Stalwart Les Kitchen's Last Sale
The Age
Saturday July 24, 2004
AFTER 45 years, industry stalwart Les Kitchen has finally decided to hang up his gavel and Monday's Oscar Prouse Special Auction from 6pm at 408 Burwood Road, Hawthorn, will be his last.
He leaves behind a thriving auction house that he sold two years ago to Terry Antonio and a reputation as one of Melbourne's leading decorative antique furniture and collectibles authorities.The 59-year-old will now spend time travelling with his wife throughout Australia _ but leaving the business that has been in his blood for so long will not be easy. "I started in 1959 as a 14-year-old apprentice with the original owner Oscar Prouse Fluck," he said. "It was the same year the business was established just down the road on the corner of Glenferrie and Burwood Roads."Apart from developing the new venture, Oscar Prouse Fluck set about teaching a young Les Kitchen the antique trade and soon he also was undergoing a junior sales cadet course at the former Jolimont Technical College.Over about five years, this was followed by a senior sales course, interim decorating training and finally a sales manager diploma at Swinburne Technical College. The year was 1965 and Les suddenly found himself among the first national service conscripts. Before he had barely drawn breath, he was off to Vietnam. "I was a machine gunner in the 5th Battalion, was stationed at Nui Dat and, apart from regular patrols, was also involved in the battle of Lan Tan," he said. On his return, Les went back to Oscar Prouse and within five years had taken over the business.From then on, he made regular buying trips to England and built up the corner locale until he became one of the most respected antique dealers in Melbourne.About 1990, Les began dabbling in auctions and found, with the changing times, that they resulted in much better cash flow. He then renamed the business Oscar Prouse (Long's) Pty Ltd to reflect the altered direction and continued to go from strength to strength. "We held general auctions every week and special antique or on site house antique furniture sales every six weeks," he said. In 2002, the last surviving member of the Serpell family, who owned the building on the Glenferrie Road-Burwood Road corner, died and the premises were sold. It was then Les decided to sell his business to Terry Antonio and, luckily, they found the nearby premises at 408 Burwood Road from which to operate. "I remained in the business as an adviser and valuer for the past two years but now it is time to move on," he said. After all these years, leaving the antique auction business is not without its accompanying sadness. Les remembers the early days in the 1960s when a house load of antique Edwardian and Victorian furniture could be bought for $100. Today, that would fetch $100,000.He also recalls the time he was conducting a country auction in the pouring rain. The roof of the building had so many holes in it that much of his paperwork was becoming sopping wet. "I remember stopping and congratulating the 500 or so country folk, all standing in raincoats with umbrellas held high, for braving the wet and freezing weather to come to the auction," he said. "One bright spark up the back then retorted - well you're not too bad yourself for a city slicker to come all the way from Melbourne on a day like this."Monday's auction will be notable for a comprehensive range of Georgian, Victorian, Edwardian and French antique furniture and collectibles. Featured is an 1820s Regency rosewood and brass inlaid tea caddy, dropside table and sofa table and a Ronscish grand piano. There also is a good collection of Worcester including a William Powell vase and an 1880s Victorian French Limoge hand painted ewer vase. Viewing is today until Monday from 10am-5pm. For information, contact 9819 3737. ? Today from 10am, Grays is auctioning music memorabilia from well known music retailer Music Junction, Camberwell, after a fire in May that destroyed much of the property. The auction, at 19 Hewitt Street Cheltenham, will feature more than $1 million of stock including guitars, keyboards, amplifiers, speakers, mixers and a range of brass and woodwind instruments. A highlight is the 1959 Gibson ES175D jazz guitar. Viewing is from 8.30am. For information contact 8552 4444.
© 2004 The Age