Two mid-19th century Indian chairs from Elveden Hall, Suffolk
These mid-19th century Indian chairs from Elveden Hall in Suffolk – former home of India’s last Sikh Maharajah, Duleep Singh (1838-1893) – date from his period at the house. Crafted in Bombay in c. 1850 they remained at Elvedon after his death, when ownership changed to the Guinness brewing family. Elveden Hall was purchased by Edward Cecil Guinness, 1st Earl of Iveagh (1847-1927). At auction for the first time in over 40 years the chairs will be offered in London by Olympia Auctions on November 26 with an estimate of £8,000-£12,000. UPDATE: THESE SOLD FOR £8,000
Contents from the Old Head of Kinsale golf links clubhouse will be auctioned online without reserve by O’Donovan’s of Newcastlewest, on November 29 at 10 am. Many of the wrought iron tables and chairs, complete with a fossilised ammonite design, were custom made and imported from California in the 1990’s. There are 50 vintage copper ships lanterns, brass portholes, imported large alabaster lamps, streetlamps, framed pictures, candleabra and even a lobster tank. The catalogue with around 200 lots is online. Pictured here is the Lusitania bar from the clubhouse.
Dance to the Music of Time by Conor Harrington at Ben Brown Fine Arts, London.
Pallium, from the Latin for cloak, is the title of an exhibition of new paintings by Cork artist Conor Harrington at Ben Brown Fine Arts in London until February 6. The leading international gallery, with locations in London, Hong Kong and New York, specialises in post war and contemporary art. Harrington’s work is deeply informed by his own identity and experience of life and politics in Britain. Inspired by historical re-enactments in Bristol where participants in period costumes restaged scenes from the past his work focuses on how outdated systems of power are maintained today.
Cubist Landscape by Mary Swanzy at Adams. UPDATE: THIS MADE €38,000 AT HAMMER
Yeats, Henry, O’Conor, Clarke, O’Malley, Teskey, Jellett, Swanzy, Luke and other acclaimed Irish artists offer Ireland’s growing band of collectors an array of tempting choices at auction in the run up to Christmas.
The major winter sales of Irish art get underway in earnest next week with evening auctions by Morgan O’Driscoll on November 24, de Veres and Gormley’s on November 25 and Adam’s on the following evening. The sale of Important Irish Art at Whyte’s is on December 1.
There is something for all levels of the market at auctions where estimates range from €200 to €300,000. It is all art – teasing, lovely, intriguing, home and life enhancing. Even if the important c1890 Paysage aux Arbes (Landscape with Trees) by Roderic O’Conor at de Veres (€200,000-€300,000) is beyond the budget these sales offer plenty of options at price points within the range of many of us. O’Conor made this work at a key turning point in his career. The suggestion of striping in the foliage is a precursor to this feature in many of his later paintings..
A Coastal landscape with Galway Hookers by Paul Henry at Adams (€150,000-€200,000) was in the collection of late Taoiseach John A Costello. Believed to have been purchased directly from the artist in the 1930’s it is making its first every appearance at auction.
Still Life with Frying Pan and Eggs (1973) by William Scott at Morgan O’Driscoll. UPDATE: THIS MADE 4,200 AT HAMMER
An oil on canvas board by Yeats, Low Water, Spring Tide, Clifden (1906) leads Morgan O’Driscoll’s sale. The estimate is €40,000-€60,000. Morning Painting, Bahamas from 1983 by Tony O’Malley (€30,000-€50,000), Untitled by Sean Scully (€35,000-€45,000), Cardboard Leaves by Basil Blackshaw and St. Jean d’Acre entering Cork Harbour in 1853 by George Mounsey Wheatley Atkinson are among the top lots in an online sale with 271 lots.
The collection of former government minister Gemma Hussey and her husband Derry will form part of the offering of 132 lots at de Veres. Bad News by the Dublin artist Patrick Tuohy (1894-1930) from their collection is estimated at €14,000-€18,000. The artist was educated at St. Enda’s School, established by Padraig Pearse, and did illustrations for the school magazine. Distant Bird Song (€15,000-€25,000) and Self Portrait, Physicianstown (€1,500-€2,000) both by Tony O’Malley, Fair Day, Slovakia by Mary Swanzy (€10,000-€15,000) and Portrait of a Woman by Mainie Jellett (€2,000-€4,000) are all from the Hussey collection.
White Wings and White Water by Norah McGuinness at de Veres. UPDATE: THIS MADE 34,000 AT HAMMER
Provence by William Crozier (€15,000-€25,000), Morons by Banksy (€15,000-€20,000) and Le Marche Flottant and Evening Drag by Arthur Maderson (€12,000-€18,000) are the leading lots at Gormley’s.
The 150 lots at James Adam on Wednesday range from the late 19th century to the present day. In a Dublin Waxworks by Yeats (€70,000-€100,000) dated 1912 was previously in the collection of Garech Browne at Luggala. The Dublin Waxworks on Henry St. opened in 1893 and was a popular venue until it was burnt down during the 1916 Rising. An illustration by Harry Clarke from the 1925 publication of Goethe’s Faust (€30,000-€50,000) is one of 90 illustrations the artist made for the publishers George Harrap and Co. There is a similar estimate on Lighthouse by Donald Teskey which dates to 2017.
