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    • Archive for December, 2010

    ARTISTS AND MANSIONS

    Thursday, December 9th, 2010
    AT this time of giving three new books from Irish publishers might be of interest.  Plurabelle Publishing Ltd. of 33B Daniel St., Dublin 8 launched a Dictionary of Living Irish Artists this year.  It features 200 living Irish artists and full colour images of the work of each one of them along with biographical information.  It is written by Robert O’Byrne.  More information is available on www.livingirishartists.ie
    Tarquin Blake’s Abandoned Mansions of Ireland documents what is left of 50 mansion houses throughout the length and breadth of this country. It includes Mountpelier Lodge (Dublin Hellfire Club), the birthplaces of Daniel O’Connell (Carhen House) and the Duke of Wellington (Dangan Castle) and the home of Grace O’Malley (Bunowen Castle).  It is published by The Collins Press of Cork. (www.collinspress.ie).
    Also from The Collins Press comes Privilege & Poverty, the life and times and Irish painter and naturalist Alexander Williams RHA (1846-1930). He was an apprentice hatter, a taxidermist and a professional singer and is credited with being one of the first artists to open up the west of Ireland and in particular Achill Island to a wide audience.  This is written by Gordon T. Ledbetter.

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    DAN O’NEILL TOPS THE POLL AT de VERES IRISH ART

    Thursday, December 9th, 2010

    Fishermen's Wives by Dan O'Neill was the top lot at de Veres. (click on image to enlarge)

    Abstract Composition by Evie Hone made 11,500 at de Veres. (click to enlarge)

    Dan O’Neill’s Fishermens Wives was the top lot at de Veres Irish art auction in Dublin on December 8. It made 28,000.  A second O’Neill, entitled “And yet another” made 15,500.
    Evie Hone’s Abstract Composition sold for 11,500 and Yellow Head by Basil Blackshaw made 10,500.
    About 60 per cent of 140 lots of affordable Irish art found buyers.  The sale brought in 325,000.
    (see post on antiquesandartireland.com for December 2)

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    NEW AUCTION RECORD FOR A PIECE OF ENGLISH FURNITURE

    Wednesday, December 8th, 2010

    The Harrington Commode made a new world record for a piece of English furniture at auction. (click to enlarge)

    THE Harrington Commode, dating to circa 1770, made a new record for a piece of English furniture at auction at Sotheby’s in London on December 8.  It sold for £3,793,250 over an estimate of £600,000-£1 million. The serpentine commode was almost certainly crafted by Thomas Chippendale.

    It exceeded the previous world record for any piece of English furniture at auction by over £1 million.  Sotheby’s said it set an exciting new benchmark for English furniture.  The George III commode, previously housed at Elvaston Castle, Derbyshire, was sold by order of the Trustees of the 10th Earl of Harrington’s Will Trust. Lord Harrington had extensive Irish estates.  His son, the 11th Earl, who died in 2009, was an Irish citizen and successful horse breeder who maintained studs in Ireland.  He had links to the Royal Family through the marriage of his grand-daughter, Serena Stanhope to the furniture maker Viscount Linley, son of the late Princess Margaret and nephew of Queen Elizabeth.
    The Harrington Commode was part of an Important Furniture, Ceramics, Clocks, Silver & Vertu sale which made £6,216,750. Henry House, Head of English Furniture at Sotheby’s, commented: “This remarkable commode which is outstandingly beautiful in both form and condition, was keenly contested by five bidders, the final price demonstrating true demand in the market for items of real quality, and I feel is justly deserved for an item that has been an honour to sell.”
    The previous world record for a piece of English furniture at auction belonged to a George II Parcel-Gilt Padouk Cabinet-on-Stand attributed to Thomas Chippendale, 1755-1760, which sold for £2,729,250 at Christies in June 2008.

