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  • Archive for October, 2023

    VIKING LONGBOATS IN REMARKABLE SALVAGE SALE

    Saturday, October 14th, 2023
    Longboats from the Vikings Valhalla tv series. UPDATE: ONE OF THE LONGBOATS MADE 8,000 AT HAMMER, THE OTHER WAS UNSOLD

    If a full sized replica of a Viking longboat is what you really really want then Victor Mee’s two day sale in Belturbet and online on October 17, 18 and 19 is the place to be.  Not one but two such longboats feature in the auction each estimated at €10,000-€20,000. With 1,348 lots on offer in a remarkable sale drawn from BG Salvage yard at Naas the diverse range features a Buccaneer fighter jet pilots ejector seat and cockpit cover, bronze ship horns converted to table lamps, retro chrome and upholstered swivel chairs, a chemist  and opticians sign from Disney’s “Disenchanted”, hand painted wooden panels from the film Braveheart and whatever you are having yourself. 

    A pair of 18th century painted pine doors with carved panels. UPDATE: THESE MADE 900 AT HAMMER

    Salvage comes in all shapes and forms so there is plenty to explore here, for both interior and exterior use.Along with offering basic salvaged items BG Salvage is a resource for film, tv and stage productions in search of props and decor. The working longboats, measuring 46 feet and 49 feet respectively, are from the filming of the TV drama series Vikings Valhalla. Also from this series is an oriental table decorated with fo dogs and 19th century benches. There is a French gilded gesso room originally from a French chateau and a chemist and opticians signs from Disney’s Disenchanted.  Among the film props are painted panels from Braveheart, a gothic angel from Reign of Fire, a timber and glass shop front from Penny Dreadful. There is a big selection of more than 400 furniture lots including gilded armchairs from Carton House, stained pine armchairs from the Tudor TV series, bar stools with leather upholstered seats and retro chrome swivel chairs. 

    A Brunswick style ebonised bar UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD

    There is a Brunswick style ebonised bar counter with mirrored back and glass panels, a painted hardwood shop cabinet with eight glazed doors above a bank of 40 drawers, a pair of 18th century painted pine doors, 19th century pitch pine doors with copper and glass panels, bronze sculptures, bronze lamps with reeded panels, a heavily carved tribal throne chair, blacksmith forged railings, a 19th century Irish pine kitchen table and a good selection of unusual architectural items from marbleised plaster Corinthian columns to onyx pedestals and a fibreglass wall panel depicting a Knight Templar and a wooden porthole window. Viewing at BG Salvage in Naas is from noon to 5 pm today and tomorrow.

    A pair of chrome swivel chairs. UPDATE: THESE MADE 900 AT HAMMER

    BARCELONA BY SEAN SCULLY AT MORGAN O’DRISCOLL SALE

    Friday, October 13th, 2023
    SEAN SCULLY (B.1945) – Barcelona (1998). UPDATE: THIS MADE 60,000 AT HAMMER

    Barcelona, a 1998 watercolour on paper by Sean Scully, is lot 16 at Morgan O’Driscoll’s Irish and International online art sale which runs until October 24. The estimate is 50,000-70,000. Viewing for the sale gets underway today in Skibbereen and continues over the weekend until Monday. The sale will be on view at the Minerva Suite of the RDS from October 20-23.

    MIES VAN DER ROHE BARCELONA DAY BED AT DUBLIN SALE

    Thursday, October 12th, 2023
    MIES VAN DER ROHE – A BARCELONA DAY BED UPDATE: THIS MADE 14,000 AT HAMMER

    Designed in 1930 this Barcelona day bed by Mies van der Rohe comes up as lot 6 at de Veres art and design auction on October 24 in Dublin. The sale features around 200 lots of classic design Danish and Italian furniture
    and lighting by some of the major names of the 20th Century including Mies van Der Rohe, Ingmar Relling, Marcel Breuer, Charles & Ray Eames, Rolf Benz and Ligne Roset. The Barcelona day bed shares the same simple elegance as the iconic lounge chair of the same name and is estimated at €4,000-€6,000.