An Aubusson tapestry of Cuchulainn in Warp Spasm by Louis le Brocquy at Adams is estimated at €25,000-€35,000, as is Training Five Souls on Board, an oil on paper by Camille Souter (1929-2023). The artist had learned to fly aeroplanes and produced some of her best work on this theme. A Cublst Landscape by Mary Swanzy, Night Cargo by Hughie O’Donoghue and a bronze by Rowan Gillespie are all estimated at €20,000-€30,000. Night Cargo is the catalogue cover lot.
The sale of important Irish art at Whyte’s on December 1 will be led by The Great Sugarloaf, Co. Wicklow by Paul Henry and The Dead Tree by John Luke. Each is estimated at €100,000-€150,000.
Provence by William Crozier at Gormleys. UPDATE: THIS MADE 23,000 AT HAMMER
An early Fang reliquary. UPDATE: THIS MADE 34,000 AT HAMMER
An early Fang reliquary figure from early 19th century Gabon is, at €30,000-€50,000, the most expensively estimated lot at Sheppards two day sale in Durrow on November 25 and 26. More than 1,200 lots of fine and decorative art, silver, antique furniture and sculpture from Irish and international collections will come under the hammer.
Among them are a 15th century carved oak altarpiece, a landscape by James Arthur O’Connor, exceptional 18th century Dublin and London silver, a pair of Roman marble urns, a French clock garniture and a 19th century French ormolu perpetual calendar. Viewing is underway in Durrow and the catalogue is online.
A Georgian breakfront four door bookcase is among the leading lots at Marshs sale in Cork on November 29. A Regency Cork card table, a set of ten brass inlaid Regency Cork dining chairs, a Georgian sideboard, a French ebonised and gilt drawing room suite and a Regency card table are feature furniture lots. There is a large private collection of Irish and English silver along with dinner and tea services. The sale will be on view from November 26 and the catalogue is online.
19th century ormolu mounted marquetry and porcelain inlaid credenza at Sheppards. UPDATE: THIS MADE €3,800 AT HAMMER
Frida Kahlo’s 1940 self portrait The Dream, the Bed sold for $54,660,000 at Sotheby’s in New York last night to become the most expensive work ever by a female artist. It surpassed the record for Georgia O’Keeffe’s Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1 which sold for $44.4 million in 2014.
The painting shows Kahlo asleep in a wooden, colonial-style bed that floats. Above the bed lies a skeleton figure wrapped in dynamite. The artist depicted herself and her life. Injured in a bus accident aged 18 she began to paint whilst bedridden with a damaged spine and pelvis. She wore casts until her death in 1954 at age 47. The buyer’s identity was not revealed.
Rowan Gillespie (b.1953) – MAQUETTE FOR W.B. YEATS, SLIGO, 1989. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
This maquette for the sculpture of W.B. Yeats erected outside Ulster Bank on Stephen Street, Sligo is at Whyte’s sale of Important Irish Art on December 1 with an estimate of €15,000-€20,000. It was jointly commissioned by the Adhoc Yeats Sculpture Committee, Ulster Bank and the local community. The bronze was placed in position in May 1990 to mark the 50th anniversary of the poet’s death. Viewing for the auction at Whyte’s is now underway at Molesworth St. in Dublin and the catalogue is online.
Early Victorian fitted mahogany workbox UPDATE: THIS MADE 600 AT HAMMER
This quality early Victorian workbox is at Reilly’s live auction in Prosperous, Co. Kildare on November 22. The estimate is €900-€1,100. The auction of 447 lots will include contents from several houses and features rugs, mirrors, a selection of antique furniture, art and collectibles. The catalogue is online.
Cecil Maguire – Easter Light on Inishmaan. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
Irish Paintings by artists including Cecil Maguire, Arthur Maderson, Charles Harper, Markey Robinson, Arthur Armstrong, Mat Grogan, Frank Egginton, George Campbell, Manus Walsh, George Gillespie and others feature at Dolan’s online auction which runs until November 24. The auction offers a collection of more than 70 Irish whiskeys, mostly Very Rare Midleton, along with collectibles, stamps and books.
Gustav Klimt – Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer – sold for $236.4 million.
Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer by Klimt made $236.4 million at Sotheby’s in New York last night to become the most expensive auction sale of a modern work of art. This was the second highest price ever paid for a work of art at auction. The most expensive artwork sold at auction this year was from the collection of Leonard Lauder, philanthropist, cosmetics magnate and legendary collector who died aged 92 last June. He donated his $1 billion Cubist art collection to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
The $706 million total for the night included the white glove sale of 24 lots from the Lauder collection which brought in $456.2 million. The first Sotheby’s auction at the Breuer Building made the highest total ever achieved by Sotheby’s for a one night auction. The Now and Contemporary sale brought in $178.5 million.
The record for a work of art sold at auction is Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi, sold by Christie’s for $450.3 million in 2017. In 2022 Andy Warhol’s Shot Sage Blue Marilyn sold for $195 million at Christie’s and this record has now been surpassed.
(See post on antiquesandartireland.com for November 1, 2025)
