By Terry Ingram, on 16-Jul-2013

At Bonhams New Bond Street rooms in the July 16 sale of prints, The Joke by Ethel Spowers ( 1890-1947) sold for £85,250.

The colourful 1932 linocut was among the body of work done by the artist inspired by Claude Flight's modernistic prints.

 

Spowers enrolled at the Grosvenor School in 1928-1929 to study linocut under Flight and revisited the school in 1931.

The price is the same as that paid in the same rooms on April 6 for The Stride by the same artist.

The estimate of The Joke, was lower presumably based on its lack of Flight's trade mark speeding themes, at only £20,000 to £30,000.

It appears, however, a great rarity as Bonhams found no evidence of one ever having come to auction and only one impression in the collection of the National Gallery of Australia.

 

+  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +

 

Meanwhile, Bonhams Australia's Sydney office was besieged with calls from potential vendors this week following the sale by its London parent on July 11 at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in the UK of a 1954 Mercedes-Benz W196R Formula 1 Single-Seater for £19.6 million.

They were impressed by the new world record price at auction and hoped the price might revalue their holdings even if their vehicles were unlikely to have the trophy appeal of its outstanding racing history and past ownership.

Australia has long been prospective for cars of the same period and many verging on the antique by comparison.

A 1953 Austin-Healey 100 Special Test Car sold for £785,500 inc. premium against estimates (excluding premium) of £500,000 to £700,000.

The car was acquired by a Mr John Gray of Melbourne in 1994-95 when serious restoration was undertaken at Healey Factory in Victoria.

Another car with an Australian history to sell at Goodwood was a 1913 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost London-to-Edinburgh Tourer which made £718,300 inc. premium and a 1923 Bentley two seater replica which made £208,700 inc. premium.

The departure from Australia of many of the cars to overseas collectors followed a close association between Bonham and Sydney auctioneer Mr. Tim Goodman over more than two decades.

It ended when Mr Goodman bought the Sotheby's Australia franchise in 2009.

 

About The Author

Terry Ingram inaugurated the weekly Saleroom column for the Australian Financial Review in 1969 and continued writing it for nearly 40 years, contributing over 7,000 articles. His scoops include the Whitlam Government's purchase of Blue Poles in 1973 and repeated fake scandals (from contemporary art to antique silver) and auction finds. He has closely followed the international art, collectors and antique markets to this day. Terry has also written two books on the subjects

.