24Nov07
TAXI driver Rob Hefford thought the old Aboriginal man was driving a hard bargain when he asked for a cab ride from Alice Springs to Papunya and $80 in cash for a carving of a snake.
In fact, it was a bargain.
The artist was internationally acclaimed Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri and the 1.5m beanwood carving is expected to fetch about $20,000 next month.
"I didn't want the carving - I thought it was far too expensive," Mr Hefford said yesterday.
"The cab fare was $160 - and he wanted cash on top of that.
"I thought it was a bad deal and had to be talked into it.
"But when Clifford showed me the carving, I thought, `That's a class act'.
"It wasn't crude like the work of some other Aboriginal artists."
Mr Hefford, 59, worked in Alice in the 1970s and 1980s and regularly ferried Possum and fellow artist Billy Stockman to their communities.
He built up a collection of 25 pieces of Aboriginal art, including paintings by Albert Namatjira's sons Keith and Ewald.
Mr Hefford now owns a grape farm in Renmark, SA.
His house is not big enough for the artwork to be displayed - so he has kept it in a shed for nearly 30 years.
He offered the pieces to fine art dealer Jim Elder for auction because he is moving to Queensland and didn't want to move it there.
The collection will be auctioned in Adelaide onDecember 2.
Possum, who died in 2002, this year smashed the record for an Aboriginal art work sold at auction when his painting Tjapaltjarri fetched $2.4million.
Mr Elder said a similar snake carving fetched $23,000 when it sold at a Sotheby's auction five years ago.
caption: BARGAIN: Robert Hefford is auctioning his snake sculpture carved by famous Aboriginal artists Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri. Picture: CAMPBELL BRODIE
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TAXI driver Rob Hefford thought the old Aboriginal man was driving a hard bargain when he asked for a cab ride from Alice Springs to Papunya and $80 in cash for a carving of a snake.
In fact, it was a bargain.
The artist was internationally acclaimed Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri and the 1.5m beanwood carving is expected to fetch about $20,000 next month.
"I didn't want the carving - I thought it was far too expensive," Mr Hefford said yesterday.
"The cab fare was $160 - and he wanted cash on top of that.
"I thought it was a bad deal and had to be talked into it.
"But when Clifford showed me the carving, I thought, `That's a class act'.
"It wasn't crude like the work of some other Aboriginal artists."
Mr Hefford, 59, worked in Alice in the 1970s and 1980s and regularly ferried Possum and fellow artist Billy Stockman to their communities.
He built up a collection of 25 pieces of Aboriginal art, including paintings by Albert Namatjira's sons Keith and Ewald.
Mr Hefford now owns a grape farm in Renmark, SA.
His house is not big enough for the artwork to be displayed - so he has kept it in a shed for nearly 30 years.
He offered the pieces to fine art dealer Jim Elder for auction because he is moving to Queensland and didn't want to move it there.
The collection will be auctioned in Adelaide onDecember 2.
Possum, who died in 2002, this year smashed the record for an Aboriginal art work sold at auction when his painting Tjapaltjarri fetched $2.4million.
Mr Elder said a similar snake carving fetched $23,000 when it sold at a Sotheby's auction five years ago.
caption: BARGAIN: Robert Hefford is auctioning his snake sculpture carved by famous Aboriginal artists Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri. Picture: CAMPBELL BRODIE
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