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  • Archive for November, 2022

    CLAUDE LALANNE MIRROR TOPS CHRISTIE’S PARIS DESIGN SALE

    Wednesday, November 30th, 2022
    CLAUDE LALANNE (1925-2019) – UNIQUE MIRROR SOLD FOR €978,000?

    This mirror, a unique piece by Claude Lalanne, sold for €978,000 at Christie’s design sale in Paris yesterday. The 140 lot sale brought together some of the greatest names in 20th Century French design: from Pierre Chareau, Jean Royère and Charlotte Perriand to Philippe Starck, Claude and François-Xavier Lalanne, Maria Pergay, Mathieu Matégot and Line Vautrin. The auction brought in €5.6 million over a top estimate of €4.8 million. It was 81% sold by lot with 55% making more than the high estimate.

    Christie’s will offer the collection of Marie Lalanne, daughter of Francois-Xavier and Claude Lalanne, in New York on December 7. The largest collection of Lalanne ever to be sold in the US will offer more than 150 lots, including sculpture, furniture, jewellery, handbags and dinner services. Among the leading lots is Gorilla Console by Francois-Xavier Lalanne ($1-$1.5 million) which carries the signature humour of the artist: the title is a play on the notion that gorillas are inconsolable by the fact that they will never be fully human. Here, the gorilla has chosen to console himself through becoming a console table.

    UPDATE: THE NEW YORK SALE MADE $77,043,008. It was 100% sold, 319% above low estimate, with 88% of lots selling above the high estimate.

    FRANÇOIS-XAVIER LALANNE (1927-2008) – Gorille Consolé. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR $3,420,000

    WHYTE’S ART SALE GROSSED €1.25 MILLION

    Tuesday, November 29th, 2022
    WILLIAM SCOTT CBE RA (1913-1989) – STILL LIFE WITH SAUCEPAN, 1968. UPDATE: THIS MADE 72,000 AT HAMMER

    Still Life with Saucepan by William Scott made a hammer price of €72,000 at Whyte’s sale of Important Irish Art in Dublin last night. Whyte’s reported a strong sale despite the economic downturn, with many buyers looking for a hedge against inflation. The auction grossed €1.25 million with 75% of lots sold. The top price was €160,000 for Sunshine and Blossom by Walter Osborne, Turf Stacks in the West by Paul Henry made €130,000 and Unloading the Turf Boat, Aran by Sean Keating made €75,000.

    AN 18TH CENTURY CHIMNEYPIECE AT SHEPPARDS THREE DAY SALE

    Tuesday, November 29th, 2022

    This 18th century marble chimneypiece comes up as lot 12 at Sheppards three day sale in Durrow from December 6-8. There is an inverted moulded edge mantle above a swag draped table and Sienna fluted inlaid panels and pillars. The estimate is €12,000-18,000. Around 1,450 lots will come under the hammer at the sale entitled Bonnettstown Hall, Kilkenny and other important clients. The catalogue is online and there will be viewing in Durrow from December 3. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD

    RARE GOLD MEDAL FROM 1894 ALL-IRELAND FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

    Monday, November 28th, 2022

    An extremely scarce medal from Cork’s first Football All-Ireland in 1894 comes up at Fonsie Mealy’s rare books and collectibles sale in Dublin on December 6 and 7.  The seventh All-Ireland final was mired in controversy. The first game was a draw, there was a re-match where, with seven minutes remaining and Cork leading Dublin by 1-02 to 0-5, several Dublin players were attacked by Cork supporters.  Dublin refused to play on and was awarded the championship by the GAA Central Council.  Cork County Board never accepted this finding.

    Four months later a ceremony was held to award gold medals to the victorious Cork players from Nil Desperandum FC which had been founded mostly as a rugby club and where members started playing Gaelic Football in 1888.  The 9 carat gold medal bears the Cork Coat of Arms and the Provincial Coats of Arms and is inscribed:  GAA All-Ireland Football Championship, won by Nils, 1894″. It is estimated at €7,000-€9,000.  The medal is by direct family descent from Jack O’Sullivan of Nil Desperandum. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD

    ANTIQUE FURNITURE AND COLLECTIBLES AT AUCTIONS IN CORK

    Sunday, November 27th, 2022
    “The Finest Keeping Butter in the World” at Marshs. UPDATE: THIS MADE 750 AT HAMMER

    A good selection of great value and attractive antique furniture and collectibles will feature at two Cork city sales on December 3. Local interest will be stirred by a painting of Mahon Golf Club by Josef Keys at Woodwards (€400-€500) and a double washstand from the State Bedroom of the White Star liner  RMS Celtic which ran aground off Roches Point in December 1928 at Marshs (€4,000-€6,000).

    Memories of the storied industrial past of the city will be awakened by not just any old tin but one labelled grandly  “The Finest Keeping Butter in the World”.  The advice on the 28 lb tin packed by M. Barrett, Cork is to store in a cool place.  Marshs estimate it at just €200-€400. Among a selection of cased longcase clocks, wall and mantel clocks at Marshs are two Cork clocks, one by William Ross, the other by a maker called Mansfield.  Each is estimated at €2,000-€3,000. A large bronze bust of Napoleon on a pedestal (€1,500-€2,500) and a selection of silver and plated cutlery from the Ursuline Convent in Blackrock will create interest too.

