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Still Life with Saucepan by William Scott made a hammer price of €72,000 at Whyte’s sale of Important Irish Art in Dublin last night. Whyte’s reported a strong sale despite the economic downturn, with many buyers looking for a hedge against inflation. The auction grossed €1.25 million with 75% of lots sold. The top price was €160,000 for Sunshine and Blossom by Walter Osborne, Turf Stacks in the West by Paul Henry made €130,000 and Unloading the Turf Boat, Aran by Sean Keating made €75,000.
This 18th century marble chimneypiece comes up as lot 12 at Sheppards three day sale in Durrow from December 6-8. There is an inverted moulded edge mantle above a swag draped table and Sienna fluted inlaid panels and pillars. The estimate is €12,000-18,000. Around 1,450 lots will come under the hammer at the sale entitled Bonnettstown Hall, Kilkenny and other important clients. The catalogue is online and there will be viewing in Durrow from December 3. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
An extremely scarce medal from Cork’s first Football All-Ireland in 1894 comes up at Fonsie Mealy’s rare books and collectibles sale in Dublin on December 6 and 7. The seventh All-Ireland final was mired in controversy. The first game was a draw, there was a re-match where, with seven minutes remaining and Cork leading Dublin by 1-02 to 0-5, several Dublin players were attacked by Cork supporters. Dublin refused to play on and was awarded the championship by the GAA Central Council. Cork County Board never accepted this finding.
Four months later a ceremony was held to award gold medals to the victorious Cork players from Nil Desperandum FC which had been founded mostly as a rugby club and where members started playing Gaelic Football in 1888. The 9 carat gold medal bears the Cork Coat of Arms and the Provincial Coats of Arms and is inscribed: GAA All-Ireland Football Championship, won by Nils, 1894″. It is estimated at €7,000-€9,000. The medal is by direct family descent from Jack O’Sullivan of Nil Desperandum. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
A good selection of great value and attractive antique furniture and collectibles will feature at two Cork city sales on December 3. Local interest will be stirred by a painting of Mahon Golf Club by Josef Keys at Woodwards (€400-€500) and a double washstand from the State Bedroom of the White Star liner RMS Celtic which ran aground off Roches Point in December 1928 at Marshs (€4,000-€6,000).
Memories of the storied industrial past of the city will be awakened by not just any old tin but one labelled grandly “The Finest Keeping Butter in the World”. The advice on the 28 lb tin packed by M. Barrett, Cork is to store in a cool place. Marshs estimate it at just €200-€400. Among a selection of cased longcase clocks, wall and mantel clocks at Marshs are two Cork clocks, one by William Ross, the other by a maker called Mansfield. Each is estimated at €2,000-€3,000. A large bronze bust of Napoleon on a pedestal (€1,500-€2,500) and a selection of silver and plated cutlery from the Ursuline Convent in Blackrock will create interest too.
Not so much interest perhaps in the antique furniture, which has not been doing well for what seems to me to be inexplicable reasons. Marshs will offer a highly collectible pair of large mahogany wine coolers and an early Georgian mahogany corner cabinet each estimated at €1,500-€2,000. The estimates for these might have been higher two decades ago. There is a mere €400-€500 on an arbutus wood Killarney work table and a Queen Anne armchair comes with an estimate of just €250-€300.
At Woodwards a pair of cast iron garden benches is estimated at €1,600-€2,000 and a large Persian Mashad rug is estimated at €500-€600. Among the antique furniture in the estimate range of €400-€500 is a Georgian mahogany breakfast table, a George II kneehole desk, a pair of inlaid console tables, an Edwardian inlaid sofa table and an eight piece Chippendale style drawing room suite. The estimates are even less on a William IV inlaid walnut sewing table, a William IV oblong hall table, a Georgian walnut card table and a large kneehold desk, all reckoned to make around €300-€400. A bachelors chest, a Victorian oval centre table and an Edwardian envelope card table are all estimated at just €200-€300.
