What a difference a professional restoration can make. Pictured here are before and after conservation images of The Madonna of the Cherries by Quentin Metsys, which will be a highlight at Christie’s Old Master sale in London on July 2. Painted in the 1520’s in Antwerp all trace of the work was lost following the death of its then owner in 1668. It resurfaced in Paris in the 1920’s with an altered composition including a curtain across the window and was no longer recognised as work by Metsys. With its overpainting and varnish it was offered at Christie’s in 2015 as a studio variant deriving from the original, reflecting scholarly opinion at that time. Subsequent conservation was transformative and enabled scholars to recognise it as the original. The estimate for the work is now £8 million – £12 million (€9.40 million – €14.09 million).
A pair of Art Nouveau figures on marble bases UPDATE: THESE MADE 300 AT HAMMER
Lovers of antique furniture, and there are still plenty of them out there, will find plenty of options that are both affordable and attractive, not to mention sustainable, at Marshs sale in Cork on June 12. The selection on offer ranges from an antique Queen Anne walnut bureau bookcase (€2,000-€3,000) and a pair of early Irish Georgian dining chairs (€1,500-€2,000) to an early walnut secretaire campaign chest (€500-€800) and a set of eight Cork dining chairs (€800-€1,000).
There is a choice of card tables led by a Regency marquetry inlaid example (€500-€1,000) as well as a large oval end Victorian dining table with an estimate of just €1,000-€1,500. There are collectible lithographs of Cork Harbour scenes by Robert Stopford and others, some Waterford Crystal and a private collection of around 150 lots of Irish, English and European coins.
A pair of Edwardian knife boxes. UPDATE: THESE MADE 600 AT HAMMER
A Still Life by Graham Knuttel at the Purple Onion gallery at Lismore Antiques Fair.
There is everything from antique furniture, art and jewellery to porcelain, vintage fashion and collectibles at the two day Bank Holiday weekend Lismore Opera Festival antiques and vintage fair today and tomorrow (June 1 and 2). Fairs are for browsing and discovering new areas of interest and this one offers much to hold the attention of all sorts of collectors. Choices range from Knocknagow by Charles Kickham at Jim Hyde books, a still life by Graham Knuttel at The Purple Onion Gallery, exotic hats at Eily Henry’s vintage collection, a c1830 William IV Irish work table by Butlers, beautiful porcelain at Brian Hurley’s stand, coins and banknotes and even a Christian Dior plaster mannequin from 1946 at Le Belle Epoque.
Brian Hurley will bring this decorated Booths china dish to the Lismore Antiques Fair.
Poster for cancelled Nirvana concert in Dublin in April 1994. UPDATE: THIS MADE 1,900 AT HAMMER
An historic poster for a cancelled Nirvana concert at the RDS in Dublin on April 8, 1994, the day Kurt Cobain’s body was found in Seattle, the original manuscript from The Fianna of Fionn by Padraig Pearse, the magnificent sporting collection of Ed Hayes of Two Mile Borris, captain of the winning All-Ireland hurling team in 1900 and a letter to General Lauriston dictated and signed by Napoleon are highlights at Whyte’s. The timed online Eclectic Collector auction is open for bidding and runs until June 7.
The sale of 582 lots at Whytes includes historical artefacts, manuscripts, documents, photographs, books, militaria and medals, weapons and memorabilia.
The 1809 letter from Emperor Napoleon, Pádraig Pearse’s original handwritten manuscript of 23 pages, a 1966 Rising Jubilee 4 ounce gold medal, the British War medals to awarded to Captain G.T. Baggallay, assassinated by Michael Collins’ squad on Bloody Sunday, a 1921 grocer’s account for ‘The Irish Delegation to the Treaty Talks in London’ and the 1900-1910 Hurling, collection of Ed Hayes including All-Ireland, Tipperary and Munster Championships medals and two cups will attract many bidders.
The scarce Nirvana poster relates to a Dublin concert poignantly dated on the 1994 day Kurt Cobain’s body was found, three days after his suicide in Seattle. The artwork is based on the transparent anatomical mannikin with superimposed angel wings used on the cover of In Utero, the bands third and final studio album.
The oldest items are south Italian pot lids and a candle holder from c300 BC. There is a range of 17th century maps of Ireland and a Penal Cross from 1745, items from modern history including the Troubles and a Libyan munitions box seized on the MV Claudia in 1973.
The 1900-1910 medal and cup collection of Ed Hayes, Two Mile Borris including All Ireland, Tipperary and Munster Championships. UPDATE: THESE MADE 6,200 AT HAMMER