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    MEALY’S BEAT THE WINTER BLUES

    Wednesday, December 8th, 2010

    The Stained Glass Window, Brittany by Aloysius O'Kelly made 19,200 at Mealys. (click to enlarge)

    The Mealy’s fine and decorative art sale, which

    This octagonal centre table in the style of Godwin made 19,200 at Mealy's. (click to enlarge)

    went ahead on December 7 in spite of the weather, realised just under 380,000.  There was a good number of bidders in the room and special facilities for advance and telephone bidding.  The joint top lots were “Brittany, The Stained Glass Window” by Aloysius O’Kelly, 1905 and a signed and numbered octagonal centre table after a design by Godwin.  Each made 19,200.

    A pair of Regency mirrors from Bantry House failed to sell at auction but remained under active negotiation afterwards.  Bronzes by the Cork sculptor Seamus Murphy made 11,800 and 7,800 respectively.

    Around 60 per cent of 1,166 lots on offer found buyers, including most of the higher value pieces.  Auctioneer Fonsie Mealy said he was happy with the result, particularly in view of the heavy snowfall in Co. Kilkenny the previous evening.

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    NEW WORLD RECORD FOR PRINTED BOOK AT SOTHEBY’S

    Tuesday, December 7th, 2010

    Audobon's Snowy Owl. (click to enlarge)

    A new world record for a printed book sold at auction was established at Sotheby’s in London on December 7.  A magnificent, rare, copy of John James Audubon’s Birds of America sold for £7,321,250.
    The 4-volume folio” work had been estimated at £4/£6 million.  It was bought by London dealer Michael Tollemache, who was bidding in the room .   After the sale he described the work as “priceless”.
    In total Sotheby’s sale of Magnificent Books, Manuscripts and Drawings from the collection of Frederick, 2nd Lord Hesketh realised £14.9 million. The sale was 99.6 per cent sold by value and 72 per cent of lots exceeded the high  estimate.
    Other benchmarks of the auction included the sale of 40 letters relating to the imprisonment of Mary, Queen of Scots with four letters signed by Queen Elizabeth I for £349,250 and a complete First Folio of William Shakespeare for £1,497,250.

    Audubon's American Flamingo. (click to enlarge)

    The previous record of £5.5 million for a book sold at auction, for a different copy of Audubon’s Birds of America, was established in New York in 2000.

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    YEATS THE TOP LOT AT ADAMS SALE

    Monday, December 6th, 2010

    Jack Yeats’ Lingering Sun, O’Connell Bridge, Dublin made a hammer price of 140,000 at Adams sale of Important Irish Art in Dublin on December 6.  Once in the collection of film director John Huston the painting is set along the quays in the centre of Dublin in the 1920’s. See posts on antiquesandartireland.com for November 30 and December 5.

    The sale total was 1.53 million and 80 per cent of lots sold.

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    JAMES JOYCE BROADSIDE AT MEALY’S BOOK SALE

    Monday, December 6th, 2010

    The Holy Office, a broadside from James Joyce, at Mealy's book auction. (click to enlarge and read) UPDATE: IT MADE 22,000

    A rare James Joyce broadside heads Mealy’s December sale of  books, literature, manuscripts, and maps on December 14 at the D-4 Hotel in Dublin.  Only a handful of copies of a caustic attack entitled “The Holy Office” are known.  It was distributed privately to friends. This one belonged to Thomas Keohler, poet and friend of Joyce. It is estimated at 15,000-20,000.

