Early in Henri Le Sidaner’s career as an artist in late 19th Century Europe, classical artistic training still consisted of the copying of artworks in the Louvre, academicism still held sway, and the Impressionists had not yet won the battle against classicism. However, as a 23-year-old novice, Le Sidaner recognised the genius of the then-controversial […]
Symbolism and allegory have formed an important part of personal adornment throughout history, and at no time was this more prevalent than during the Victorian era. Both overtly and covertly, symbols of love, mourning, loyalty, spirituality, and friendship were all incorporated into jewellery designs to navigate the social restraint and restrictions of the 19th Century. […]
Norman Lindsay led a bohemian lifestyle in the early 1900s, enjoying theatre, live music, galleries, and the bustling café society. In the interwar years especially, this romantic escape was far removed from the reality of urban life. After joining a dedicated circle of poets and writers who were committed to the classical revival in Australia, […]
Celebrating collections since 1919 is something we enjoy the privilege of practicing every month at Leonard Joel, from the single special object to the grand collection, and this Spring, two extraordinary collections have found their way to our salerooms in Melbourne. The first, as contemporary as it is extraordinary, is a private single-owner collection of […]
Ahead of our Important Jewels Auction, we chatted to Dr Chantel Thornton, a Specialist Breast Cancer Surgeon based in Melbourne, to discover what she loves about wearing jewellery and asked her to choose her favourite five pieces from the collection. We thank Chantel for taking the time out of her schedule to browse jewellery for us! […]
For the jewellery connoisseur coveting extreme rarity and unparalleled beauty, highly saturated, fancy coloured diamonds represent the ultimate prize. So rare are coloured diamonds that only one in 100,000 diamonds qualifies as a ‘Fancy’ colour. The odds lengthen exponentially as the diamonds increase in size. Across the colour spectrum, red diamonds are the most highly […]
Jewellery has formed an auspicious and important part of Indian society and history for over 5,000 years. Spanning India’s rich cultural history, numerous different techniques, gemstones and designs have been utilized in the resulting in distinct regional styles of personal adornment. Solid gold jewellery with an inspiration from the natural world for example was typical […]
Sandra Powell and Andrew King have been avid art collectors for many years. In 2014, the couple sold their expansive collection of Australian modernist paintings to focus on their true passion, collecting Street Art. Over the past decade, the couple have dedicated themselves to this contemporary movement, from assisting and guiding artists with exhibitions to […]
We are delighted to announce that Anthony Hurl has been appointed as Leonard Joel’s Representative Specialist for South Australia. Anthony has extensive fine art and antiques auction experience as a previous long-standing representative for Sotheby’s, later Sotheby’s Australia since 2008, then becoming a specialist until Sotheby’s left Australia at the commencement of 2020. Anthony has been in […]
Garnets; most have heard of the stone, usually in relation to a reddish stone set in antique jewellery, notably the GTD – garnet topped doublet. However, garnets exist in all colours except pure blue and are therefore often mistaken as another natural stone or dismissed as paste (man-made glass). Some of the earliest garnets on […]