The Irish art sale season continues on its merry winter way on November 28 and 29. The sale of Important Irish Art at Whyte’s in Dublin next Monday evening offers significant works in contrasting styles by artists as diverse as Paul Henry and James Brenan to Louis le Brocquy and William Scott. A classical Henry landscape, Turf Stacks in the West, is estimated at €120,000-€180,000, as is an image of W B Yeats by Louis le Brocquy. There are two oils on canvas dated 2004 by Conor Harrington, the renowned Cork street artist and painter, A Thought for Lunch (€10,000-€15,000) and Lost in Space (€8,000-€12,000). The auction is on view at Molesworth St., Dublin this weekend and until 4 pm on Monday.
There will be viewing in Skibbereen on November 28 and 29 for Morgan O’Driscoll’s online evening Irish art sale with 242 lots which gets underway on Tuesday. The selection offers works by Kenneth Webb, Mainie Jellett, Cecil Maguire, Norah McGuinness, Arthur Maderson, Cecil Maguire, Louis le Brocquy and many other artists.
A pair of 18th century gilt console tables c1780 with rouge royale shaped marble tops will come up as lot 901 at Sheppards three day sale on December 6, 7 and 8. They are estimated at €8,000-€12,000. Viewing for the sale entitled Bonnettstown Hall and other important clients will get underway in Durrow on December 3. The catalogue is online from today.
This c1820 Irish serving table made by Gillingtons in Dublin comes up at a sale by Reillys Antiques, Prosperous, Co. Kildare on November 26. It is estimated at €4,200-4,500. Contents from Ballyraggett House, Sallins will come under the hammer. There will be viewing at Ballyraggett House today and tomorrow and the sale takes place at Reilly’s and online with 425 lots in total.
This etching and aquatint by Sean Scully comes up as lot 4 at Morgan O’Driscoll’s current online Irish art auction. Signed and numbered 13/40 Dark Fold dates to 2003 and is estimated at €4,000-6,000. There is art from Frank McKelvey and Kenneth Webb to Louis le Brocquy and John Shinnors in this sale of 242 lots which runs until the evening of November 29. The catalogue is online and the auction will be on view in Skibbereen on November 25, 28 and 29.
Turf Stacks in the West by Paul Henry comes up as lot 18 at Whyte’s sale of Important Irish Art on November 28. Measuring 16″ x 24″ it is estimated at €120,000-180,000. In the catalogue note Dr. Mary Cosgrove writes: “The subject matter and style of this painting points to the 1930s as the date of production, by which time Henry’s work was regularly exhibited in London, New York and Boston as well as at home. It had also been reproduced on internationally distributed railway posters. Although depicting the harsh realities of deforestation, depopulation, emigration and unemployment that the artist knew only too well from working with the Congested Districts Board, Henry’s landscapes appealed to Irish-Americans during the Depression, achieving better prices than in Ireland during its own economic crisis.”
The catalogue cover lot is Louis le Brocquy’s Image of W.B. Yeats, which also comes with an estimate of €120,000-180,000. Viewing for the sale is underway in Dublin and the catalogue is online.
This Rita Hayworth film post, L’Affaire de Trinidad”, comes up as lot 215 at Dolan’s timed online November auction with an estimate of 150-220. It is in good condition, unframed with a single fold mark. The sale offers work by 20th century and contemporary artists including Charles Lamb, Mark O’Neill, Flora Mitchell, Arthur Maderson, Markey Robinson (Bronze), Charles Harper, Cecil Maguire, Martin Mooney, Frank Egginton, Arthur Armstrong, Muriel Brandt, Ernest Hayes, Arthur Twells and Modern British artists Helen Tabor and Roger Dellar. There is a selection of Very Rare Midleton Whiskeys which Dolan’s say are prized by collectors across the world, from Ireland to Sydney.
The selection includes antique furniture, rugs, books, silver and collectibles with 344 lots in total. There is art by Susan Cronin, Henry Morgan, John Morris, Norman Teeling, John C Brobbel, Rose Stapleton, Roy Lyndsay, Robert Egginton, Olive Bodeker, Michael Morris, Thelma Mansfield, Mat Grogan, Douglas Hutton and Manus Walsh. The auction runs until November 28.
