SYDNEY.- Bonhams will launch its new Melbourne offices and gallery on Thursday 7 November with a combined preview of its’ Summer Season of auctions. Covering the collecting categories of Australian Art, Asian art and Fine Jewels, these three auctions will take place in Sydney between 20 – 21 November following a combined preview event at the new offices and gallery, 1130 High Street, Armadale.

Director Merryn Schriever said: ‘Bonhams operations in Australia continues to grow from strength to strength and we are delighted to be expanding our presence in Melbourne.

Our new offices and gallery offer a home base for our many Melbourne based collectors. We are delighted to launch the new gallery with the preview of our Summer Season which boasts three international caliber auctions each offering outstanding pieces to our local and international collectors.’

The Australia Jewels auction features outstanding examples of vintage jewels including a stunning pair of 3.00 ct diamond spray earrings, and a fine diamond and sapphire bracelet, as well as outstanding pieces by Cartier, Tiffany, Buccelatti and Bulgari. The sale is the second of its kind since Bonhams’ category relaunch in August of this year and continues to generate interest both here and abroad. The inaugural auction attracted interest from collectors around the globe; notably from the United States, United Kingdom and Asian markets. Collectors of fine jewels from Australia embraced the auction with particular excitement over the Collection of the Late Jeanette Minter.

A highlight of the Important Australian Art auction, on Thursday 21 November, is a work by acclaimed Australian artist Margaret Preston. Discovered in Ireland by the Bonhams Dublin office, the painting, ‘Bunch of Flowers’ has been considered ‘whereabouts unknown’ since its exhibition in Sydney in 1924. Still housed in its original frame, the work is an exciting example of Preston’s still life paintings from the early 1920s. The sale will also offer a group of works by Dorrit Black, a contemporary of Preston’s and increasingly of comparable acclaim. Of note is Old Church, Veere, an exceedingly rare linocut which dates to c.1933, an example of which has never been seen at auction.

The Important Asian Art auction, on Thursday 21 November, will offer a range of lots including Chinese Paintings from The Yeung Collection, Sydney, which includes works by two modernist Lingnan masters, Zhao Shao’ang (1905-1998) and Yang Shanshen (1913-2004). Acquired almost exclusively through direct commission of the artists by the late Dr TF Yeung, a renowned Ear, Nose and Throat specialist, the collection has been held in Sydney and never been offered on the open market. The sale follows Bonhams’ significant success in recent local and international auctions which all saw record sales, reflecting the continuing growth of the Asian Art Market here in Australia and abroad.