18th century Beauvais Tapestry The Emperor’s Voyage
Some contents of the legendary Four Seasons George V Hotel in Paris will be auctioned by Artcurial on September 7 and 8 next. It is part of an ongoing drive to embellish the interiors of this iconic palace. More than 800 lots of art, furniture and objects are to be sold including items from the Imperial and Royal suites and Le Cinq, the three star restaurant. One of the most important lots is this tapestry depicting the Chinese Emperor Kangxi. Lot 733 is estimated at €40,000-€60,000. The majority of the lots on offer, including headboards, chairs, lamps, curtains, porcelain and tables are estimated at under €1,000.
This blue and white tureen and cover in the Chinese taste is lot 72 at Adams timed online warehouse clearance sale and is estimated at €50-€80. There is a wide selection of lots at affordable estimates on offer and the catalogue is online. The sale begins to close at 11 am on August 24. UPDATE: THIS MADE 110 AT HAMMER
A magnificent set of 10 chairs, described by Christie’s as the apogee of Kentian design and the ultimate flowering of the Palladian aesthetic, will come to auction in New York on October 20. They are by no means the most expensive lot from the Ann and Gordon Getty Collection to be sold over four evening and day auctions in New York from October 20 but there is an Irish connection. The c1754-56 chairs attributed to Benjamin Goodison are thought to be after a design by the architect designer William Kent. The delicately pierced backs and Vitruvian scroll aprons refine the Palladian style promoted by the foremost classical furniture designer of the day.
It was his friendship with Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington and 4th Earl of Cork (1694-1753) that promoted Kent as a painter, architect and designer. Known as the architect earl Boyle is credited with bringing Palladian architecture to Ireland and Britain. Major projects include Burlington House, Piccadilly, London (now home to the Royal Academy), Westminster School, Chiswick House and Northwick Park. Boyle’s professional skill as an architect was extraordinary as an Anglo-Irish aristocrat. Andrea Palladio’s Four Books of Architecture accompanied him on a tour of the Veneto in 1719. Back in London he employed the Scottish architect Colen Campbell for Burlington House and William Kent was assigned the interiors. The courtyard prominently sited in Piccadilly was the first major executed statement of Neo-Palladianism. Thanks to the Earl of Cork Palladian architecture with its Roman and Greek influences had arrived in this part of the world. Meantime Kent’s Palladian residences with their fully designed interiors became a template for his contemporaries and subsequent generations. The chairs are estimated at €490,000-€780,000.
The Ann and Gordon Getty Collection sale will offer almost 1,500 lots from their San Francisco residence, considered one of the finest interiors in the world. There are decorative and fine art masterpieces of unrivalled quality and provenance. The New York sales will be complemented by six online auctions of textiles, handbags and jewellery between October 10-25.Leading lots include American painting, English and European furniture and Asian works of art. There are Impressionist pictures by Claude Monet and Edgar Degas and Old Master paintings and drawings by Bernardo Bellotto and Jean-Antoine Watteau.Beginning in September highlights will be exhibited in Shanghai, London, Los Angeles, Paris and New York. Twelve jewels by JAR from the estate of Ann Getty (who died in 2020) made $5.9 million at a sale of Magnificent Jewels by Christie’s in New York in June.Proceeds will benefit the couples foundation for the arts, which is dedicated to supporting arts and science organisations. Beneficiaries will include the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, San Francisco Opera, San Francisco Symphony, University of San Francisco, Berkeley Geochronology Centre and the Leakey Foundation.
This walnut marquetry and gilt mounted credenza is one of the top furniture lots at the James Adam At Home sale in Dublin on September 4. This will be the opening auction of the post summer period at Adams. The 19th century piece with bowed outline has a shaped top with moulded edge, glazed rounded corners and a plinth base. It is estimated at €3,000-€5,000. A pair of French boulle marble topped side cabinets and a side table in the Irish 18th century style carry similar estimates. The most expensively estimated lot in the auction is a sapphire torque necklace. The catalogue is online.
This sapphire torque necklace is estimated at €7,000-€8,000.
Midleton Very Rare Irish Whiskeys 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 & 2022 (2,200-3,200). UPDATE: THIS MADE 2,900 AT HAMMER
Interest in and demand for rare Irish whiskey’s is growing according to Niall Dolan of Galway based Dolan’s art auction house. He will offer 38 rare Irish whiskeys in a timed summer online auction of Irish art, whiskeys and antiques which runs until August 15. The sale of rare Irish whiskeys draws clients from around the world. There is a good selection of art by well known Irish artists in this auction of 275 lots. The catalogue is online.
