The most valuable designated collection ever to be offered in Europe from the London home of trailblazing surrealist collector Pauline Karpidas comes up at Sotheby’s in September. Masterpieces by Hans Bellmer, Max Ernst, Yves Tanguy, René Magritte, Leonora Carrington, Salvador Dalí, Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol and Jeff Koons will be offered alongside unique furniture personally imagined and crafted for Pauline by Claude and François-Xavier Lalanne, Mattia Bonetti andAndré Dubreuil. The 250 lots on offer at evening, day and online sales on September 17, 18 and 19 have a combined estimate of around €70 million. Meantime Pauline’s London home, a journey through the realms of Surrealism, will be brought to life at a landmark exhibition at Sotheby’s conceived by the designer of the blockbuster Freddie Mercury exhibition which brought 140,000 visitors to the auctioneers New Bond St. rooms over four weeks in 2023. Pictured here is a view of the salon at her London home.
An original c1900 enamel Fry’s Chocolate ad UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
A Fry’s Five Boys c1900 advertisement at Victor Mee’s next auction underlines how rarity and celebrity add value in a memorabilia market which continues to grow strongly in Ireland.
This particular enamel sign is rare. It harks back to days when chocolate – taken in moderation and highly prized – was a special treat for children. The enamel sign, which depicts five boys expressing desperation, pacification, expectation, acclamation and finally realization that it’s Fry’s chocolate, leads the online August sale of 930 lots by Victor Mee on August 19 and 20. The estimate is €4,000-€6,000.
An embossed copper figure of a fiddle player from Slattery’s. UPDATE: THIS MADE 300 AT HAMMER
Copper figures of musicians on painted boards from Slattery’s of Capel St. in Dublin are of interest. This pub venue and early house licensed since 1821, steeped in music, history and character, has long been a gathering place for market traders, musicians and storytellers. Slattery’s is a much loved hub of Irish culture and traditional music known for performances by everyone from Christy Moore, Donal Lunny and Seamus Ennis to the Arctic Monkeys, Bloc Party, Kate Nash and Townes van Zandt.
The unique embossed figures of a fiddle player, a button accordionist, a bodhran player, a pip player and a tin whistler, a banjo player and a flute player are estimated at €300-€600 each. With hand drawn illustration by Brian McCormack and copper work by John A Brennan they are redolent of the cultural atmosphere which Slattery’s is renowned for.
An Old Irish Reindeer Whisky Kiloh and Co. Cork framed showcard is estimated at €1,200-€1,800 and the auction kicks off with an Allman’s of Bandon Old Irish Whisky advertising sign (€50-€80). A Beamish Stout light up box for a counter dating to the 1970’s has an estimate of €50-€100.
A framed advertising mirror for Bendigo Tobaccos UPDATE: THIS MADE 4,200 AT HAMMER
A framed advertising mirror for Bendigo Tobaccos produced for W & M Taylor Ltd., Dublin and manufactured by A & H Pemberton of Liverpool has an estimate of €3,000-€5,000. In Art Nouveau style it features hand gilded and reverse painted lettering in rich red, gold and cobalt blue and few examples survive in such well preserved condition. An original Will’s Woodbine Cigarettes enamel sign, 150 cm x 92 cm, in well preserved condition is the sort of lot that is sought after by collectors. The estimate is €300-€500.
Sales like this serve to remind us of how quickly things move on and can stir many memories. Lot 159, for instance, is a framed February 1952 poster for A Royal Jester by Youghal Choral Society at the Town Hall (€40-€80). The catalogue is online.
A Youghal Choral Society poster from 1952. UPDATE: THIS MADE 35 AT HAMMER
Hard to believe that it has been 15 years since Downton Abbey first hit our screens. The Golden Globe, BAFTA and primetime Emmy winning series ran for six seasons from 2020-2015 and garnered more than 120 million viewers. So the auction of props, costumes and set pieces from one of the most popular programmes in the history of British television at Bonhams will generate global interest.
The sale will run online from next Monday August 18 to September 16, along with a special exhibition at Bonhams London headquarters at New Bond St. Highlights include costumes worn by the ladies including the prop costume and wedding bouquet worn by Michelle Dockery (as Lady Mary), the Downton Abbey bell wall from the servants hall, an autographed script of season one episode one, various cook costumes and pinafores worn by Lesley Nicol (as Mrs. Patmore) and a pair of white leather gloves worn by Rob James-Collier (as Thomas Barrow).
Carnival Films, part of the Universal Studios group, will contribute proceeds from items they donated to Together for Short Lives, the UK’s leading charity for children with life-limiting conditions and their families. A third and final Downton Abbey film is due for release in September.
Michelle Dockery (as Lady Mary) prop wedding costume and bouquet. UPDATE: THIS MADE £21,760 INCLUDING PREMIUM
JAMES SEYMOUR (1702-1752) – Sir Edward O’Brien, 2nd Baronet of Dromoland, in Hunting Costume of his Day. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
This painting by James Seymour of Sir Edward O’Brien of Dromoland is already consigned to the James Adam annual Country House Collections sale at Townley Hall near Drogheda. The curated sale of Irish Georgian furniture, paintings and collectibles is scheduled to take place on October 13 and 14. Adams is now seeking final consignments with a deadline of August 22. This painting is estimated at €50,000-€80,000.
An original photograph of Ringo Starr and Rev Wilbert Awdry, inscribed by Ringo Starr,
An online only sale centred on Thomas the Tank Engine by Julien’s Auctions runs until September 9. THOMAS AND FRIENDS: THE BRITT ALLCROFT COLLECTION features over 200 lots from the British screenwriter, producer, director and voice actress who adapted Rev Awdry’s railway stories into the Thomas series. Voiced by Ringo Starr it was a global success.
