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Art, jewels, dresses and memorabilia owned by Elizabeth Taylor will be sold by Christie’s in a series of auctions likely to begin later this year. The value of the estate and the dates of the sales have yet to be confirmed.
The Oscar winning actress and screen icon died last month aged 79.
THE Morgan O’Driscoll sale at the Radisson Blu Hotel, Little Island, Cork, on April 17 at 4 p.m. features 460 lots embracing three centuries of period furniture, silver, jewellery and art. It is being held on the instructions of the executors of the late Alan Haughton. The auction will include around 90 lots of silver, 25 lots of jewellery and about 60 lots of art.
Among the furniture on offer is a set of eight Cork 11-bar chairs, an Irish Regency parquetry bookcase, a Cork Regency sideboard, a Regency dining table, a Georgian
chest, 19th century wall mirrors, an 18th century Irish tallboy, a Georgian linen press, a Regency Cork clock and a 19th century demi-lune card table.
The catalogue is on-line. Here is a selection of some lots from that sale:
'A Rare Early George III Irish Provincial Coffee Pot by Michael McDermott, Cork, c.1770, estimate 10,000-15,000. UPDATE: IT SOLD FOR 9,400
Irish Three Piece Tea Service; Dublin 1902, estimate 1,000-1,250. UPDATE: IT SOLD FOR 825.
Rare Queen Anne Punch Bowl by Thomas Bolton, Dublin c.1700, estimate 15,000-25,000. UPDATE: IT MADE 17,000 AND WAS BOUGHT BY THE DUBLIN SILVER TRADE.
An Irish Regency Parquetry Bookcase, estimate 2,000-3,000. UPDATE: IT SOLD FOR 1,300.
Original 17th Century Spanish Armada Chest estimated at 1,200-1,800. UPDATE: IT SOLD FOR 2,100.
A Cork Regency sideboard estimate 1,500 - 2,500. UPDATE: IT SOLD FOR 1,100.
Five Brass Hanging Kitchen Measures with brass handles, estimate 60-90 euro.
Cork Regency Mahogany Secretaire Bookcase, estimate 1,500-2,500. UPDATE: IT WAS UNSOLD BUT CHANGED HANDS PRIVATELY AFTERWARDS.
William Harrington, Having a Pint, dated '69, estimated 600-800. UPDATE: IT MADE 700.
Irish cut glass jar and cover, estimate 100-150.
A collection of four hexagonal basalt column sections similar to those found at Ireland’s famed Giants Causeway is the first of 628 lots at Whyte’s History, Literature and Collectibles sale in Dublin on April 16. They have been in the garden of a County Donegal home for at least fifty years. Whyte’s said it is possible they were acquired from Kennedy Quarries, Portrush, Co. Antrim in the vicinity of land now belonging to the National Trust. Similar examples were auctioned at Summers Place Auctions in association with Sotheby’s on 19 October 2010 (lot 132) and realised £18,500.
The Giant’s Causeway is the most popular tourist attraction in Northern Ireland. The unusual stone landscape was formed around 50 to 60 million years ago when Antrim was subject to intense volcanic activity. Rapidly cooling molten basalt formed an extensive lava plateau in columns. Legend has it that the Irish warrior Fionn mac Cumhaill (Finn McCool) built the causeway to walk to Scotland to fight his Scottish counterpart Benandonner.
Examples of these stones in private collections are extremely rare. The Causeway area has been National Trust property for many years. It is illegal to remove anything from the site. These ones are estimated at 3,000-4,000.
UPDATE: They sold for 2,000.
These contrasting settees were quickly snapped up at Mealy’s auction in Mallow Castle, Co. Cork on April 5. The Regency period carved giltwood settee on the left made a hammer price of 6,500. It had been in the Kilkenny Castle sale in 1935.
