Stained glass from the Harry Clarke Studios formerly on display at All Hallows College in Dublin sold exceptionally well at Fonsie Mealy’s sale in Castlecomer. A stained glass panel by Richard King depicting St. Francis Xavier preaching in the Orient made more than ten times the low estimate. Estimated at 2,500-3,500 it sold for 31,000 at hammer. A wind in three panels of St. Francis Xavier estimated at 7,000-9,000 sold for 21,000. There were seven lots in total from the studios, which closed in 1973. The director David Clarke was left with a small collection of panels that for one reason or another had not gone to the church or institution for which they had been commissioned. He made a list and the last remaining pieces on that list were in this auction. The artist Richard King was a protege of Harry Clarke and continued to design for the studios for a decade after Harry Clarke’s death in 1931 before leaving to pursue a successful career as an artist and stained glass designer. The other five stained glass lots all sold for far above the estimate at sums of 8,500, 4,000, 8,000, 9,500 and 6,500 respectively.
This three panel image of St. Francis Xavier sold for 21,000 at hammer.
This stained glass panel of St. Francis Xavier preaching in the Orient sold for a hammer price of 31,000.