AUSTRALIAN & HISTORICAL
Session 1 (Lots 1–803)
Saturday 29 November, 2025 – 10am (AEDT)
001-087 Scrimshaw and Maritime
088-115 Convict History
116-262 General
263-355 Furniture
356-385 The Australiana Fund Collection
386-490 Silver
491-572 Jewellery
573-582 Goldfields
583-635 Photographs
636-675 Polar Exploration
676-687 Maps
688-787 Books, Plates, Documents & Ephemera
788-791 Posters
792-803 Postcards
Session 2 (Lots 804–1585)
Sunday 30 November, 2025 – 10am (AEDT)
804-869 The Haydn Vesty Military Collection
870-908 Military
909-927 Politics
928-941 Railways & Trams
942-1322 Pottery
1323-1346 Glass
1347-1575 Paintings & Other Artworks
1576-1585 Wine & Spirits
If you have an important item or collection that you wish to feature in our next Australian & Historical auction, please do not hesitate to make an appointment for a complimentary appraisal. We would be delighted to hear from you.
Our specilalists travel frequently so if you are interstate and considering selling your collection, please let us know.
Runnymede – National Trust House & Gardens
(Lots 1-12)
While Australia’s mainland Colonies experienced a severe economic depression in the 1840s, Tasmania remained prosperous owing to unpaid convict labour and industries such as wool production and whaling. Runnymede, in New Town, represents Tasmania’s golden age. This Regency villa was built by lawyer Robert Pitcairn and Dorothea Pitcairn c1836-1840 and extended by Tasmania’s first Anglican Bishop, Francis Russell Nixon who resided there between 1850 and 1862. Captain Charles Bayley then acquired the house and named it Runnymede, after his favourite whaling ship.
The Bayley and Bayly families resided in the house for over a century. The elegantly furnished house, the fascinating maritime collection housed there and the beautiful gardens, can now be visited and is maintained by the National Trust.
The Australiana Fund Collection
(Lots 356–385)
The Australiana Fund was established in 1978 as an independent collecting body following the encouragement of Mrs Tamara Fraser, wife of the then Prime Minister, Malcolm Fraser. During an official visit to Washington in 1976, Mrs Fraser had been greatly impressed by the initiative taken by Jacqueline Kennedy in 1961 to establish the White House Historical Association, to
acquire fine American decorative arts and works of art in keeping with the historical interiors of the White House. The Fund’s purpose is to enrich Australia’s four official residences
– Government House and The Lodge in Canberra, Admiralty House and Kirribilli House in Sydney – with artworks that are Australian by origin or association, to illustrate the nation’s history and creativity through its cultural and artistic legacy.
The collection has a unique role as a ‘working collection’ bringing aspects of Australia’s story to life while meeting the very practical requirements of the houses. The Fund works in close consultation with the management of the official residences.
Leski Auctions is honoured to have been invited to assist the Australiana Fund in the on-going process of fine-tuning and de-accessioning the evolving collection.
The Haydn Vesty Military Collection
(Lots 804 – 869)
After six decades of studying and collecting militaria, Haydn has decided to offer other collectors the opportunity to purchase and enjoy the pieces you will find in the following pages.
Haydn was fortunate to have a grandfather who introduced him to the art of gun-smithing at an early age, and over the years he became the go-to person for collectors, museum curators, auctioneers and writers, who needed assistance with questions regarding historical militaria. His joy in collecting was enhanced by his enthusiasm for research and even film producers consulted with him to ensure the accuracy of uniforms and weaponry to be used in their productions.
While his interest in militaria spanned most fields of collecting, he ultimately favoured British Waterloo period musketry, helmets and swords, together with
pre-Federation militaria specifically related to the State of Victoria between 1850 and 1900. During those years volunteer and regular forces were widely dispersed, selffunded
units, eventually cobbled together into the Victorian Mounted Rifles, lead by Colonel Tom Price, whose silver statue stands in pride of place in this sale. From buttons to badges, helmets to swords and guns, he has collected a myriad of items including a 12 Pounder Armstrong breechloading field canon from Colonel Chirnside’s Half Battery at Werribee Park, that is now homed at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.
While his interest in militaria spanned most fields of collecting, he ultimately favoured British Waterloo period musketry, helmets and swords, together with pre-Federation militaria specifically related to the State of Victoria between 1850 and 1900. During those years volunteer and regular forces were widely dispersed, selffunded units, eventually cobbled together into the Victorian
Mounted Rifles, lead by Colonel Tom Price, whose silver statue stands in pride of place in this sale. From buttons to badges, helmets to swords and guns, he has collected a
myriad of items including a 12 Pounder Armstrong breechloading field canon from Colonel Chirnside’s Half Battery at Werribee Park, that is now homed at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.