b'40Western Australia GoldfieldsThe collecting passions and interests of Val and MichaelDonovan & Overland, one of the most prolific of the Gregg have given us, as auctioneers, and our clients,local firms, is well known for their series of mining as collectors, some exceptional groups of rarities, nonebrooches. None of them are common, but its certainly more so than the following pieces created by the earlythe case that Kalgoorlie and Coolgardie are the most jewellers and goldsmiths of Western Australia. frequently seen. So, the Greggs didnt bother with Gold mining in Western Australia dates back to thethose, they found a Leonora (203), one of only two 1880s but became a significant industry in the 1890s,known to us, and an example lettered W.G.U.E.A., following gold discoveries at Coolgardie in 1892 and(204) which appears to be unique. George Richard Kalgoorlie in 1893. It reached an early peak in 1903Addis, whose work is quite striking, is represented in and by then several talented and experienced artisansthis collection by two brooches featuring large natural had been attracted to the booming towns of Perthnuggets (205 and 206) and the work of Berndt V. and Fremantle, some even finding their way to theLindell, an immigrant from Finland, is included with a small mining settlements that sprang up around newdelightful brooch (207) which features a dove carrying finds. More than a century later their work is rarelya lettericonography which must have appealed to seen on the market, most known pieces having beenthe hopeful miners who had often left their families acquired by museums and other institutions. We havein Europe or North America to seek their fortunes in been fortunate to see several examples pass throughthe wilds of Western Australia. Charles Henry May, our rooms over the years, but the Gregg Collection iswell known for incorporating swans in his designs, is certainly the largest and finest group we have offered. represented with a delightful example of his work (209) as are Levinson & Sons, who arrived in Perth in the mid-1890s from Ballarat. (208).'