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Rothschild Masterpieces at Christie’s in New York next October will include a magnificent selection of 600 lots of decorative and fine art. The first ever North American sales of objects from one of the great collecting families in history comprises objects assembled in France by two generations of Rothschilds mostly during the latter half of the 19th century. Highlights include The Triumph of David, a set of Dutch School painted and embossed leather panels laid down on canvas, a third quarter of the 16th century Limoges enamel charger, a Dutch silver gilt mounted nautilus cup (Delft 1607) and an Italian 16th century oval armorial dish. They were purchased by Baron James and his wife Betty and Baron Alphonse and his wife Leonora for their palatial Chateau de Ferrieres outside Paris (it opened in 1862 with a gala attended by Napoleon III) and for their houses in the city. The chateau was donated to France in 1975. The total estimate for this selection of furniture, enamels, maiolica, Renaissance jewels, silver and paintings is in excess of $20 million (€18.24 million). There is to be an evening sale at the Rockefeller Center on October 11, two days sales on October 12 and 13 and an online sale. UPDATE: THE ROTHSCHILD MASTERPIECES EVENING SALE REALISED $43,237,900
UPDATE: THE Rothschild auction series brought in $62.6 million. The four sales averaged 280 percent sold hammer above low estimate, and 98 percent sold by lot. Millennial buyers accounted for an average of 15 percent of bidders and buyers across the week, and bidders and buyers from 40 nations participated.
f you seek to add beauty and interest to your surroundings the timed online At Home sale at James Adam in Dublin on September 4 is a good place to start. The appetising selection of large and small pieces across various price points ranges from conversation pieces like a French Art Deco figure of a young woman in a green dress to mirrors, desks, antique furniture, silver, lanterns and even a cast iron garden bench modelled with oak boughs. The catalogue cover lot is a Still Life with Flowers by Lily Williams ARHA (1874-1940) the artist and Republican who fell out with her Unionist family during the Easter Rising. Work by Williams, who designed the Cross of Cong postage stamp used in Ireland from 1922-1968, does not turn up very often at auction. The oil on board is estimated at €1,000-€1,500. Among other art lots are miniature portraits from an Irish collector and a painting of Sunset over a Churchyard by the English artist Daniel Sherrin. The highly collectible silver on offer includes a pair of serving spoons by the Cork maker John Toleken, an 18th century butter dish by Paul Storr and a fruit basket by the English silversmith Hester Bateman (1708-1794) renowned both for her flatware and ornamental work.
The Arts and Crafts Movement features in the sale with lots including a secretaire with classic decorative motifs by George Montgomery Ellwood (1875-1955), large copper chargers, an oak dresser and an oak chest. There are examples of 19th century French furniture in Kingwood and marquetry including a marble topped credenza and a secretaire in the Louis Quinze taste along with a good choice of useful domestic antique furniture pieces from curio tables to chairs, teapoys and a circular burr walnut tilt top table. There is a selection of overmantles and mirrors, as well as various types of lighting from chandeliers and a brass standard lamp to a hexagonal hall lantern and an unusual pair of brass and polychrome enamel column lamps. English, European and Oriental porcelain on offer includes dinner and tea services and there is a range of carpets, kilims and rugs.
THIS oil on canvas by John B Vallely comes up as lot 14 at Morgan O’Driscoll’s Irish art online auction from the Ulster Bank Collection for Community Foundation Ireland. It is estimated at €5,000-€7,500. The catalogue for the sale, which is now on view in Skibbereen, is online. The wide ranging collection of more than 250 lots on offer caters to a wide variety of tastes. Bidding ends on the evening of August 28.
This life size Black Forest sculpture of a standing bear is among the top lots at Aidan Foley’s two day hotel interiors auction at Prussia St. in Dublin on September 4 and 5. A total of 1,260 lots will come under the hammer. Among the main ones there is art by Marie Carroll, Markey Robinson, Ann Marie Bourke, Graham Knuttel and a pencil drawing by Jack B Yeats, there is a bronze bust of Michael Collins, some old whisky distillery mirrors and a big selection of hotel furniture and fittings at very reasonable estimates. The Black Forest bear is estimated at €1,200-€1,600 and the catalogue for the sale is online. Viewing in Dublin gets underway on September 1. UPDATE: THIS MADE 1,200 AT HAMMER
This 1930’s Belleek cat is one of a number of Irish lots in the online sales of the Freddie Mercury collection now ongoing at Sotheby’s. The cat is lot 1501 in the Freddie Mercury, a World of His Own sale, Crazy Little Things, which runs until September 11. The white glazed cat is estimated at £50-£60 but such is the popularity of the sale that it will make a lot more. Lot 1587 in the same sale is a large group of mixed European linen damask and cotton. It comprises various large damask linen cloths some with matching napkins, other white work embroidered and pulled-work table cloths, napkins and various other small groups of napkins, tape lace place mats, together with two new unused Irish ‘Fingal’ linen double damask cloths, ‘Celtic’ and ‘Chrysanthemum’ designs, a box of six new ‘Chrysanthemum’ design napkins and a group of 28 new ‘Artraco’ white spotted napkins. The estimate is £400-£600 but again these will sell for a lot more.
