Under the hammer one last time
Christopher first worked at his fathers Hastings auction house at the age of five, running auction sheets from his father to the accounts clerk.
His son, Alastair, also aged five, will be doing the same at the final no-reserve auction of McKearneys collection on April 28 and 29.
Murray McKearney was principal of the Hastings antiques and fine art company that bears his name. He opened the business in 1961 after a career as a radio announcer and an `apprenticeship as a fruit and vege auctioneer.
He ran auctions on the site, in Karamu Rd, from 1978 till 1982, when he hung up the gavel and turned to retailing. The building is for sale.
Murray McKearney died in January, aged 80. Until the age of 78 he was still making annual trips overseas to source items for auction or for sale.
It was his life, says Christopher, who flew from Melbourne to be at his fathers side on his last day.
That [fine art and furniture] and cricket were his great passions. He was very animated, and very passionate when discussing auction items, and he was an absolute bloody perfectionist - to the point of being a real pain in the neck, Christopher says.
It would have been easier to have sold the collection of 892 lots in a sale, or to have offered it to a city auction house, but that did not feel right to 47-year-old Christopher, whose wife and two sons have joined him in Hawkes Bay.
They plan to return to Melbourne later this year.
There was a lot of soul-searching in regard to staying here and keeping the business going. We thought about moving here, but really our lives are in Melbourne now.
We thought about having a 30 per cent off sale, but it would have been just another sale. I thought, `No, this place has to go back to when it was in its heyday.
We want people to come in here and have fun. Thats what he [Murray] was all about. It will be Dads last hurrah.
The auction includes oak furniture, some dating back to 1580, glassware, art, porcelain, collectibles and sports memorabilia.
Six pieces of art by Murrays close friend, Hawkes Bay artist Piera McArthur, have been donated to the auction. Proceeds from the sale of these pieces will go to the Multiple Sclerosis Society.
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Saturday, April 12th, 2008 at 7:00 pm under