antiquesandartireland.com

Information about Art, Antiques and Auctions in Ireland and around the world
  • ABOUT
  • About Des
  • Contact
  • Archive for June, 2019

    PANINI EMERGES FROM IRISH COLLECTION AFTER MORE THAN 200 YEARS

    Thursday, June 20th, 2019

    A capriccio or architectural fantasy by Giovanni Paolo Panini which has emerged from an Irish collection after 200 years comes up at Chiswick Auctions in London on June 25. The oil painting has been in the same family since being purchased by David Ker in 1785. A Capriccio of classical ruins is estimated at £18,000-25,000.

    David Ker (1751-1811) of Montalto in Co. Down was a wealthy landowner with several country estates. In 1771 he embarked on the ‘Grand Tour’ to Italy, where he met and eloped with the Venetian singer Madalena Guardi, believed to be the daughter of the painter Francesco Guardi. The couple married in Padua and thereafter resided in the Kers’ family estates in Ireland, where they had three daughters and a son.

    A Capriccio of Classical Ruins by Giovanni Paolo Panini (1691-1765) 

    O’Conor’s Breton Boy makes more than three times the estimate

    Wednesday, June 19th, 2019

    Breton Boy in Profile by Roderic O’Conor sold for £419,250 at Christie’s in London. This was more than three times the estimate of £120,000-180,000. The work, signed and dated O’Conor/’93, was from the collection of Drue Heinz which Christie’s has been offering in London and New York this year.

    Roderic O’Conor – Breton Boy in Profile

    The top lot of the sale was The Family of Man by Dame Barbara Hepworth which made £3.8 million. There was a new world record for Dame Elisabeth Frink whose Running Man (Front Runner) sold for £1,091,250.

    RARE SIGNED COPY OF ULYSSES MAKES 85,000 ON THE HAMMER

    Tuesday, June 18th, 2019

    A rare first edition of Ulysses signed by James Joyce was the top lot at Fonsie Mealy’s sale in Dublin today. It made 85,000 at hammer in an auction that realised more than 390,000 on the hammer. No less than 85% of lots were sold. Unpublished accounts of the First Dail, described as the financial sinews of the struggle for Irish Independence made 18,000 on the hammer and the Toddy Pierse GAA medal collection relating to Wexford and Dublin between 1918 and 1922 made 12,500. A 1936 French translation of James Joyce’s essay from a banned writer to a banned singer, a tribute to the singer John Sullivan, sold for 9,000.

    (See posts on antiquesandartireland.com for June 15, 10 and 6, 2019).

    IRISH ART ONLINE AUCTION

    Tuesday, June 18th, 2019

    Bidding on the current online sale of Irish art by Morgan O’Driscoll continues until June 24 at 6.30 pm. The catalogue is online.

    Cecil Maguire RHA RUA (b.1930)
    Folan and a few Sheep for Inishlackan, Roundstone (1989)  UPDATE: THIS MADE 6,600 AT HAMMER

    Sotheby’s to revert to private ownership

    Tuesday, June 18th, 2019

    Sotheby’s has entered into an agreement to be acquired by the art collector and media and telecom entrepreneur, Patrick Drahi after 31 years as a public company. Drahl is the ninth richest man in France.

    Sotheby’s ceo Tad Smith said in an announcement: “Our 275-year history has been marked by innovations that have not only changed Sotheby’s, but the wider industry along with it. And just over the past several years we have modernized and expanded both digitally and physically, and it’s clear that we are just getting started. Private ownership at this moment in Sotheby’s development would empower us to accelerate many of those growth initiatives and focus on long-term success. “

    Tad Smith

    Patrick Drahi is a knowledgeable businessman and a passionate collector who understands Sotheby’s and the markets we operate in, Smith added. He shares our brand vision for outstanding client service and has the patience to make that possible. There are no immediate changes to the business.

    Patrick Drahl is a French-Israeli businessman with French, Portuguese, and Israeli citizenship. He is founder and controlling member of the Netherlands based telecom group Altice and owns cable TV companies in Israel and the US.

    CORK SCENE BY LM HAMILTON AT LYNES AND LYNES

    Monday, June 17th, 2019

    A topographical Cork city scene by Letitia Marion Hamilton will highlight the Lynes and Lynes sale in Carrigtwohill on June 22.  Cork city paintings by Hamilton are unusual and rarely turn up so auctioneer Denis Lynes anticipates that  there will be plenty of interest.  It is a busy scene showing St. Patrick’s Quay and Penrose Quay.  There are cars parked on the quayside and at least one horse and cart.  Brian Boru bridge is depicted with the R and H Hall and Odlums buildings in the background.  This is a city centre and river scape of a rapidly changing area but it recalls a Cork that many will clearly remember.  The estimate for the work is 10,000-15,000.

    Cork city scene by Letitia Mation Hamilton RHA (1878-1964) UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 15,000

    There is a Head of Christ by Maurice Desmond and Three Shadows, a limited edition print by Tony O’Malley. Lot 217 is a c1900 carved oak and gilded altar with an estimate of just 200-400.  Other furniture includes a Victorian four door bookcase and a pair of Cork nine bar open chairs. 

