This 18th century lacquered cabinet sold for €2,800 at hammer at the opening day of Sheppards three day sale which began in Castlecomer and online on December 6. An Irish 18th century five pillar dining table failed to sell but there were some good prices for antique furniture like a pair of Edwardian satinwood bookcases (€8,000), a large Regency side table (€3,400), an Irish crested hall seat (€2,700), a pair of George II style humpback settees (€4,000) and a burr walnut circular dining table (€2,600). A Charles X ormolu and bronze cathedral clock made €3,000, a William Morris Donegal carpet made €2,800 and a West Anatolia Ushak carpet made €3,600. The auction continues today and tomorrow.
Economic uncertainty is no bad thing for the art market and John Shinnors, Hughie O’Donoghue and John Doherty are among the more contemporary blue chip Irish artists that Adams will bank on to deliver a good sale of Important Irish Art on the evening of December 7. Yeats, Paul Henry and Louis le Brocquy are there too.
Line, one of John Shinnors larger works and one of his most significant, is an arresting response to Frank Bramley’s Domino at the Crawford Gallery and is estimated at €60,000-€80,000. Two fine oils by Yeats head this auction of 144 lots. The Sick Bed failed to sell when it came up in 2020 with an estimate of €250,000-€300,000 and is now estimated at €150,000-€200,000. The Duet (€70,000-€100,000) is a more joyful work and graces the catalogue cover.The Garlanded Goat, an Aubusson tapestry and an oil of canvas of a fantail pigeons, both by le Brocquy, and Paul Henry’s deeply atmospheric Connemara Hills are all estimated at €40,000-€60,000. Other top lots include Lighthouse, Man’s Twin Cats and Washing by Shinnors, The Canal Turn, Aintree by Peter Curling, Jasper’s Here … O’Donovan, Union Hall by John Doherty and Afloat by Hughie O’Donoghue. The sale is on view at St. Stephen’s Green and the catalogue is online.
The Canal Turn, Aintree by Peter Curling. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
The Bonnettstown Hall Irish side table. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
An Irish 18th century five pillar dining table (€50,000-€80,000) is the top lot at three days of sales at Sheppards from Tuesday December 6. The fascinating selection on offer includes fine wines headed by six bottles of Premier Cru Classe Pessac-Leognan, Chateau Haut Brion, 2009 (€5,500-€6,500) along with antique furniture, jewellery, art including a portrait of a lady in a green dress by Vanessa Bell, vintage designer dresses and handbags and collectibles including a Charles X ormolu and bronze cathedral clock by Schuller, Paris with painted porcelain plaque after Raphael Sanzio.
There are some fine 18th and 19th century chimney pieces, Donegal and Persian rugs, an Irish 18th century side table (€8,000-€12,000), baronial armchairs and an 18th century Chinese lacquered cabinet (€3,000-€5,000) among more than 1,400 lots. Viewing for a sale entitled Bonnettstown Hall, Kilkenny and other important clients is underway in Durrow and the catalogue is online.
VANESSA BELL (1879 – 1961) – Portrait of a lady in a green dress. (1959). UPDATE: THIS MADE 6,500 AT HAMMER
MARKEY ROBINSON (1918-1999) – Heading Home. UPDATE: THIS MADE 4,000 AT HAMMER
Heading Home by the enduringly popular Markey Robinson comes up as lot 12 at Morgan O’Driscoll’s current online art sale which runs until December 5. The catalogue contains more than 450 artworks by a range of artists including Arthur Maderson, Simeon Stafford, Norah McGuinness, Cecil Maguire, George Gillespie, Gladys MacCabe, Elizabeth Brophy, Kenneth Webb, Majella O’Neill Collins and Patrick Graham. Heading Home is estimated at €1,500-€2,500.
WILLIAM SCOTT CBE RA (1913-1989) – STILL LIFE WITH SAUCEPAN, 1968. UPDATE: THIS MADE 72,000 AT HAMMER
Still Life with Saucepan by William Scott made a hammer price of €72,000 at Whyte’s sale of Important Irish Art in Dublin last night. Whyte’s reported a strong sale despite the economic downturn, with many buyers looking for a hedge against inflation. The auction grossed €1.25 million with 75% of lots sold. The top price was €160,000 for Sunshine and Blossom by Walter Osborne, Turf Stacks in the West by Paul Henry made €130,000 and Unloading the Turf Boat, Aran by Sean Keating made €75,000.
This 18th century marble chimneypiece comes up as lot 12 at Sheppards three day sale in Durrow from December 6-8. There is an inverted moulded edge mantle above a swag draped table and Sienna fluted inlaid panels and pillars. The estimate is €12,000-18,000. Around 1,450 lots will come under the hammer at the sale entitled Bonnettstown Hall, Kilkenny and other important clients. The catalogue is online and there will be viewing in Durrow from December 3. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
An extremely scarce medal from Cork’s first Football All-Ireland in 1894 comes up at Fonsie Mealy’s rare books and collectibles sale in Dublin on December 6 and 7. The seventh All-Ireland final was mired in controversy. The first game was a draw, there was a re-match where, with seven minutes remaining and Cork leading Dublin by 1-02 to 0-5, several Dublin players were attacked by Cork supporters. Dublin refused to play on and was awarded the championship by the GAA Central Council. Cork County Board never accepted this finding.
