A full sized Irish silver replica of the Ardagh Chalice is among the highlights at Matthews two day auction of jewellery and antiques in Kells on November 26 and 27. The Ardagh Chalice is one of the greatest treasures of the early Irish church and represents a high point in early medieval craftsmanship. It was found in Co. Limerick in the 19th century and is on display at the National Museum. This replica by Weir and Sons is hallmarked Dublin 1909 and the estimate is €5,000-€8,000. The Sam Maguire Cup is modelled on the Ardagh Chalice.
The Dolan Boys, Waiting by John Doherty. UPDATE: THIS MADE 70,000 AT HAMMER
As the years go by the photo realist art of John Doherty reflects an Ireland that is vanishing fast. If anything this makes the work of this virtuoso even more precious. His 1995 painting titled The Dolan Boys, Waiting, brings you back to an Ireland of yesteryear. No surprise that the artist initially trained as an architect. The subject of the work is in Birr. It is a leading lot at de Vere’s outstanding Irish art evening auction in Dublin on November 26 with an estimate of €40,000-€60,000. There are major works by Roderic O’Conor, Yeats, Osborne, Leech, Shinnors, Norah McGuinness, Mary Swanzy, Nano Reid and others on offer.
Garden’s Pride by Mark O’Neill. UPDATE: THIS MADE 4,600 AT HAMMER
Garden’s Pride by Mark O’Neill is among the highlights at Dolan’s timed online sale which runs until November 25. The auction features Irish paintings, rare Irish whiskeys, wine, antiques, glassware, silver and collectibles. The O’Neill painting is estimated at €4,000-€6,000. The top lot is a collection of ten Midleton Very Rare Irish Whiskeys from 2016 to 2024 with an estimate of €6,000-€8,000.
19th century Killarney wood breakfast table at Aidan Foley’s sale UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD AND IS UNDER OFFER
With big sales by Aidan Foley in Killarney, Shepperds in Durrow and Lynes and Lynes in Carrigtwohill next week collectors will be spoiled by an array of astonishing and rare choices as the winter selling season reaches it maximum point.
There is much to see and appreciate, from the finest of Irish furniture to a complete apothecary cabinet, a bronze stag, Patek Philippe and Rolex watches and even a Great Seal of Ireland of Henry VIII on vellum dated 1544.
The Killarney furniture including a museum quality davenport at Aidan Foley’s three day sale has aroused international interest. The retirement auction on behalf of Pat O’Connor of Killarney Antiques is now on view at the shop on the Cork road. The in-room and online auction with 1388 lots takes place at the Killarney Heights Hotel next Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at 2.30 pm on each day.
A Killarney breakfast table, two davenports and a sewing table range in estimate from €3,000 to €50,000. There is a selection of Killarney trinket boxes, games boards, trays and travelling writing boxes on offer as well as antique furniture, a range of artists from Marshall Hutson to Maurice Wilks, Ann Tallentire and Sean O’Connor, mirrors, porcelain and collectibles including a 19th century estate bronze bell and an original Cork Examiner enamel advertising sign.
A pair of Meissen figural candelabras a Sheppards. UPDATE: THESE WERE UNSOLD
At Sheppards a pair of Irish 19th century marquetry side cabinets once in the Long Room at Kilkenny Castle will highlight a three day sale of contents from Grange Manor in Co. Kilkenny and other clients next Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. The estimate for this historically important pair of cabinets sold separately at the dispersal auction at the castle in 1935 is €100,000-€150,000.
The seal of Henry VIII grants various properties around Inistioge including fishing rights on the River Nore to Milo Barron Bishop of Ossory and his brother David. The estimate is €7,000-€9,000. More than 1600 lots will come under the hammer. Viewing gets underway today at Grange Manor, the auction is in Durrow and online.
A Patek Philippe man’s watch with an estimate of €50,000-€80,000 will lead the Lynes and Lynes sale in Carrigtwohill next Saturday (November 30). There are contents from Gurrane House near Fermoy which has been in the Blackley, Grant and Deane families since it was built in 1850. A collection of circus clowns in the auction (€2,500-€3,500) was amassed by a clown at Duffy’s. Circus and is being sold by his nephew. A set of fine Georgian Cork 11-bar chairs (€4,000-€5,000) and a Georgian dining table (€3,000-€4,000) should generate interest.
A going away outfit dating to c1850 at Lynes and Lynes. UPDATE: THIS MADE 460 AT HAMMER
Large old family houses contain hidden treasures. Among the signature pieces from Gurrane is a complete 19th century mahogany apothecary cabinet (€600-€1,000) owned by Dr. Travers Robert Blackley (1801-1876) and an 1850 going away outfit.. This was worn by Mrs Charles Deane (nee Grant), who married Colonel Charles Deane of Gurrane circa 1850. A Spanish School painting of The Virgin and Child distributing the Rosary to Saints and the Royal Family is estimated at €1,000-€1,500. There is a similar estimate on a Plan of the City and Suburbs of Cork drawn in 1832 by Thomas Holt. There will be local interest too in a Robert Stopford engraving of Cork Harbour and a large view of the Cork International Exhibition from 1903. Viewing gets underway in Carrigtwohill today.
The bronze stag is at Aidan Foley’s auction and there is garden furniture on offer at all three sales.