    A KAHLO FROM THE COLLECTION OF A&M’S M

    Wednesday, October 11th, 2023
    FRIDA KAHLO (1907-1954) – Portrait of Cristina, My Sister (1928)

    This Frida Kahlo portrait is from the collection of Jerry Moss, the M and A&M Records. Thirteen  works from his collection will be showcased in a single-owner section of Christie’s 20th Century evening sale in New York on November 9. Jerry Moss was a music industry giant who played a critical role in establishing careers of the biggest musical acts in history—Sting, Janet Jackson, Peter Frampton, Cat Stevens, Carole King, and countless more. Moss’s art collection comprises a fantastic group of objects that span a range of genres, representing the European avant-garde, icons of Latin American art, and contemporary masters.

    Highlights include: Friday Kahlo’s Portrait of Cristina, My Sister ($8 million – 12 million) and Tamara de Lempicka’s Fillette en rose ($7 million – 10 million) two deeply personal portraits by women of their immediate family members—the first, of the artist’s sister and the second of the artist’s daughter. The top lot of the group is Picasso’s Nu couché, estimated to achieve $10 million – 15 million. Subsequent property from the collection will be sold in the Marquee Week day sales and the Design sales in December. In total, the collection is estimated to realise in excess of $50 million, with partial proceeds to benefit The Music Center.

    KANGXI PARROTS FLY AT TOWNLEY SALE

    Tuesday, October 10th, 2023
    PAIR OF CHINESE FAMILLE-VERTE BISCUIT FIGURES OF PARROTS, KANGXI (1662 – 1722)

    This pair of Kangxi parrots with late 19th century ormolu mounts made a hammer price of €32,000 over a top estimate of €8,000 at the James Adam Country House Collections sale at today. The mounts for the Famille Verte biscuit figures are stamped MB for Theodor Millet. A pair of 1776 elliptical side tables to a design by Wyatt made €50,000, a George III three pillar extending dining table made €19,000, a pair of capriccio Italian landscapes by Willem van der Hagen made €22,000 over a top estimate of €3,000, an Irish George III hall table made €55,000, Lady Nugent’s Hunter by John Ferneley snr made €32,000, an Irish mahogany rectangular side table made €17,000, an 18th century Gisburne Park Rules board made €9,000, The Salmon Leap at Leixlip by Thomas Roberts made €26,000, and a portrait of William Hoare Hume of Humewood by Robert Lucius West made €20,000.

    The Blessington Commode attributed to John Kirkhoffer was bought prior to the sale by the National Museum of Ireland.

    BRONZE NAPOLEON STATUE TOPS ADAMS ONLINE SALE TODAY

    Monday, October 9th, 2023
    JAMES FLYNN – EMPEROR NAPOLEON

    This bronze statue of the Emperor Napoleon was the top lot at the opening day of the James Adam Country House Collections sale today. It made a hammer price of €8,000 over an estimate of €2,000-3,000. The statue is on a grey marble bow front plinth with imperial gilt bronze appliques to the front and sides. An oil on canvas signed and dated by Joseph Sempill, Belfast 1873 made €4,800 over a top estimate of €4,000 and a c1800 Thames Valley Windsor chair made €4,600 over a top estimate of €4,000. This was a timed online only sale.

    The Country House Collections sale continues live and online at St. Stephen’s Green at 11 a.m on October 10.

    IMPORTANT IRISH FURNITURE AT SOTHEBY’S IN NEW YORK

    Monday, October 9th, 2023
    Pair of George II Carved Giltwood Armchairs, Circa 1760. UPDATE: THESE SOLD FOR $152,400

    This pair of Irish George II carved giltwood armchairs, one bearing the label R Stahan and Co., come up at Sotheby’s in New York on October 17 as part of a sale of Classic Design: Furniture, Silver and Ceramics. They are estimated at $100,000-$150,000. The chairs may have been commissioned by Charles Moore, 1st Earl of Charleville, an Irish peer and wealthy owner of large estates in County Limerick and Charleville Forest in County Offaly, who died without issue in February 1794, the estates passing to his nephew John Bury in 1764, who would himself pass away only six months later, leaving his newborn son Charles William as heir. Charles would become an Irish MP and later peer and was made Earl of Charleville 2nd creation in 1806. He used his large fortune to commission the architect Francis Johnston (d.1829) to erect a new house on the Charleville estate between 1800 and 1812 in the form of a medieval castle. Following the death of the 5th Earl without issue in 1875, Charleville Castle and its contents passed to his sister Lady Julia, who had married Captain Kenneth Howard-Bury (1846–1885), and their son Charles would inherit the estate in 1931.

