Buyers, fans have plenty to savour

Kotare Over Hikurangi by Don Binney. Photo / Supplied

There are busy times for auction aficionados over the next two weeks, as all five Auckland houses have mid-winter sales, presenting a wide range of buying opportunities. First up next Tuesday are Webb's, with a small (76 lots) but exceptionally well-formed major art collection, including a splendid Kotare over Hikurangi by Don Binney, and Cordy's, with its monthly antique sale of more than 800 lots.

On Wednesday, Chris Devereaux and Webb's celebrate a 20-year association by offering what they claim, with justification, to be "some of the finest jewellery ever to appear on the New Zealand market". For those looking for something for wife or girlfriend, the highlight is expected to be an exceptional 5.09ct diamond, estimated at from $130,000 to $140,000.

And on Thursday, Webb's round out the week with antiques and decorative arts, followed by just over 100 items of photography.

Back in 1991, Webb's sold off many of the contents of historic Florence Court, then owned by the Seabrook family; the remainder was taken to Christchurch by Andrew and Diana Robinson (nee Seabrook).

Now the Robinsons are moving and Dunbar Sloane is selling most of the remaining contents, plus a collection of silver from the Vogtherr family of Hastings. That sale is Monday week.

On Tuesday, Dunbar's collectible sale includes more than 130 netsuke, those delightful "fables in ivory", so loved by collectors of Orientalia. The next day includes many items of military and ethnic interest.

International Art Centre's sale on Tuesday that week includes a copy of William Colenso's 1837 printing of the Maori Declaration of Independence (estimate $8000 to $10,000) and a self-portrait by Bassett Rd machine-gun murderer Ron Jorgensen, who went missing in 1984 after release from prison. Whether it will achieve the same interest today as it did in 2005, when it sold for $8250 (plus premium), remains to be seen.

The season is rounded out by Art+Object, with important art and sculpture on the Thursday. Highlights include Colin McCahon's Buttercup Fields Forever IV from 1967 ($190,000 to $270,000) and a quintessential work by Michael Smither, Boys Fighting over Pink Plastic Gun ($220,000 to $320,000), plus a big Shane Cotton titled Wake. If it reaches the estimate ($230,000 to $300,000) it will be a record for Cotton.

Coming up:

July 21: Cordy's, antiques; Webb's, important art.

July 22: Webb's, jewellery and watches.

July 23: Webb's, decorative arts and antiques, photography.

July 27-29: Dunbar Sloane, Florence Court, collectibles, Maori and Pacific artefacts and NZ historical.

July 28: International Art Centre, New Zealand heritage art.

July 30: Art+Object, important paintings and sculpture.

August 11: Art+Object, the John Perry collection.

August 18: Cordy's, antiques.

August 20: Art+Object, 20th century design.

August 27: International Art Centre, contemporary, foreign and collectible art.