Decorative Arts
Decorative Arts
Webb’s Decorative Arts Department offers excellent knowledge and curation of a range of fascinating objects. Our online and live auctions present decorative arts covering a wide array of periods and styles from rare and designer furniture and home accents, applied arts, indigenous art and material culture, select single owner collections, and more.
Upcoming Live Auction
Material Culture
Live Auction | Wednesday 12 November
Our Material Culture Live Auction catalogue is now available online and ready for your early bids.
This auction is a powerful tribute to global ancestral artistry and features items from Aotearoa, Africa, Asia, Melanesia, Polynesia, and the Americas — each a testament to cultural resilience and transformation.
Highlights include an elegant 18th-century Māori mere pounamu, a 19th-century pātītī, and striking Phantom Shields from Papua New Guinea.
Likewise, there is a rich selection of ceramics spanning wide geographical regions and eras, from ancient China and Japan’s Meiji-era Satsuma ware through to Ancient Rome, Iran, Egypt’s pre-dynastic period, Colombia and many more.
Contemporary Māori works by Matiu Bartlett and Lyonel Grant reflect a living tradition, while a strong offering of Australian Aboriginal paintings showcase storytelling and ancestral wisdom through intricate patterns and geometries.
This catalogue speaks of adaptation, ecological knowledge, and enduring creativity and we are honoured to help usher their continued guardianship.
Leah Morris
Head of Decorative Arts
Upcoming Online Auction
Musical Instruments and Pop Culture
Online Auction | 19.12.25—19.01.26
Following the outstanding success of our July 2025 vintage guitar auction—which achieved over $442,000 in sales—we are pleased to announce the upcoming Instruments & Collectables online auction, which takes place over December and January. We are now inviting entries of exceptional instruments, pop culture items, and related collectables for inclusion in this curated sale.
We are currently accepting: vintage and collectable guitars (electric, acoustic, bass), rare or custom-made instruments of all types, instruments from iconic makers, pop culture memorabilia (e.g. music, film, television, fashion, and celebrity-related items), and unique or historically significant collectables.
If you have a piece worth showcasing, contact us for a free, no-obligation appraisal, and let us connect your item with a passionate audience of collectors, musicians, and fans.
Leah Morris
Head of Decorative Arts
The Decorative Arts Department
Webb’s Decorative Arts Department offers excellent knowledge and curation of a range of fascinating objects.
Our online and live auctions present decorative arts covering a wide array of periods and styles from rare and designer furniture and home accents, applied arts, indigenous art and material culture, select single owner collections, and more. We have consistently seen high returns as more and more people look to the secondary market for unique and hard-to-find pieces.
We are continuing to see a strong demand for quality decorative arts, in particular mid-century modern furniture and postmodern design, showing the enduring value of considered craftsmanship within the secondary market. Our quarterly premium Design sales have proved immensely popular with both emerging and seasoned collectors alike, bringing together the best of the best from local and international designers. We are delighted to regularly handle design heavyweights such as Michel Ducaroy, Eames, Garth Chester, and Charlotte Perriand.
With a dedicated client base following our Material Culture auctions closely, we are reliably seeing incredible returns. One of our most notable recent sale results was the world record-breaking sale of a single huia feather, selling for $46,521 and breaking the previous world record by 450%. It is a privilege to be entrusted as temporary kaitiakitanga of these pieces and to showcase such a high calibre of taonga and indigenous art from around the world. It has been exciting to bring these important catalogues to life and achieve such phenomenal results.
These outstanding outcomes are testament to the unparalleled passion and commitment of our specialist team.
Leah Morris
Head of Decorative Arts
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Leah studied at the University of Auckland earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in Anthropology and Ancient History in 2015. In 2017 she graduated with an Honours in Museum Studies and Cultural Heritage.Before coming to Webb’s in 2021, Leah’s most recent tenure was working as a Collection Technician at the Auckland War Memorial Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira for Human History in which she researched and catalogued the Social History, Applied Arts and Design, and World collections.
This experience shines through in her role as Head of Department where she expertly leads specialist Decorative Arts sales with utmost care and consideration for the full client experience.
Leah has a special interest in Material Culture and has set the benchmark for curating record-breaking sales. She is particularly interested in West African art, taonga, and indigenous art, as well as New Zealand studio pottery and glass.
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