This portrait by the Offaly born artist Thomas Frye comes up as lot 371 on day two of the James Adam Country House Collections sale at Townley Hall on October 18. This magnificent neo-Classical house is the perfect backdrop for an array of some of the finest antiques and artefacts to come on the market in Ireland so far this year. Drawn from many fine Irish country houses and collections, the sale includes 18th and 19th Century furniture with many important Irish pieces, fine period paintings, period portraits and sporting scenes, Irish glass, fine Continental porcelain and a selection of table silver from Birr Castle.
The artist Thomas Frye was from Edenderry and during his lifetime was considered one of the most inventive of Irish Georgian artists. Internationally he won many important commissions including the full length state portrait of Frederick, Prince of Wales. The sitter in the portrait here was 8th Earl of Westmorland, and it was for his grandson, the 10th Earl and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland that Westmorland Street in Dublin was named. The portrait is estimated at €10,000-€15,000.
Day one of the sale is a timed online only auction and the sale on October 18 will be held at St. Stephen’s Green in Dublin. Viewing gets underway at Townley Hall on October 15.
(See post on antiquesandartireland.com for October 8, 2022)