In another thread there was a discussion of rare and one-off or special editions of Harbour Lights. One such rarity is the prototype piece for Macquarie, Australia. The prototype had both the lighthouse building as well as the nearby keeper’s quarters. As happens on many Harbour Lights, the buildings were moved closer together to make production of the piece easier. Before going into production this design was abandoned. Ultimately, just the lighthouse building itself was represented on the model.


I have started this thread to allow folks to get a little look at a very rare Harbour Lights model. Some will remember seeing it on display at the Baltimore reunion in October 2001. Fred purchased this piece at the final breakfast and its grand auction. Records were not kept, but I recall a figure of about $5,000 was Fred’s final bid. Mike thinks it was closer to $6,000. Not the record for a piece, but one of the highest bids ever. That morning we were sitting at the table with Fred, along with the Brady’s, Mombo and Jakers. Talk about an exciting auction!

The painting on this piece is magnificent – it is just so sharp and crisp. As you can see in one of the photos, the origination artist was Christianne. Those who attended the Mackinac reunion got to meet Christianne and watch her work – what patience and ability!


I will apologize for the photos – not quite up to Brady standards, but I think you can get the idea from these.





The detail on the light is quite incredible. Above the door of the light is a bust of Queen Victoria. This picture does not do the sculpture justice – the actual detail is quite good.


Lighthouses of Australia Macquarie site Scroll down to see close up image of the bust of Queen Victoria above the door.

Here are some side by side photos of the prototype and of the model as produced. Notice the difference in how the lantern room is painted:





Overall, this is a really great piece. As good as the painting is on production pieces, the paint on the origination prototype just blows it away.




Sydney Harbour Federation Trust site for Macquarie .

Nice pics and narration, Dave! I seem to remember Fred paying about $5000 for the piece. I know he received quite a round of applause after his winning bid.

Bob

Dave, thanks for recording this Harbour Lights history documentation before it gets lost. This is the kind of info that first brought many of us to CF and it's predessesor. Many of us know parts of this story but this brings it all together, and maybe someone videotaped the auction?

Bob

Thanks Dave for the pictures and the background info on this rare piece.

I for one would love to see more variations explained. The info and pictures would be priceless !!!

Dave, Thanks for taking the time to show and tell us the details and differences of a rare piece!
Extremely interesting and helpful for some of us who are newer to collecting.
I appreciate the effort and time!

I had the pleasure of talking with Fred right after the auction. I commented on how amazed I was being relatively new to HL collecting at the level of his bid for this "One of a kind". his reply was, "Shoot, I'd have paid $10,000 for it."
So I asked if that was because of the value for it? (Remember I was new.....)
He said.... "Because I wanted it." with the quirkiest smile which is the best way i can decribe his grin.