Watch List notes:

18 CARAT GOLD PRESENTATION TROWEL, by D & Co., (William Drummond & Co, Melbourne) with ivory handle and cast stem (hollow) beautifully made and engraved ornately on the blade "Presented to/Robert Simson Esq. of Langi Kal Kal/By/Phillip Russell/of Carngham/on the occasion of His Laying the/Foundation Stone/of the Western Wing of the House/Carngham/Carngham, 21 March, 1890", the blade (100x203mm) the handle and stem 200mm in length (gross weight 388g), housed in custom made velvet covered wooden box with glass lid. In practically mint condition, most impressive and extremely rare in this metal, nearly all known examples are housed in official public collections.

Simson, Robert (1819-1896) was the cousin and business partner of Phillip Russell. With the dissolving of the partnership in 1853 Simson bought Langi Kal Kal near Beaufort. Here he became a successful sheep breeder. From 1868 he was a member of the Legislative Council and was president of many important organisations such as the National Agricultural Society and Melbourne Club (in 1889). He was a director of the British and Australasian Trust and Loan Co. and the Land Mortgage Bank of Victoria. His marriage was childless though his family connections were wide spread over Western Victoria and beyond. He died on 3 November 1896 leaving an estate valued at ?182,957.
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Ex Spink Australia Sale 42 (lot 4099).