LOCAL GEMS

Last year a mid-19th-century silver-and-gold bracelet by C.L. Quist, of Sydney, sold in England for $116,000. This was an indication of how scarce good Australian jewellery of the period has become and what a collector might have to pay to buy a fifine example. Some more adventurous collectors have turned to the still inexpensive fifield of Australian arts and crafts jewellery to satisfy their collecting urge. Many people look for jewellery by Rhoda Wager, who worked in Sydney, J.W.R. Linton and his son James Linton in Perth, or Harold Sargison in Hobart, all of whom produced impressive examples. There are also enthusiastic collectors who research and collect the work of their lesser-known contemporaries. However, these too are becoming rare and some are turning their attention to more recent and vintage jewellery. Instead of Georg Jensen jewellery, some devotees of Australian craft are seeking out the work of Larsen and Lewers — the husband and wife team working in Sydney from the 1960s. Their elegant silver jewellery has begun to appear at auction and is sold at reasonable prices. Others are looking for jewellery made during the craft revival of the 1970s and 1980s. Work by Ray Norman, who established the craft at the Sturt workshop in Mittagong, and Matcham Skipper, who worked in the artist colony at Montsalvat out of Melbourne, is occasionally seen at auction. For those interested in contemporary jewellery, Gallery Funaki in Melbourne exhibits some of the best work being produced today.