The ornate Japanese seat on the right made a hammer price of 5,800. The back is profusely carved with scrolling dragons, the hinged seat is flanked with arm rests in the form of a dragon and it is just over five feet wide. Click on either image to enlarge.
This rare Cork oil on canvas by Nathanial Grogan (1740-1807) was acquired by the Crawford Gallery for a hammer price of 12,000 at the Mealy's Mallow Castle sale. (click to enlarge)
THIS important contemporary record of a landmark Cork industry which employed up to 2,500 people in the depressed times of the early 19th century has been acquired by the Crawford Gallery in Cork.
The oil on canvas by Nathanial Grogan senior (1740-1807) was acquired by the Crawford Gallery in Cork at Mealy’s auction of contents from Mallow Castle on April 5 for a hammer price of 12,000.
Measuring 36″ x 48″ it shows Bartholomew O’Sullivan’s Paper Manufactory, Ironworks and Foundry at Beechmount, near Dripsey, Co. Cork.
There is an engraved version of this picture at Cork Public Museum.
THE painted scroll on the right is by QI Baishi. The Chinese artist, who died in 1957, is currently the second best selling artist in the world at auction after Picasso.
Over the last ten years China has jumped from ninth place in the world’s art market to first place in 2010 according to ArtPrice, which has just published its report for 2010. The second strong trend to emerge last year is the evolution of the internet. Around two and a half billion users have triggered a dramatic acceleration in on-line art sales.
Gimcrack by Stubbs. (Click to enlarge) © Christie’s Images UPDATE: IT MADE £22,441,250
A masterpiece of British art will be offered by Christie’s next July. Gimcrack on Newmarket Heath, with a Trainer, a Stable-Lad, and a Jockey by George Stubbs (1724-1806) depicts one of the most popular and admired of all 18th century racehorses. From the collection of Lord Woolavinton, a whisky magnate, it is expected to make more than £20 million. The painting measures more than six feet across.
John Stainton, Senior Director of British Pictures, Christie’s said: “This is a truly exceptional example of 18th century painting which holds immense importance on many levels – as an Old Master picture, as a great masterpiece of British Art, and as one of the finest sporting pictures ever painted”.
A Fine and Rare Cased Pair Of Irish 40-Bore Silver-Mounted Flintlock Duelling Pistols By McCormick, Robert, Belfast. (click to enlarge)
NO less than twelve sets of pistols, one Irish, are estimated to sell for between £2,500 to £60,000 feature at Bonhams Antique Arms and Armour sale on April 20. From the early 17th century duels were often illegal in Europe, though in most societies where duelling was socially accepted, participants in a fair duel were not prosecuted, or if they were, rarely convicted.
Shahnameh or Persian Book of Kings (click to enlarge)
This magnificent specimen of Cervus Giganteus Hibernicus or Gigantic Irish Deer was the top lot at Mealy's Mallow Castle sale on April 5. It made 35,000.
THESE 20 point Irish elk horns and skull, estimated at 10,000-15,000, made 35,000 at Mealy’s Mallow Castle auction on April 5.
They had last changed hands at the Adare Manor sale in Co. Limerick in 1982.
The top lot at the sale is believed to be at least 12,000 years old. They were excavated from a bog in the 19th century. The Irish Elk became extinct during the last Ice Age around 11,000 years ago.
The record for a set of antlers – £52,875 – was set at Christie’s in London in 2001. That set had previously been at Powerscourt House in Co. Wicklow.
Portrait of Thomas Wentworth sold for 6,500. (click to enlarge)
Lot 603 at this sale was a portrait of Thomas Wentworth, Earl of Stafford, attributed to Anthony Van Duke (1599-1641). He served as Lord Deputy of Ireland from 1632 to 1639, was notorious for his harsh rule and dubbed “Black Tom” by the Irish. On his return to England he became leading advisor of King Charles. His attempts to strengthen the royal position against Parliament resulted in his being condemned to death. King Charles signed the death warrant and Wentworth was executed in 1641.
