Australia.) However, neither of two leading antique dealers, Mr Randall Reed and Mr Alfred Buxton, who are always in the market for good pieces of sil- ver, entered a hid. Comparisons were made at the lime with a Sprimont basket in the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford and it was a rumour suggesting that the basket had joined another there by Spri- mont that led the writer to check up on the fate of the bas- ket. The rumour was incredible considering the crushed state of the basket and the seeming ab- sence of any clear marks but that of the maker. In silver as in painting a pre- mium often attaches to a sig- nature and there are few more valued signatures in eighteenth century silver than that of Nicholas Sprimont (1716-17701. That much at least can be said for the basket. Attempts apparently ware made to interest local museums in the Sprimont basket but there was no financial interest. In fine condition and with full and clean marks the basket might well have been worth $20,000, However, as it was the basket was no great loss to Hollywood. It is true that silver fruit or bread baskets - they are usually known by the functions for which the purchaser intends to use them - are seldom found in t',$ top condition. The pierced or lattice work gets damaged easily over the years. The handles are easily lost and then have to be replaced. The baskets get swung around a lot and crash into tables and doors. In the Price Guide to Anti que Silver, tar Harris points out that the piercing on baskets is very seldom perfect yet perfect examples should be avoided unless the damage is vary slight indeed. To repair broken piercing is extremely difficult, as the breaks naturally occur where there is little metal to solder together again. Moreover, the heal necessary to solder tends to break rep4irs that have already been carted out. Often the armourials on the bottom have been removed and would-be purchasers should try and stick their fingers through. It may not be difficult. The earliest Georgiar, cake baskets have flat bottoms and these are the most desirable type. Feet get squashed under the weight of fruit, and other pressure. The Sprimont basket was of a later period and had feet. The Sprimont basket is one in a line of baskets that nave appeared on the Australian market. The Ruhen,ohn sale of lune 1973 included "an extremely rare and important George it cake basket by Peter Ach- ambo." This basket, of London. 1738, had the more desirable flat bottom, but had been repaired. Archambo was u very fine maker. So was Sprimont. The baskets made a tine pair. 'the price of S3,900 paid for the Archambo basket suggests liulc knowledge of London values at the time. Perhaps it would have made Log600 to istg700 there. Indeed good baskets by Archambo have solid at Soth- eby's more than a year after the sale for much less. In May last year one weighing a solid 49 ounces and dated 1744 went for Lstg780 and in October another weighing 53 ounces and dated 1741 went for Lstg900. Both were considered suf- ficiently important to rank illus- tration in the catalogues. In Rtibensohn's sale a late (London 1771) but possibly more desirable basket as such, made 53,000, again a very firm price. This basket. large and osal, found an enthusiastic buyer despite the fact that it did not have a glamour. signature. Perhaps local collectors arc not intoxicated by signatures after all, although the Ruben - soh 1 sale had its own special aura. The National Gallery of Vic- toria acquired a wirework bas- ket by Richard Mills front Stan- ley Lipseombe a couple of years ago. The basket was a very representative example of the work of Richard Mills. Mills made a lot of very ordinary cake baskets. The basket, made in 1769-70, was acquired for the very repre- A\-,'24 (0A; t The controversial Nicholas Sprimont fruit basket now owned in Hollywood. sentative market price of $1,200. Also at a more realistic mar- ket level was the oval cake bas- ket, by Charles Aldridge and Henry Green, 1768, acquired by Randall Reed at the lac- car.li sale held by Christie's in Sydney in 1972 for only $850. This basket had a fine swing handle and the contemporary armo'trials had not been r$ moved, as so often happens, `, leave a razor thin slice of silver as a bottom. Cake. fruit or bread baskets as th-v are variously described are very desirable as centre pieces and perhaps that explains the occasional seemingly runa- way prices for knocked about examples in Australian sale- rooms in the past year or two. Truly rare and important cake baskets in very fine condi- tion can he worth a lot of bread. One by the fittest of all sil- versmiths, Paul de tLamerie, sold at Sotheby's in London in July last year for L.stg4,200. aYUDD GALLERY 21 Station St, Malvern, Vic, 3144. Traditional paintings by well known artists for your office or showroom. Appreciation potential and tasteful decoration. $50 TO $750 Works by! A. ABBOTT, B. BEASLEY, P. BOYCE, B. CALDWELL. M. CASEY, J. DUDLEY, G. EDDY, G. FILNER, P. GLASS, F. DUFFY, H. JACKMAN. k MARTIN, D. MARSH, D. MOORE, D. MILLER. E. VOGEL. G. WHEELER, J. WILLS, M. WILKS, J. WAKEFIELD, HOW! 12 noon-6 p.m. Sun., Tws.,, Thurs., Fri. TeL (44alb.), 509 9628, a.h. 758 1582. BCPS 4BOUltelt'PE Xi/. FIRST TIME EVER * 20% off all marked prices on Estate and New Jewellery Diamonds Sapphires Emeralds Rubies Tact Gold Jewellery Antique Silver Oriental Art Fine Porcelain Sorry, No Lay Bys. New Replacement valuations given Free with all Purchases 'This offer is available only for two weeks. 139a-141 Castlereagh Street, Sydney, 2000. Phone 61 3697 ..Phone. 61 3697 a.