An arresting double walled thrown porcelain bowl with velvet underglaze by Grainne Watts sits comfortably among the sculptures at Morgan O’Driscoll’s Irish and International art sale. Titled Vortex Vessel – Orange/Red it is by an artist who has undertaken a number of public commissions. Work by Watts is represented in the Design and Crafts Council of Ireland collection and at the OPW. With highlights by Paul Henry and Jack B. Yeats the sale, which runs until November 1 is on view at the RDS in Dublin this Bank Holiday weekend. The catalogue is online.
A lost piece of Cork industrial history features at Fonsie Mealy’s Irish and International art sale at Castlecomer next November 16. A c1810 watercolour of a watermill attributed to Henry Brocas senior has been identified as likely to be the five storey mill that once stood in the village of Blarney beside the River Martin. The flax mill, owned by James B. O’Sullivan, flourished for several decades. Little remains of it today as it was demolished to make way for the Blarney Woollen Mills. Among more than 400 lots in the upcoming sale is a design by Daniel MacLise for a Cork Art Exhibition Medal in 1852.
