Tāmaki Makaurau - An event on Sunday will be one of the biggest and special art / antique occasions to be held in New Zealand.
Webb’s auctions in Auckland have organised a special celebration of the life of belonging to the late antique dealer, artist, museum curator, quirky obsessive collector and valuer John Perry.
Hundreds of people are expected to attend the event.
New Zealand’s artistic and cultural landscape was diminished, when Perry passed away at home above his shop Global Village Antiques in the old Regent Cinema in Helensville, Auckland, earlier this month.
His all-time favourite piece was a Navajo blanket he bought in the 1970s for $1.50 at a flea market.
Perry could see value and importance in everyday pieces, and he was a champion for them. He had an eye for what was special.
Not just a collector, he was an oral historian. Perry was educated at Cornwall Primary, Remuera Intermediate and Auckland Grammar and went to Elam Art School at Auckland University in 1960. He was the director of the Rotorua Museum.
He was once quote saying his favourite item was the one he bought last night. And his philosophy on life was: leave only footprints and fond memories.
For further information contact Webbs’ Christine Kearney on 027 929 5604 or Make Lemonade editor-in-chief Kip Brook on 0275 030188
Photo: John Perry at his home at home, in his shop in Helensville, west Auckland
Lisa was born in Auckland at the start of the 1970s, living in a small campsite community on the North Shore called Browns Bay. She spent a significant part of her life with her grandparents, often hanging out at the beaches. Lisa has many happy memories from those days at Browns Bay beach, where fish were plentiful on the point and the ocean was rich in seaweed. She played in the water for hours, going home totally “sun-kissed.” “An adorable time to grow up,” Lisa tells me.
Lisa enjoyed many sports; she was a keen tennis player and netballer, playing in the top teams for her age right up until the family moved to Wellington. Lisa was fifteen years old, which unfortunately marked the end of her sporting career. Local teams were well established in Wellington, and her attention was drawn elsewhere.