A striking artwork by acclaimed Victorian Aboriginal artist and Wurundjeri elder William Barak more than doubled its pre-sale estimate at Bonhams in Sydney last night, breaking the previous auction record for his work.

The 1897 work, Ceremony, which had never before come to market, sold for $512,400 including buyer’s premium after heated bidding pushed it well past its pre-sale estimate of $180,000 to $250,000.

Bidders in the room, on the phones and online fought to win the 41 x 54cm work on paper, which appears to depict a lively initiation ceremony, complete with bearded elders, young initiates, boomerangs, spears and shields.

Bonhams’ chairman Mark Fraser said the Barak artwork had been held in the same Sydney family for more than 100 years and was a previously unknown work by the renowned artist.

“Family lore is that Barak exchanged the painting with their forebear Frank Piggott Webb, who was a master glass maker, and it had been treasured by the family ever since,” Mr Fraser said.

Bonhams’ June 7 sale also produced more record-breaking artworks.

Arthur Boyd’s diminutive Persecuted Lovers – Study achieved $244,000 IBP, making it the most expensive Boyd per square centimetre ever sold, while a remarkable Weaver Hawkins self-portrait made $122,000 IBP, more than double its high-estimate and almost $40,000 above the previous auction record for the artist.

Kathleen Petyarre’s Mountain Devil Lizard Dreaming (After Sandstorm), part of the Thomas Vroom Collection of Aboriginal art, sold for $73,200 IBP, the second-highest price ever achieved for this esteemed Utopia artist.

Overall, Bonhams’ sale made $2.1 million, with 85 percent sold by lot.