Marquetry decorated ormolu mounted table. UPDATE: THIS MADE 1,200 AT HAMMER
Lot 547 at Matthews sale online at Kells, Co. Meath on August 7 is this antique marquetry decorated ormolu mounted table. It is estimated at 1,200-1,800. The most expensively estimated lot at this jewellery, gold and antique sale is a gentleman’s Rolex wristwatch (6,000-8,000) (UPDATE – 6,100 AT HAMMER). The sale is comprised of 560 lots of jewellery, gold and silver and nearly 200 lots of antique furniture, mirrors, rugs, pictures and porcelain. The catalogue is online and viewing gets underway in Kells A at noon on August 5.
Pauline Bewick (1935-2022) – Sleeping Beauties at Morgan O’Driscoll (€800-€1,200). UPDATE: THIS MADE 3,200 AT HAMMER
The height of the holiday season has not deterred two west Cork based auctioneers from planning sales for Tuesday August 2. The evening art sale by Morgan O’Driscoll next Tuesday can be viewed in Skibbereen today, on Monday and on Tuesday. The selection is impressive and among the artists featured on the catalogue are Sean Scully, Louis le Brocquy, Felim Egan, Basil Blackshaw, Letitia Marion Hamilton, Colin Middleton, Mary Swanzy, William Crozier, Cecil Maguire and Pauline Bewick who died on Thursday at her home in Co. Kerry, with sculpture by Helen Walsh, Ray Delaney, Oisin Kelly and John Behan.
In Bandon Hegarty’s August fine interiors sale features a selection of over 200 lots of furniture, art, silver, jewellery and collectibles. An 18 carat Columbian emerald and diamond cluster ring is estimated at €11,000-€12,000. Among the other highlights is a pair of black cast iron benches (€1,000-€1,200), a mixed media on canvas by Philippe Aird (€800-€1,200), a stone bust on pillar of Mark Anthony (€400-€600) and a bronze bust of Diane of Poitiers (€300-€600). The catalogues for both sales are online.
Victorian Irish pitch pine bar counter and back. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
This rare Victorian Irish pitch pine bar counter with mirrored bar back surmounted with reverse painted glass panels and carved with shamrocks comes up at Victor Mee’s sale on July 26-27. The two day auction of pub memorabilia, collectibles and decorative advertising features 728 lots. The bar here, lot 161, is at €4,000-€8,000 one of the most expensively estimated pieces but this is a sale with something to suit all budgets. The decorative interiors sale planned by Victor Mee for this week had to be postponed until August 9 and 10 due to a case of covid.
Andy Warhol’s Shot Sage Blue Marilyn, painted in 1964, made a record $195 million at Christie’s.
Global sales at Christie’s in the first half of 2022 reached $4.1 billion, made up from $3.5 billion in auction sales and $0.6 billion in private sales. This is the best performance since 2015 and even surpasses the first half year of 2018 when Christie’s sold the Rockefeller Collection. Andy Warhol’s Short Sage Blue Marilyn was the most valuable lot sold, at $195 million. There was remarkable results for major collections like those of Thomas and Doris Ammann, Anne H. Bass, Rosalind Gersten Jacobs and Melvin Jacobs and Hubert de Givenchy. The sell through rate across all auctions was 87%. A strong influx of new and younger clients was noted. In the half year so far 30% of all buyers are new to Christie’s, and 34% of these new buyers are millennials.
Philanthropic sales raised nearly $440 million with $13.7 million in aid to Ukraine. The outlook for the autumn is good, led by the Ann and Gordon Getty Collection in New York.
Bowfronted chest of drawers at Woodwards. UPDATE: THIS MADE 180 AT HAMMER
Millennials from around the globe were moved to take part in the fabulous sales of the collections of Hubert de Givenchy at Christie’s in June and there should be much to tempt our Irish millennials at Woodwards sale in Cork on July 16. It should be possible to pick up a piece of antique furniture for a song at this auction.
Estimated at just €300-€400 are a Cork bowfront sideboard, an ormolu mounted bijouterie table, a Georgian bureau bookcase, a set of six dining chairs, a mahogany pedestal office desk and an Edwardian sofa table. A Victorian round work table, a Victorian d-end dining table, a Georgian library table, a Georgian bureau and a three tier dumb waiter are on the market with estimates of just €200-€300. The catalogue is online.