    Charles Kenneth Howard-Bury was a colourful character from the waning generations of the Anglo-Irish elite. Following his education at Eton and Sandhurst he joined the army and was sent to India, where he developed a taste for exploration, learnt Hindi and Urdu and went on tiger and crocodile hunting expeditions. After distinguished service in Flanders during World War I he returned to India and went on the first British expedition to Mount Everest, where he described wolves’ footprints in the snow that were mistranslated as belonging to an ‘Abominable Snowman’, thus giving rise to the expression for the first time. On his return to Ireland he resided at Belvedere House, a lakeside Palladian villa designed by Robert Cassels in 1740 inherited from his cousin Charles Brinsley Marlay in 1912. Whilst serving in the army during World War II, Howard-Bury met the RAF pilot Rex Beaumont (1914-1988) who became his companion and settled in Ireland after the war. A former Shakespearean actor informally known as ‘Sexy Rexy’, Beaumont and Howard-Bury became prominent local figures and entertained lavishly, their guests reputedly including Princess Grace of Monaco, the Crown Prince of Sweden, Charlie Chaplin and Elizabeth Arden.

    The sale includes two pieces attributed to William Moore, a c1780 demi lune side table ($30,000-$50,000) and a c1790 demi lune commode ($50,000-$80,000).

    An Irish George III Harewood, Tulipwood, Burr Yew and Sycamore Marquetry Demilune Commode attributed to William Moore of Dublin, Circa 1790. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR $20,320

    A FANCY VIVID BLUE DIAMOND OF 17.61 CARATS

    Sunday, October 8th, 2023

     Bleu Royal, the largest internally flawless fancy vivid blue diamond ever seen at auction will come up at Christie’s in Geneva on November 7.  Fancy vivid blue diamonds of over 10 carats are practically unheard of in the saleroom.  Only three have come up in more than 250 years at Christie’s.  This 17.61 carat pear shaped stone combines a rich colour and flawless purity.  In the same collection for the past 50 years it remains among the rarest to have been unearthed. Prices for top quality coloured diamonds have increased exponentially in recent years. The estimate is $35 million – $50 million (€32.8 million – €46.8 million). UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR $43.8 million.

    LAVERY ON LOCATION AT THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF IRELAND

    Saturday, October 7th, 2023
    Sir John Lavery (1856-1941) – The Greyhound (Sir Reginald Lister and Eileen Lavery, The last British Minister, the Drawing Room, British Legation, Tangier 1910.  Courtesy NI Ulster Museum Collection.

    Lavery on Location opens in Dublin today as the highlight of the autumn programme at the National Gallery. Organised in collaboration with National Museums, Northern Ireland and National Galleries, Scotland, the focus of the show is on key destinations in Lavery’s art.  These range from Scotland to Palm Springs, France and Tangier.  There are studies from Switzerland, Spain, Ireland and Italy and depictions of cities from Glasgow to London, Venice, Cannes and New York. The not to be missed exhibition at the National Gallery runs until January 14 next.


    Sir John Lavery, (1856-1941) – Lady Lavery in an Evening Cloak. Image, National Gallery of Ireland

    LUCIAN FREUD’S PROFILE DONEGAL MAN AT FRIEZE LONDON

    Saturday, October 7th, 2023
    Profile Donegal Man by Lucian Freud at Frieze Masters in London.

    Lucian Freud’s Donegal Man will be offered by Dickinson at Frieze in London next week with a price tag of £15 million (€17.28 million).  On the market for the first time Freud’s Profile Donegal Man, considered to be one of his greatest late portraits, will highlight the exhibition  Artists in SOHO, Lawrence to Freud by London gallery Dickinson at Frieze Masters.   Freud met Doherty through mutual friend Andrew Parker-Bowles, another Freud subject.  “I used to go round to him  every Saturday morning from 8.30 to 11.30” Doherty recalled.  “He’d spend about two thirds of the time talking”. The painting, one of three separate portraits of Doherty by Freud, was acquired by Doherty directly from the artist.  The first involved 100 sittings, the second 85 and the third, a sketch, took 35 sittings.  Each sitting lasted for about three hours. Frieze London, running from October 11-15 at Regent’s Park, will bring together emerging and leading galleries spanning 46 countries. Doherty owns developments including shopping centres and hotels in Ireland, Britain, Europe and the US. The painting WAS on loan to the Irish Museum of Modern Art from 2016 to 2021.