    A collection of four letters between Joyce and Keohler is estimated at 6,000-8,000 and a copy of the original recordings by Joyce of part of Finnegan’s Wake is estimated at 2,000-3,000.
    The 950 lot sale includes a first limited edition of Ulysses (7,000-9,000) and an original Cuala Press Visitor’s Book with 1,900 signatures. The most remarkable is an entry where W.B. Yeats and Maud Gonne signed together on October 18, 1908. The poet and his muse were lovers for a brief time following the break up of her marriage to John MacBride. It is estimated at 8,000-12,000.  There is a collection of previously unrecorded letters by Sean O’Casey and first, signed, and limited editions by Oscar Wilde (The Ballad of Reading Gaol, and The Picture of Dorian Gray), Patrick Kavanagh, (The Green Fool, and Collected Poems), and Flann O’Brien (An Beal Bocht, At Swim Two Birds).
    UPDATE:  IN a highly successful sale the Joyce broadside sold for 22,000. It was bought by a private collector. A series of letters between Myles na gCopaleen (Brian O’Nolan) and his publishers and agents from the 1960’s also made 22,000.  The Cuala Press visitors book sold for 17,000 and the Sean O’Casey letters made 10,000.

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    SHEPPARDS FORCED TO POSTPONE SALE ONCE AGAIN

    Monday, December 6th, 2010

    SHEPPARDS of Durrow, Co. Laois have again postponed their three day sale of 1,528 lots until December 14, 15 and 16.  Lots 1-595 will be sold on Tuesday, December 14 from 2 p.m., lots 601 to 1,248 come under the hammer on Wednesday, December 15 from 2 p.m. and lots 1,250-1,528 are to be sold on Thursday, December 16 from 2 p.m.   The continuing bad weather with historically low temperatures has forced the cancellation.

    In Cork the Woodwards auction has been put back to Wednesday, December 15.  In Waterford the sale at R.J. Keighery will now take place on Monday, December 13.  Marshs postponed Cork sale is on Saturday, December 11 as is the de Veres sale at Tinode House, Blessington, Co. Wicklow.

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    ADAMS SALE OF IMPORTANT IRISH ART

    Sunday, December 5th, 2010

    A selection from the James Adam sale of Important Irish Art in Dublin on Monday December 6 at 6 p.m.  The catalogue features 180 lots. See post on antiquesandartireland.com for November 30.

    Last of Claddagh Cottages (Galway, c.1945) by Grace Henry at Adams. It is estimated at 1,500-2,500. UPDATE: IT SOLD FOR 2,600.

    Allegory is the title of this 1950 work by Louis le Brocquy. The Aubusson tapestry is estimated at 80,000-120,000. UPDATE: IT MADE 80,000

    A Hilltop Town in the South of France by Mary Swanzy at Adams. It is estimated at 40,000-60,000. UPDATE: IT MADE 66,000

    Black Roofs and Black Boats by Padraig MacMiadhachain (b.1929) (3,000-5,000). UPDATE: IT MADE 5,200

    Gerard Dillon (1916-1971) Italian Washer Woman (40,000-60,000) UPDATE: IT MADE 68,000

    Cottage by the Coast by Norah McGuinness (2,500-3,500) UPDATE: IT MADE 3,400

    West of Ireland Village by a River by Markey Robinson (2,500-3,500). UPDATE: IT MADE 4,200

    Fantail Pigeon by Louis le Brocquy (40,000-60,000). UPDATE: It made 48,000.

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    CASTLE FREKE PLATTERS AT MARSHS

    Saturday, December 4th, 2010

    The Castle Freke platter: Three pieces of this service sold for 450.

    Three pieces from the Caste Freke dinner service are among the more unusual items to feature at the Marshs auction in Cork on Saturday December 11. This sale was postponed from December 4.  Lot 225 of 474 lots of furniture, jewellery, ceramics, jasperware and collectibles comprises two meat dishes and one lid with an image of Castle Freke, Rosscarbery, Co. Cork.  They are stamped “Lord Carbery’s seat”.

    The original castle on this west Cork site was a 15th century tower house belonging to the Barrys. It was occupied by the Frekes, later to become Barons of Carbery, in 1617.
    The architect Sir Richard Morrison altered the castle to the Gothic style in 1820.  It was burnt in 1910 and re-furbished, but the tenth Lord Carbery had to sell Castle Freke in the 1920’s and it was dismantled in 1952.
    UPDATE:  THEY MADE 450.

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