Memories of the goodwill shown by those working in the Irish theatre towards the arts in general and visual art in particular are contained in a lot at Fonsie Mealy’s Spring Rare Book Sale in Castlecomer on March 11. Lot 608 is a large Irish linen printed handkerchief sold by the Irish players at $1 towards a building for Sir Hugh Lane’s gift of paintings for Ireland. Dated April 1913 it is illustrated with a group scene of players and individual portraits, signed by W.B. Yeats, Lady Augusta Gregory and folded in its original envelope. The lot contains Irish plays by Yeats, Synge, William Boyle and Lady Gregory toured under the direction of Alfred Wareing in the summer of 1906. Consigned by Lady Gregory’s grand daughter Mrs. Catherine Kennedy, it is estimated at 250-350.
A nephew of Lady Gregory, Sir Hugh Lane established Dublin’s Municipal Gallery of Modern Art, the first known public gallery of modern art in the world. He was among the victims of the Lusitania disaster in 1915.
UPDATE: THIS MADE 460 AT HAMMER
