Victorian Entrepreneur John Joseph Mechi (1802-80) was born in London, the city of opportunity – and his story shows all the ups & downs in the life of an entrepreneur. John-Joseph-Mechi 1808-1880 As suggested by his name, his father was Italian, and employed in the household of George III, marrying a local girl. He claimed connections…
Yes, these pieces are so radioactive they glow! With the help of a ‘black light’ Ultraviolet torch, these innocent yellow pieces with the whitish ‘Vaseline’ finish really put on a show. But no need to be alarmed – the radiation they emit is a tiny fraction of a percent of our everyday experience, where the…
This interesting unsigned watercolour was an exciting recent purchase from a local estate. Exciting, because my imagination ran wild… I could see: Colonial period ships. Rather dark people standing up in a ‘canoe’… The tree so prominently featured looks just like a large Eucalypt specimen, as depicted by early colonial artists. On the left are a…
A fascinating and most probably unique creation is also the most modern item in stock at Moorabool – dating to the 1960’s, it is an Australian Pottery ‘Medieval’ chess set, by David & Hermia Boyd, members of the remarkably artistic Boyd family. Medieval Chess set by David & Hermia, 1960’s David & Hermia Boyd Chess…
Today is an important one in Australia; the 25th of April 1915 was a ‘coming of age’, the first military action as an independent dominion. While the troops of the young nation didn’t achieve what they set out to do, and 8,709 didn’t return, it resulted in a sense of pride in those who did return…
An interesting recent arrival at Moorabool is literally Magic….. The Ethiopian Magic Scroll, 19th century or earlier This curious artefact came from an elderly local lady, who challenged me: ‘I bet you don’t know what this is’ and was amazed at my guess of an Ethiopian magic scroll. I had never held one, but knew…
Only on the market once before, this is a remarkable Australian Pottery rarity – probably unique. Speculated to be a special commission or present, it was last sold in the 1980’s at Christies, Melbourne. The board is by David Boyd, and is constructed from four large tiles divided into squares ,the ends inscribed with the…
Every so often, we discover a piece of supreme beauty and rarity. This piece certainly qualifies, belonging to the very earliest years of the French Royal factory of Sevres. What makes this doubly special is that it has come back to us again after many years. It came out of an Australian collection late last century, and…
