At Leonard Joel's Fine Art Auction on March 25 View of Mr Sturgeon and Mount Abrupt from the Crater of Bald Hill by Eugene von Guerard painted in 1869 sold for $270,000 hammer ($329,400 with premium) to art restorer Aman Siddique who was in the room and one of 10 room bidders either there or on the phone for the item.
At Noble Numismatics auction in Sydney on March 26 a bidder acting for Westpac paid $334,000 ($280,000 before buyers premium for one of the first Australian banknotes which was issued in 1817.
This compared with the single figure estimate (Noble's practice is not to give a range) of $250,000.
The Westpac purchase was not unexpected as it was part of the bank's history and the bank has a collection of banknotes.
The Bank of NSW 10 shillings was signed by the first directors of the bank which issued it and printed at the offices of the Sydney Gazette.
It made its price despite many millions of dollars of Australian bank notes overhanging the market as a result of two traders' financial problems which were heightened by the tighter restrictions placed on their inclusion in self funded superannuation schemes.
The colonial market however has not been as deeply affected as has always been more of a collectors' market with interest spread also amongst general Australiana enthusiasts.
The big interest in the Van Guerard had not been anticipated, but in retrospect reflected the proliferation of new collectors interested in building smaller collections of very select works.
But the man whom it was knocked down to was an old-timer. So do not write off us old timers as we are still around.
While the ultimate buyer for the Joel's lead offering may be unknown, the successful bidder has a long association with colonial art.
Mr Siddique has appeared in the saleroom over the years when significant works have appeared his last recorded excursion being in 2003 when he paid $798,000 at Sotheby's for a John Glover, Montecute, Bothwell.
He also distinguished himself in providing insight into the technical appraisal of Albert Fullwood's Sad News in defining which features had been painted out during one of that memorable picture's saleroom appearances.
The 195 lot sale was 71 per cent sold by volume, and reflecting the success of the Von Guerard, 106 per cent by value.
While the remainder of the Joel's sale had only a few bright spots, it showed that people are still coming out to attend auctions despite the phone and Internet. The room attendance numbered around 200 with others unable to get through the door.
Chased by so many buyers looking for almost trophy lots, the von Guerard accounted for a large part of the sale's $870,360 turnover and will doubtless be used by the company in its long term quest to sell more big ticket art.
The work ticked all the major boxes: it was fresh to the market, an attractive work, rare and in fine condition.
The proprietor of Leonard Joel and its CEO, Mr John Albrecht, said the trend was for many more buyers seeking to build smaller sized collections, by cherry picking the best works available.
Von Guerard was at his peak when painting sweeping views of a prosperous young Australia with landowners so proud of their homesteads, they were delighted to have them reproduced on canvas.
All the world's attics have clearly not been emptied of their Australian art treasures, and there are some treasures in them we may not have known were painted.
Von Guerard appears to have enjoyed the Western District view depicted in the Joel's find, as he returned to it in 1874 when he painted View of the Grampians with Mount Abrupt and Mount Sturgeon in the Distance a much larger 76 by 128 cm oil on canvas 76 by 128 cm.
Melbourne dealer-turned auction proprietor Mr Chris Deutscher had this well-recorded picture for sale in an exhibition held in conjunction with Tim Hogan's Block Gallery in Melbourne in 1978 and doubtless will now be checking up on that work's present whereabouts.
A contemporary newspaper report urged its purchase and exhibition in “the Mother Country” for the sake of the artist and the Colony.
Ms Sophie Ullin, who had worked with Mr Deutscher on his later day auction interests, is credited with another Joel's specialist Mr Guy Cairndorf for having secured the smaller work for sale.
The larger “version” had been offered to the Geelong Art Gallery for five pounds in 1932 but the gallery declined it.
This was probably just as well as it might have made it difficult for the gallery to club together with the National Gallery of Australia to buy A View of Geelong, from Lloyd Webber.
The English lord had set an auction record for the view of $1.98 million for any Australian painting at Christie's in Melbourne bidding against those combined institutions in 1996, but later decided to sell it.,
The Noble sale of more than 5000 lots was held in a room in the State Library of NSW in Macquarie Street across the road from its head office.
The library is noted for its great colonial collections and it is most likely that Samuel Clayton the engraver of the note appears in its catalogues.
Clayton is of interest also to silver collectors as his work or design apparently feature on colonial silver-work.
The managing director of Noble Numismatics himself appears to have been in the dark about the purchaser as he had heard the buyer was a new collector who came along specifically for the sale.
However, the media department of the Westpac bank issued this statement for Australian Art Sales Digest .
“As Australia’s first bank we are proud of our heritage, and of the way we have been part of the country’s growth from the start.
“This note is a unique piece of our and Australia’s history and we are pleased to preserve it for future generations."
An unassuming piece of paper with some perforations it was sought for its value as an early specimen of Australian currency when offered in a 5000 lot coin and bank note sale.
The note issued came to light in a Scottish collection in 2005 when it was bought by the Sydney dealer Mr John Pettit for a client, through Noble's for $243,000.
This was before the market was undermined by Mr Pettit's financial collapse and difficulties of another big trader.
Westpac appears to have had some competition other than the vendor's reserve as there were several bids above the estimate.
The colonial market, however is a little removed from the Federation period and the sale of the note follows the recent failure of a £1000 specimen note design of the 1920s recently offered elsewhere which might have excited most banknote enthusiasts far more, even though the 10/- notes perforations and folds were considered insignificant
Lieutenant-Colonel Lachlan Macquarie, upon arrival in Sydney at the end of 1809, was confronted with a colony in crisis. Those who arrived with the First Fleet in 1788, with only two years' provisions and without knowledge of Australian agricultural conditions, had nearly starved.
Governor Macquarie sought approval to introduce a new currency but this was rejected by London.
However he refused to dip his lid to his colonial masters and the charter for the first bank in Australia with note issuing power was signed by him.
Samuel Clayton, the colony's first engraver, whose work on silver is beloved of buyers in another category of collecting – Australian silver – because of his engraved work on the metal.
Today the Bank of New South Wales is known as Westpac Banking Corporation, having been renamed in October 1982.
The biggest institutional buyer of early notes had been Westpac but it has closed its bank note museum at the Rocks in Sydney. Even so Noble Numismatics made the bank well aware of what could be a key item in its holdings.