A close up of some of the clown collection at Lynes and Lynes. UPDATE: THE CLOWN COLLECTION MADE 3,100 AT HAMMER
George Mounsey Wheatley Atkinson (1806-1884) – A Barque Passing Roches Point Lighthouse, at the Entrance to Cork Harbour (c.1850) UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
This c1850 oil on canvas by George Mounsey Wheatley Atkinson of a barque passing Roches Point lighthouse at Cork Harbour is lot 18 at Morgan O’Driscoll’s current online auction of Irish art. The wind is from the south and not in the ships favour. A number of paintings by the artist made prices significantly above the estimate at Sotheby’s this month and one made €34,000 at Morgan O’Driscoll’s auction in October. The estimate for this one is €8,000-12,000. The auction features work by Donald Teskey, Louis le Brocquy, Liam O’Neill, Richard Brydges Beechey, Mr. Brainwash, Frank McKelvey, Conor Fallon, William Scott and a wide variety of artists. The sale runs until November 25.
Study for The Ratification of the Irish Treaty in the House of Lords, December 1921 by Sir John Lavery (1856-1941).
This historical study by Sir John Lavery sold for £43,750 (€52,562) at Bellmans in Britain today and was bought by the Hugh Lane Gallery in Dublin. Estimated at £20,000 – £30,000, the work generated competition from both online and telephone bidders before the hammer came down at £35,000 (£43,750 including premium). The Hugh Lane Gallery, Dublin hosted the 2021 centenary exhibition, Studio & State: The Laverys and the Anglo-Irish Treaty, and were delighted to add to their collection of works by Lavery.
On Friday, 16 December 1921 the Irish Treaty passed from the Commons to the House of Lords for ratification. It was the moment the British Empire changed – it had been expanding rapidly since the 1870s, but went into steep decline, and led to civil war in Ireland and ultimately the emergence of a ‘Free State’.
(See post on antiquesandartireland.com for August 25, 2024)
SIR JOHN LAVERY – THE TURQUOISE SEA, MIMIZAN, 1917. UPDATE: THIS MADE 58,000 AT HAMMER
Early viewing gets underway at Whyte’s on Molesworth St., Dublin today for a sale of Irish and International art on December 2. There is art by Yeats, Paul Henry, Louis le Brocquy, Roderic O’Conor, Tony O’Malley, William Crozier and many more artists. Pictured here is The Turquoise Sea, Mimizan, a 1917 work by Sir John Lavery which is estimated at €60,000-80,000. He painted it while staying at the Duke of Westminster’s shooting lodge at the Landes. At that time he had been unable to paint seascapes since 1914 due to World War I.
Set of 10 Midleton Very Rare Irish Whiskeys, 2016 to 2024. UPDATE: THIS MADE 5,400 AT HAMMER
This set of ten Midleton Very Rare Irish Whiskeys, all in their original boxes from 2016 to 2024, leads Dolan’s live online auction of Irish paintings, rare whiskeys and antiques which runs until November 25. The estimate is €6,000-8,000. Among the artworks is Horseman and Hound, The Warrior a gouache by Evie Hone with an estimate of €4,800-6,000. There is a sketch by Sir William Orpen and art by Cecil Maguire, Mark O’Neill, Flora Mitchell, Charles Harper, Brian Ballard, Susan Cronin and many more. The catalogue is online.
Evie Hone – Horseman and Hound, The Warrior. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
Maurizio Cattelan’s Comedian, comprised of a banana fastened to a wall with duct tape, sold to cryptocurrency entrepeneur Justin Sun for $6.2 million at the Now and Contemporary auction at Sotheby’s in New York last night. It comes with instructions of how to replace the banana if it rots. The New York Times reported that the actual banana was bought earlier yesterday for 35 cents and Justin Sun, who outbid six other rivals, plans to eat it as part of the artistic experience. Comedian was first unveiled in 2019 and became a viral sensation. Justin Sun runs the Tron blockchain network, which facilitates some cryptocurrency transactions.
ED RUSCHA (B. 1937) – Standard Station, Ten-Cent Western Being Torn in Half sold for $68.2 million
Led by record-breaking Magritte and Ruscha masterpieces, Christie’s 20th/21st Century art week in New York achieved $486 million on night one. Magritte’s L’empire des lumières became the most valuable work of Surrealist art ever sold at auction. Seven records were set across Mica: The Collection of Mica Ertegun Part I and the 20th Century evening sale. Together they totalled $485,922,600, selling 83 per cent by lot, 92 per cent by value, and 120% hammer and premium against low estimate. The top lot – René Magritte’s L’empire des lumières – made $121,160,000, a world-record price for a Surrealist work at auction. Seven records were set, including artist records for Magritte, Ed Ruscha, Christian Schad, Susan Rothenberg and Amedee Ozenfant. Magritte and Roy Lichtenstein also set records for works on paper. There were bidders from around the world and 1.25 million viewers watched the sales across Christie’s global platform.
David Hockney’s Still Life on a Glass Table (1971) made $19,040,000. The painting was made after the end of his romance with Peter Schlesinger and is a tribute to the beauty, pain and fragility of love. Its nine objects — many associated with Schlesinger — are rendered with crystalline intimacy producing a dynamic work which was in major retrospectives including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (1988) and the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris (2017).
DAVID HOCKNEY – Still Life on a glass table (1971) sold for $19,040,000