In the live At Home sale in London on September 8 is a c1760 George III giltwood mirror described as possibly Irish. The estimate is £2,000-£3,000.
Frans Hals will be the focus of a blockbuster show at the Rijksmuseum next year. The Dutch master known for the vitality of his subjects is regarded as one of the most innovative artists of the 17th century. His subjects range from stately regents to cheerful musicians, children and soldiers depicted in a unique, personal style that was utterly original. The first major exhibition devoted to Frans Hals at the Rijksmuseum follows the recent exhibitions on Rembrandt and Vermeer and is the first show on this scale since the 1989-90 exhibition at the Royal Academy, London, The National Gallery of Art in Washington and the Frans Hals Museum in Haarlem. It will feature 50 of his greatest works, many of loan from international collections, including The Laughing Cavalier from The Wallace Collection in London. It will be the first time this particular work has been loaned since 1870. Pictured here is The Lute Player c1623 from the collection at The Louvre. Frans Hals at the Rijksmuseum will run from February 16 – June 9, 2024.
A late 19th century walnut combination dressing table and work table is among the antique furniture highlights at Hegarty’s August live online auction which takes place on August 22. The cabinet, adorned with open fretwork with delicate scrolling and foliate detail, is estimated at €1,000-€1,500. A William IV specimen table is estimated at €2,500-€3,500 and a pair of William IV armchairs have an estimate of €900-€1,000. The sale offers more than 250 lots of art, furniture and collectibles from a private collection in Kinsale. There is an oil on board by Arthur Maderson titled Autumn Sunlight, a watercolour of Cork Docklands by Norma Healy and an oil on canvas by Martin Stone, Gorsefire. An Art Deco inspired Ceylon sapphire and diamond cluster ring is estimated at €6,500-€8,500.
Art by Donald Teskey, Peter Curling, Elizabeth Cope, Arthur Maderson, John Doherty, William Crozier and Norman McCaig from the Ulster Bank Collection will be among the lots to be auctioned for charity by Morgan O’Driscoll on August 28. Proceeds from the online sale of more than 250 lots donated by Ulster Bank – which has now closed all its branches in the Irish Republic – will be donated to Community Foundation Ireland. This philanthropic hub strives to achieve equality for all in communities through a network of 5,000 voluntary, community and charitable partners around the country. The foundation has provided more than €120 million in grant supports to communities since 2000.
With everything from an abstract screenprint by Cecil King, sculptures by Laurent Mellett and Sandra Bell, an oil on board by Henry Healy (1901-1982) entitled Near Clifden, Preparing to go to Mass and Ornamental Trees, Fota by Victor Richardson this is a very wide ranging collection catering to a variety of artistic tastes. The sale is significant in many ways. Before making their way into the Ulster Bank Collection all these works will have been analysed and deemed worthy by art world professionals. Artworks in a collection like this will have been acquired with the assistance of serious advisors.
Even though the art on offer is significant the estimates are wide ranging and reasonable. They span a range from €300 euro for 1992 lithograph – West Cork, Morning by William Crozier to €7,500 for Five Musicians, an oil on canvas by John B. Vallelly.Other works on offer include The Garden of the Wreck, 1998 by John Doherty (€1,200-€1,800), Winter Farm by Nancy Wynne-Jones (€1,000-€1,500), Traffic Lights, Athy by Eugene Conway (€700-€1,000), Day’s work done by Peter Curling (€1,200-€1,800), Donegal Landscape by Arthur Armstrong (€1,500-€2,500), Liffey by Peter Pearson (€600-€900), Primary Structure in Grey by Francis Tansey (€1,000-€1,500), Street with Figures by Donald Teskey (€5,000-€7,000), Gathering the Turf by Charles McAuley (€800-€1,200), My Roman Balcony by George Potter (€1,500-€2,500) and Apple Blossom Time by Norman McCaig (€400-€600).
“This generous gift from Ulster Bank will enable us to impact so many deserving recipients amongst our 5,000 voluntary, community and charitable partners across Ireland. We are hugely appreciative that Community Foundation Ireland has been entrusted to deploy these funds,” Denise Charlton, ceo of Community Foundation Ireland, said. Morgan O’Driscoll remarked that the collection will generate interest from art lovers and collectors alike as well as supporters of the Foundation from across the island of Ireland. The catalogue is online and there will be viewing in Skibbereen on August 24 and 25 and on August 28.
A pair of cold painted bronze pheasants by the Viennese Franz Bergman foundry come up at Hegarty’s live online sale in Bandon on August 22. The pair are impressed with the makers mark “B” and each one is numbered. The Bergman was noted for detailed and colourful work and the estimate on the pair is €800-€1,000. The sale of 290 lots includes art, antique furniture and collectibles from a private collection in Kinsale.