IRISH GEORGE III INLAID MAHOGANY SECRETAIRE BOOKCASE. UPDATE: THIS MADE 3,000 AT HAMMER
This large secretaire is lot 315 at the James Adam timed online At Home sale which runs until August 27. With broken pediment and scroll rosette terminals centred by a carved eagle the crest on the pediment is that of the Seymour family, Marquesses of Hertford and Dukes of Somerset. The base is fitted with a fall-front secretaire drawer formed as three short cockbeaded dummy drawers with inlaid decoration which opens to reveal a compartmented interior and baize lined writing surface. The estimate is €1,500-2,000. The catalogue for the auction is online.
The Office of Public Works is offering free admission to over 70 fee paying heritage sites on Saturday, August 16. In Ireland Heritage Week runs from August 16-24. Organised by the Heritage Council, National Heritage Week has become one of Ireland’s largest cultural events. The OPW is pleased to support National Heritage Week to ensure individuals, groups and families can get out and explore what Ireland’s heritage sites has to offer. This year’s theme, “Exploring Our Foundations”, invites the public to reflect on the structures, landscapes, stories and cultural practices that have shaped Irish life over the centuries. The full events schedule can be found on on www.heritageireland.ie
A 19th century oil lamp at Victor Mee’s timed online sale. UPDATE: THE CLOSING BID WAS €26
With €400 or even much less it will be possible to pick up a prized piece at Victor Mee’s timed auction of ceramics, glass and collectibles which ends from 5.30 pm tomorrow on August 10. A 19th century brass and ruby glass Corinthian column oil lamp has a starting bid of just €120, a ruby glass epergne starts at €80 and a figure of Scarlett from Coalport’s Literary Heroines series at just €100.
The auction offers figures by Royal Doulton, Lladro, Royal Worcester, Coalport, Franklin, Royal Minton, Staffordshire, Capodimonte and Hummel, there is spongeware and Belleek, Galway, Cavan and Waterford Crystal, Swarovski, ruby and cherry glass, various tea and part dinner services, Oriental zodiac cups, a Chinese lidded jar, vases, ornaments and even a Japanese lacquered wall plaque. Maybe fine dining at home will make a comeback. Until then pieces like many of the lots in this sale offer huge value.
A Coalport figurine of Scarlett UPDATE: THE CLOSING BID WAS €9
Portrait of Daniel O’Connell by J.P. Haverty R.H.A. from
Derrynane House, Co. Kerry, Ireland
Daniel O’Connell believed in peaceful reform, democracy and civil rights. The 250th anniversary of the birth of one of our most important figures – in his lifetime viewed as the uncrowned King of Ireland – will be widely celebrated this year with a commemorative programme at home and abroad which kicked off at Derrynane House on August 6.
Taoiseach Micheal Martin will deliver the O’Connell lecture at Derrynane House as part of the Daniel O’Connell summer school which takes place in Cahirciveen and Derrynane on August 29-30. The school will host a full programme of speakers with representatives from universities in the UK and the US.
The Bar of Ireland is planning an autumn commemoration with the Department of the Taoiseach and various events are in the pipeline through our network of embassies. These will kick off with a ceremony at the Reform Club in London in September hosted by the Irish Ambassador to honour its former member. The anniversary will be marked by receptions at embassies in Rome, Paris and the US.
Hardly a year goes by without some memorabilia relating to Daniel O’Connell – who delivered Catholic Emancipation in 1829 – surfacing at auction. Lots relating to him are usually sought after. There are plenty of portraits including one of the most noted of all by Joseph Patrick Haverty from the OPW Collection illustrated here. A leather gun case belonging to O’Connell (a pacifist) and stamped Derrynane House was sold by Marshs in Cork for €980 in December 2023. The previous year his pocket watch made €26,000 at hammer over a top estimate of €6,000 at a sale by Fonsie Mealy. Whyte’s sold a 19th century coloured lithograph for €600 in 2024 over a top estimate of €150
His early experience of the French Revolution put O’Connell off mob violence for good but inevitably for a man of his times he was involved in a couple of duels. Among the people he offended was Sir Robert Peel, British Prime Minister, by continuously referring to him as “Orange Peel” while he served as Chief Secretary for Ireland. A half length portrait of O’Connell holding a pistol by the Irish artist John Doyle (grandfather to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle) failed at Bonhams Irish sale in 2023. As at any auction not everything sells.
The Bank of Ireland is gifting a statue of The Liberator, currently in their College Green branch in Dublin, to Leinster House where it will be unveiled later this year. An Post issued two stamps by artist David Rooney last week and gold and silver proof coins will be issued by the Central Bank. Local authorities and the Irish Georgian Society are among those marking the 250th anniversary and RTE has created an hour long documentary.
A statue of the Liberator to be gifted to Leinster House in the autumn.
David Briggs – ‘Last Days on the Tralee & Dingle’. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR €1,012
The Tralee to Dingle light railway line closed in 1953. This acrylic on board by the self taught Irish transport artist David Briggs dates to 2018. It comes up as lot 31 at the online timed auction of paintings by Adams Blackrock which runs until August 13 with an estimate of €750-850. David Briggs works exclusively in acrylics and is an associate of the Guild of Railway Artists. The Tralee and Dingle light railway and tramway operated from 1891 to 1953 and the ten km Castlegregory line closed shortly before the Second World War. The catalogue for the sale is online.