Four months later a ceremony was held to award gold medals to the victorious Cork players from Nil Desperandum FC which had been founded mostly as a rugby club and where members started playing Gaelic Football in 1888. The 9 carat gold medal bears the Cork Coat of Arms and the Provincial Coats of Arms and is inscribed: GAA All-Ireland Football Championship, won by Nils, 1894″. It is estimated at €7,000-€9,000. The medal is by direct family descent from Jack O’Sullivan of Nil Desperandum. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
“The Finest Keeping Butter in the World” at Marshs. UPDATE: THIS MADE 750 AT HAMMER
A good selection of great value and attractive antique furniture and collectibles will feature at two Cork city sales on December 3. Local interest will be stirred by a painting of Mahon Golf Club by Josef Keys at Woodwards (€400-€500) and a double washstand from the State Bedroom of the White Star liner RMS Celtic which ran aground off Roches Point in December 1928 at Marshs (€4,000-€6,000).
Memories of the storied industrial past of the city will be awakened by not just any old tin but one labelled grandly “The Finest Keeping Butter in the World”. The advice on the 28 lb tin packed by M. Barrett, Cork is to store in a cool place. Marshs estimate it at just €200-€400. Among a selection of cased longcase clocks, wall and mantel clocks at Marshs are two Cork clocks, one by William Ross, the other by a maker called Mansfield. Each is estimated at €2,000-€3,000. A large bronze bust of Napoleon on a pedestal (€1,500-€2,500) and a selection of silver and plated cutlery from the Ursuline Convent in Blackrock will create interest too.
Not so much interest perhaps in the antique furniture, which has not been doing well for what seems to me to be inexplicable reasons. Marshs will offer a highly collectible pair of large mahogany wine coolers and an early Georgian mahogany corner cabinet each estimated at €1,500-€2,000. The estimates for these might have been higher two decades ago. There is a mere €400-€500 on an arbutus wood Killarney work table and a Queen Anne armchair comes with an estimate of just €250-€300.
George II kneehole desk at Woodwards. UPDATE: THIS MADE 300 AT HAMMER
At Woodwards a pair of cast iron garden benches is estimated at €1,600-€2,000 and a large Persian Mashad rug is estimated at €500-€600. Among the antique furniture in the estimate range of €400-€500 is a Georgian mahogany breakfast table, a George II kneehole desk, a pair of inlaid console tables, an Edwardian inlaid sofa table and an eight piece Chippendale style drawing room suite. The estimates are even less on a William IV inlaid walnut sewing table, a William IV oblong hall table, a Georgian walnut card table and a large kneehold desk, all reckoned to make around €300-€400. A bachelors chest, a Victorian oval centre table and an Edwardian envelope card table are all estimated at just €200-€300.
A Thought for Lunch by Conor Harrington at Whyte’s. UPDATE: THIS MADE 11,000 AT HAMMER
The Irish art sale season continues on its merry winter way on November 28 and 29. The sale of Important Irish Art at Whyte’s in Dublin next Monday evening offers significant works in contrasting styles by artists as diverse as Paul Henry and James Brenan to Louis le Brocquy and William Scott. A classical Henry landscape, Turf Stacks in the West, is estimated at €120,000-€180,000, as is an image of W B Yeats by Louis le Brocquy. There are two oils on canvas dated 2004 by Conor Harrington, the renowned Cork street artist and painter, A Thought for Lunch (€10,000-€15,000) and Lost in Space (€8,000-€12,000). The auction is on view at Molesworth St., Dublin this weekend and until 4 pm on Monday.
There will be viewing in Skibbereen on November 28 and 29 for Morgan O’Driscoll’s online evening Irish art sale with 242 lots which gets underway on Tuesday. The selection offers works by Kenneth Webb, Mainie Jellett, Cecil Maguire, Norah McGuinness, Arthur Maderson, Cecil Maguire, Louis le Brocquy and many other artists.
Sweet Pea by Kenneth Webb at Morgan O’Driscoll. UPDATE: THIS MADE 4,200 AT HAMMER
PAIR OF 18TH CENTURY GILT CONSOLE TABLES. UPDATE: THESE WERE UNSOLD
A pair of 18th century gilt console tables c1780 with rouge royale shaped marble tops will come up as lot 901 at Sheppards three day sale on December 6, 7 and 8. They are estimated at €8,000-€12,000. Viewing for the sale entitled Bonnettstown Hall and other important clients will get underway in Durrow on December 3. The catalogue is online from today.
