Auction PR Publicity Announcements News and Information
Auction PR Publicity Announcements News and Information

Joan Bowers Collection Auctioned in Sydney

Buyers with a taste for the rare and the exotic flocked to Waterloo on Sunday 1st March where the lifetime collection of Joan Bowers, went up for auction.

A glorious array of artifacts, antiques and furniture, sourced primarily from India and assembled over 30 years, took just under 5 hours to sell as 350 eager bidders competed for the most unusual and beautiful pieces. Those who weren’t lucky enough to get a seat, took advantage of the aisle to sit through the 400 lot sale.

Particular highlights of the auction included an important pair of sandstone lions which more than doubled their lower estimate, selling for $15,120. An impressive Shardi Pavillion, or wedding enclosure, also sold well above its estimate of $3,500 – 5,000 when it was knocked down at $8,160 including Buyer’s Premium. Perhaps one of the finest pieces in the sale was a Pichwai temple hanging depicting the lotus groves of the Jamuna river where Krishna sported in his youth – this stunning piece sold to a private buyer for $19,200.

A highly significant and poignant piece was a plaque which marked the place of a Royal sati – the Indian custom in which a widow was burnt to ashes on her dead husband’s pyre. Joan was astonished to find the plaque within a group of stone she bought for its weight price at a demolition site. The piece sold yesterday for $7,200.

With a fantastic result of 106% sold by value, National Head of Decorative Arts at Bonhams & Goodman, James Hendy, said ‘The sale was a huge success and showed that the market is always there for the unique and unusual items. This sale included items that are no longer readily available to the Australian market and people responded to this with the majority of items going directly to top end buyers’.

For sale results visit www.bonhamsandgoodman.com.au