Oceania

The kumete whakairo (presentation bowl) shown here is one of three large and historically significant figure-supported bowls carved between 1865-85 by master carver Patoromu Tamatea.

The best-selling book in Australian history, with more than 30 million copies purchased is 'The Thorn Birds', a novel by Colleen McCullough published in 1977.

Portrait of first governor of Western Australia stands out in a 745-lot auction offering colonial-era items

Auction records are tumbling this year in Australia. Strong property prices, a buoyant stock market and a government with a clear mandate – after a landslide victory for Labor in May – are all contributing to confidence among buyers.

Robert Steele and Company was a partnership formed in 1816 in Greenock, Scotland, between shipbuilder Robert Steele (1745-1830) and his two sons, James and Robert, that became associated with the term ‘Clydebuilt’ ships.

Often remembered as the matriarch of an artistically gifted family, Emma Minnie Boyd (1858-1936) was an artist in her own right, exhibiting prolifically in Australia and also at the Royal Academy of Art in London.

Archives Fine Books was established in 1985, but since 2008 has been the baby of owners Hamish Alcorn and Dawn Albinger (Dawn is interviewed here).

The Cheong family collection of Martin Brothers comes for sale at Bonhams in Sydney on March 27.

Peter Arnold’s (20% buyer’s premium) auction of the first part of the Alexander Collection held in Melbourne, Australia, achieved a selling rate of 80% with 15 lots sold in the following days, all at the reserves, to several buyers.

A ‘baggy green’ Australian Test cricket cap belonging to cricketing royalty appeared at Bonhams Sydney on December 3.

A single-owner collection of rare 17th to 19th century pocket watches in Australia achieved a white-glove result with 95% of the sale going to international buyers

Any gold ‘wandering hour’ watch made prior to the introduction of the balance spring is a rarity.

Seventeenth and 18th century maps sold in Melbourne auction show how much discoveries had revealed