It is probably not news to most that there has been a global move towards buying preowned goods, and that the Luxury market is ahead of the game, with sales going through the roof in online stores and at auction. The reason for the trend is a complex mix of sustainability, durability, affordability, and of […]
No matter how beautiful the actors or riveting the plot, sometimes it’s the furniture and set designs that are the real showstoppers in films. “American Psycho” was released over 20 years ago now, and yet it is still regarded as a benchmark for 80s apartment chic. Designing the home of Patrick Bateman fell to set […]
Patek and Philippe. What is it about these two names that when seen together either prick up the ears, dilate the pupils, set the heart racing, or a combination of all three, for those with even a passing interest in watches? Founded in 1839 by Antoine Patek and Adrien Philippe and now led for over […]
“Eveline Syme studied Classics at University but became a champion of the modernist style in Australia in the 1920s and 1930s. A traveller to Europe for creative development including as a student of London’s Grosvenor School of Modern Art, upon return she would freely share her artistic learnings with fellow artists and the public in […]
Proposing with the first recorded diamond engagement ring, one 15th Century Archduke unknowingly started a trend amongst aristocrats and nobility that remains an enduring tradition to this day. The first time in history where we encounter a written historical narrative of a diamond engagement ring is the engagement between Archduke Maximilian of Austria and Mary […]
A couple of months ago we were entrusted with a beautiful small white jade dish to study for a short while and to suggest an estimate for auction in our final Asian Works of Art auction for the year. The story was every auctioneer’s dream. It was given to a lady in England in 1958, […]
We are thrilled to present pieces from the historic Toorak Mansion, Trawalla, within our October Decorative Arts Auction. The stately 19th Century home featuring seven bedrooms, two dining rooms, a billiard room, a study, and two sitting rooms, was tastefully restored in the late 2000s by highly regarded Australian interior designer, the late Stuart Rattle. […]
As Leonard Joel Sydney prepares to offer an important collection of art, decorative arts and furniture from Brans Antiques and Art, Perth, we spoke to John Brans to discover more about the family business history and his favourite auction finds. Tell us about the history of Brans Antiques. My father Clive started Brans Antiques and […]
As I write from lockdown 6.0 in Melbourne, I’m hoping that by the time this issue of Leonard reaches you in October that lockdowns will have lifted or eased across the country. We feel desperately for the businesses, large and small, that cannot function in an online world and as a business we continue to […]
About 14 years ago, I agreed to place a full-page advertisement for Arts Project Australia in the back of a Fine Art auction catalogue. Norman Rosenblatt, a Leonard Joel regular, asked me to do this as a favour to promote awareness of the art studio that at the time I knew nothing about. The image […]