DARWIN CHINATOWN LINK IN FABULOUS OFFERINGS AT MELBOURNE FAIR

 The  above  ornamental   fan ,  on sale for $12,000,  made  in Australia in  the l880s  from  the red tail feathers of  Black Cockatoos, with a carved  ivory handle , may  have   been  produced  and  sold  in   Darwin's  Chinatown .  

It is one of  the unusual  items  that  will be offered  by  Douglas Stewart Fine  Books  at the weekend's  Melbourne  Rare  Books Fair .

The  fan  , with  a maximum diameter of 622mm  open  , has an original camphor wood box , a hinged  lid with  relief  carved decorations, the interior  lined  with  blue  silk  and  red  paper . 

The  bookshop says the  fan was made in Australia in the 1880s by Chinese artisans, probably produced and sold by a Chinese commercial enterprise in the Chinatown district of Palmerston (Darwin), the cockatoo feathers being traded from local Indigenous people.

It is described as  a rare survivor that interweaves Chinese artisanal and social  traditions , indigenous culture and European cultural  taste .  

Another unusual  offering  in the bookshop list  is a  water colour portrait and snuff box  of  Midshipman William  Harvey , a  sailor   on all three  voyages  of  Captain Cook,   $48,000. 

Other important  maritime  items   are   a First  Fleet  manuscript  map showing  the  route  of Scarborough on its  return  1788  voyage  from  Port  Jackson , $275,000 ; an autographed  letter  by  First  Fleet  Midshipman  Newton Powell, at sea, off  Rio  de Janiero , August 6, 1787, sent to his father , $150,000 ; William Bligh  ( of  the  Bounty ) 1754-1817, his  personal  copy , $95,000.

One of only three extremely rare known publisher's  copies  of   Patrick White's  The  Ploughman and other poems is  priced  at  $35,000..