Auction 119 Highlights

Welcome to Smalls Auctions Sale 119.

We have a diverse offering of collectables for your pleasure.

The sale starts with a selection of ancient weaponry from the Etruscan, Norman & Inca civilisations which are provenanced to Christies London sales of the late 1970s. Many have their original sale tags attached which makes them even more desirable.

This is followed by a selection of early Sydney Gazette newspapers from 1827 to 1831 which give you an insight into the goings on in early Sydney.

The Fine Art on offer gives you two Wynne Prize recipients, the first the lauded artist Theodore Penleigh Boyd and the second Arthur Streeton whose name is eponymous with Australian Art. His name is only rivalled by the greats such as Russel Drysdale who also features in this sale. There are also two paintings by the lesser-known Fred Elliot. Elliot was a local of the suburb of Paddington situated on Sydney’s foreshore and would regularly paint visiting naval vessels which legend has it he would exchange for a bottle of beer. His painting of J186, the minesweeper H.M.A.S Ipswich leaving Sydney heads proves intriguing. This vessel was sold to the Dutch in 1946 and then eventually transferred to the Indonesian Navy in 1949 and renamed ‘Hang Tuah.’ It suffered an ignominious fate in April 1958 being bombed and sunk by rebel forces sponsored by the CIA.  An equal import is a handwritten poem by Australia’s poet laureate Les Murray titled the ‘Rollovers’ which cheekily reverses the roles of the bankers and borrowers being dispossessed of their property in hard times. Surely this is an Australian classic.

The coins on offer are highlighted by three New South Wales 1813 Dumps one of which, an E3 struck as a trial in copper, lays claim to being  the earliest surviving example of this rare coin type. It was once owned by Dr Bill Mira who wrote the standard reference work on Australia’s colonial Holey Dollars & Dumps.

The Sale concludes with a selection of affordable Australian Shillings and a small selection of Modern issues.

We hope you find something to entice you.

Smalls Auctions