    On offer too is a silver trowel presented to Sean MacEntee, Minister for Health and Social Welfare,  on the occasion of the laying of the foundation stone for the New Erinville Hospital on June 7, 1961. In the Celtic Revival style and by William Egan of Cork it is estimated at 800-1,200.  A c1792 Dublin sugar bowl by Matthew West is estimated at 300-500.

    MEMORIES OF THE YEAR OF THE FRENCH AT BONHAMS

    Sunday, June 16th, 2019

    An important moment of Irish history – The Year of the French – is captured in a archive at Bonhams Fine Books and Manuscripts auction in London on June 26.  Lot 17 comprises of papers kept by George Hewett, Adjutant-General of the British Army in Ireland 1791-99 and Commander-in-Chief of Ireland, 1813-16, prior to and during the French invasion of 1798.  This is the campaign for Irish independence fought by Theobald Wolfe Tone. The archive includes a printed proclamation headed ‘Liberty, Equality, Fraternity, Union’ issued by General Jean Hardy beginning: “Irishmen!/You have not forgotten Bantry bay! you know the effects to assist you which France has already made: her affection for you, her desire to avenge your wrongs and assure your independence remain the same…” There are speeches by Bartholomew Teeling and Wolfe Tone’s speech from the dock.  The archive is estimated at £10,000-15,000.

    The archive at Bonhams UPDATE: THIS MADE £11,312 AT HAMMER

    LEGENDARY LOST LOVE AFFAIR RECALLED AT FONSIE MEALY AUCTION

    Saturday, June 15th, 2019

    A poignant reminder of a long lost love affair is among the lots at Fonsie Mealy’s sale of rare books, literature, manuscripts, collectibles and ephemera at the Talbot Hotel, Stillorgan, Dublin on June 18.  Lot 345 is a hatbox stamped K. Cronin/Lorha with fur hat, a pair of gloves, another hat and other items.  Kitty Cronin, nee Kiernan, was the fiance of Michael Collins and after his death she married Felix Cronin, Tipperary.  The hat is similar to one in contemporary press photos of Kitty and it is estimated at 300-400. Another reminder of turbulent times is a 1916 Irish Citizen Army tin home made explosive device.

    Kitty Kiernan’s hat box and fur hat  UPDATE: THIS MADE 300 AT HAMMER

    A first edition of Ulysses signed by James Joyce is a highlight of the sale with an estimate of 70,000-90,000.  A George III grandfather clock is from the home of James Joyce’s aunts at No. 15 Ushers Island, the house featured in The Dead by Joyce.  It is estimated at 2,000-3,000.  Among a small collection of documents from Sean O’Casey is one in which he complains about being evicted after 17 years.  The landlord had decided he needed it for his mother and his daughter:  “The joke is that we were no sooner gone than the notice For Sale went up.. and they wonder why the masses are turning to communism!” O’Casey wrote.  Around 700 lots will come under the hammer and viewing at the Talbot Hotel gets underday on June 16.

    The clock from the home of James Joyces aunts which featured in his story The Dead UPDATE: THIS MADE 2,500 AT HAMMER

    HENRY TOPS ADAMS IRISH ART SALE

    Thursday, June 13th, 2019

    Paul Henry’s Cottages in a Landscape was the top lot at the James Adam sale of Important Irish Art in Dublin last night. It made a hammer price of 115,000. Other top hammer prices included Sean Keating’s Homeward Bound (76,000), Louis le Brocquy’s Aubusson wool tapestry Cuchulainn VIII 1999 (70,000), Gerald Leslie Brockhurst’s Portrait of Florence Forsyth (50,000), South of France Landscape by Mary Swanzy (32,000), A Lament for Art O’Leary, a set of six illustrations from 1940 by Jack Butler Yeats (19,000) and Girl in Stripy Jumper by Basil Blackshaw (18,000).

    Paul Henry RHA (1877-1958) Cottages in a Landscape (1930-1940)

    Top prices for Irish art at Bonhams in London yesterday included Looking at the Moon by Rowan Gillespie (£56,313); Londonderry  by L.S. Lowry (£37,562); River scene, Londonderry  by L.S. Lowry (£30,062) and November Evening, Bangor Pier  by Colin Middleton (£22,562).

    INTERNATIONAL DEMAND FOR COLLECTIBLE HANDBAGS

    Wednesday, June 12th, 2019

    An exceptional Hermes matte white Himalaya Niloticus Crocodile Birkin 35 with palladium hardware made £162,500 at Christie’s handbags and accessories auction on June 11. The 2015 model had been estimated at £70,000-90,000. A 2007 Hermes crocodile Birkin 25 made £118,750 and a 1999 Hermes shiny vert celadon alligator Kelly made £63,750. The auction totalled £3.36 million with sell through rates of 97% by value and 93% by lot. There was bidding from 41 countries across six continents.

    The Hermes matte white Birkin 35