Fairfax, who died in January, was a member of the prominent Australian newspaper publishing family and a well-known philanthropist.
His collection will be offered across three days at The National Art School in Sydney on August 30-September 1. Auction house Leonard Joel will sell the decorative arts items on August 31-September 1, while Deutscher and Hackett will offer Australian art on August 30.
The art and objects demonstrate Fairfax’s passion for collecting European, Japanese and Chinese art.
Lots in the Leonard Joel auction include a Qing Dynasty mythical horse jade carrying an estimate of Aus$40,000-60,000, a set of four Victorian novelty kangaroo salts by John Samuel Hunt for Hunt & Roskell (1856), which have an estimate of Aus$7,000-10,000, and a Qing Dynasty Chinese imperial yellow dragon robe (c.1820) with an estimate of Aus$40,000-60,000.
The proceeds of the auction will go to the James Fairfax Foundation, which supports charities including The Children’s Hospital at Westmead in Sydney, The Children’s Medical Research Foundation and WWF.
