The enormous repository of folk art, artifacts and antiques is being sold 18 months after the collector & ex-Museum Director John Perry died. John had warehoused his collection in an old Helensville cinema and had spent the last years of his life selling items through his shop-front.
Webb's have 200 items up for auction this week which is a drop in the ocean of the collection; which will take years to sell. An NZ Herald article with background to the sale is linked here. NewsHub have an segment here. John was a well loved figure in our industry. A very generous person with his time and infinite knowledge. This collection is a once in a lifetime amalgamation and it will be fascinating to follow its cataloguing, sale and dispersal. The new Tauranga Museum complex is advertising for a director to lead the project for the next 4 years.
The opening is projected for late 2026. If you are interested The Big Idea has the job listing here. The museum was green lit in July and will be the repository for a collection of 30,000 objects currently in storage at a secret location. Almost half of this collection is searchable online here at the Tauranga Heritage Collection. At the end of 2022, response to public consultation regarding a new cultural centre at Gate Pā was found to be supported by the community, so Tauranga looks to have an exciting period of building to house and celebrate its cultural heritage. Items from the collection of antiques dealer Emma Hawkins is up for auction at Sotheby's London next week.
The sale is entitled "A Natural World" and features New Zealand interest pieces including the tāonga featured above and two kiwi, amongst the items of natural interest. A gold mounted huia beak brooch is lot 33 and has provenance to a Victorian Whanganui maker. Emma is daughter of Tasmanian based dealer John Hawkins. |
Antique & ArtStories from New Zealand and over the seas Archives
September 2024
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