    Not so much interest perhaps in the antique furniture, which has not been doing well for what seems to me to be inexplicable reasons.  Marshs will offer a highly collectible pair of large mahogany wine coolers and an early Georgian mahogany corner cabinet each estimated at €1,500-€2,000.  The estimates for these might have been higher two decades ago.  There is a mere €400-€500 on an arbutus wood Killarney work table and a Queen Anne armchair comes with an estimate of just €250-€300.

    George II kneehole desk at Woodwards. UPDATE: THIS MADE 300 AT HAMMER

    At Woodwards a pair of cast iron garden benches is estimated at €1,600-€2,000 and a large Persian Mashad rug is estimated at €500-€600.  Among the antique furniture in the estimate range of €400-€500 is a Georgian mahogany breakfast table, a George II kneehole desk, a pair of inlaid console tables, an Edwardian inlaid sofa table and an eight piece  Chippendale style drawing room suite. The estimates are even less on a William IV inlaid walnut sewing table, a William IV oblong hall table, a Georgian walnut card table and a large kneehold desk, all reckoned to make around €300-€400. A bachelors chest, a Victorian oval centre table and an Edwardian envelope card table are all estimated at just €200-€300.

    SALES OF IRISH ART CONTINUE NEXT WEEK

    Saturday, November 26th, 2022
    A Thought for Lunch by Conor Harrington at Whyte’s. UPDATE: THIS MADE 11,000 AT HAMMER

    The Irish art sale season continues on its merry winter way on November 28 and 29.  The sale of Important Irish Art at Whyte’s in Dublin next Monday evening offers significant works in contrasting styles by artists as diverse as Paul Henry and James Brenan to Louis le Brocquy and William Scott. A classical Henry landscape, Turf Stacks in the West, is estimated at €120,000-€180,000, as is an image of W B Yeats by Louis le Brocquy.  There are two oils on canvas dated 2004 by Conor Harrington, the renowned Cork street artist and painter, A Thought for Lunch (€10,000-€15,000) and Lost in Space (€8,000-€12,000).  The auction is on view at Molesworth St., Dublin this weekend and until 4 pm on Monday.

    There will be viewing in Skibbereen on November 28 and 29 for Morgan O’Driscoll’s online evening Irish art sale with 242 lots which gets underway on Tuesday. The selection offers works by Kenneth Webb, Mainie Jellett, Cecil Maguire, Norah McGuinness, Arthur Maderson, Cecil Maguire, Louis le Brocquy and many other artists.

    Sweet Pea by Kenneth Webb at Morgan O’Driscoll. UPDATE: THIS MADE 4,200 AT HAMMER

    A THREE DAY EARLY DECEMBER SALE AT SHEPPARDS

    Friday, November 25th, 2022
    PAIR OF 18TH CENTURY GILT CONSOLE TABLES. UPDATE: THESE WERE UNSOLD

    A pair of 18th century gilt console tables c1780 with rouge royale shaped marble tops will come up as lot 901 at Sheppards three day sale on December 6, 7 and 8. They are estimated at €8,000-€12,000. Viewing for the sale entitled Bonnettstown Hall and other important clients will get underway in Durrow on December 3. The catalogue is online from today.

    RIJKSMUSEUM ACQUIRES 1632 CABINET BY HERMAN DOOMER

    Thursday, November 24th, 2022
    Cabinet, Herman Doomer, 1632. Rijksmuseum

    A masterwork by Herman Doomer, the leading cabinet maker in The Netherlands in the 17th century, goes on display in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam from November 25. Made in 1632 the ebony cupboard with mother-of-pearl inlay was in private hands for several centuries. It is believed to be Doomer’s first masterwork, and the only piece by him that can be accurately dated. It will be displayed beside another by Doomer in the Rijksmuseum collection since 1975 in the Gallery of Honour until March 14, 2023.

    Doomer introduced new styles and techniques to cabinetmaking and counted Rembrandt amongst his admirers. Rembrandt painted portraits of Herman Doomer and his wife Baertje Martens in 1640. These paintings now hang in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Hermitage in St Petersburg. The lower section is fairly traditional, in the upper section the cabinetmaker introduced movement and Baroque innovation, such as in the fan-shaped ripple and twisted columns. The cabinet is inlaid with costly ebony wood and radiant mother-of-pearl – a combination that was entirely new to Amsterdam. 

    A detail of the cabinet.

    REILLYS SALE AT BALLYRAGGETT HOUSE NOW ON VIEW

    Thursday, November 24th, 2022
    GILLINGTONS MAHOGANY SERVER. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD

    This c1820 Irish serving table made by Gillingtons in Dublin comes up at a sale by Reillys Antiques, Prosperous, Co. Kildare on November 26. It is estimated at €4,200-4,500. Contents from Ballyraggett House, Sallins will come under the hammer. There will be viewing at Ballyraggett House today and tomorrow and the sale takes place at Reilly’s and online with 425 lots in total.

    SEAN SCULLY AT MORGAN O’DRISCOLL ONLINE SALE

    Thursday, November 24th, 2022
    SEAN SCULLY (B.1945) – Dark Fold (2003). UPDATE: THIS MADE 4,800 AT HAMMER

    This etching and aquatint by Sean Scully comes up as lot 4 at Morgan O’Driscoll’s current online Irish art auction. Signed and numbered 13/40 Dark Fold dates to 2003 and is estimated at €4,000-6,000. There is art from Frank McKelvey and Kenneth Webb to Louis le Brocquy and John Shinnors in this sale of 242 lots which runs until the evening of November 29. The catalogue is online and the auction will be on view in Skibbereen on November 25, 28 and 29.