A Cork Republican Silver strawberry dish made a hammer price of 7,000 over a top estimate of 3,000 at Fonsie Mealy’s sale in Castlecomer today. It was described by the auctioneer as rare and important. The dish has a lobed rim and beaten surface and the W.E. (William Egan) punch. Cork Republican silver refers to silverware produced in the city during the Civil War. Only about 60-80 pieces are known to have survived. At the height of the war it was impossible for silversmiths Egans to send their pieces for assay to Dublin and so they devised their own hallmark based on the Arms of Cork. This depicts a two masted left facing ship with a single towered castle on either side. These marks were destroyed once the silver could once again be sent to Dublin.
There is to be a celebration of Jack B. Yeats at the National Gallery of Ireland next year. Jack B. Yeats: Painting & Memory which opens on September 4, 2021, exhibits the work of one of Ireland’s pre-eminent artists drawn from public and private collections in Ireland and abroad. The show will explore the role of memory in Yeats’ life and work. Memories of childhood in Sligo, observations of humanity and his reflections on life and loss feature in many of Yeats’ oil paintings.
This 18th century embroidered silk panel sold for a hammer price of 8,500 at Fonsie Mealy’s Chatsworth autumn fine art sale at Castlecomer, Co. Kilkenny today. The large panel, which depicts a mythical scene with figures and birds by a rocky stream with two figures riding on birds in the clouds, had been estimated at 600-800. The live online sale continues until September 30.
These exceptional George III gilt bronze commodes date to the early 1760’s and are attributed to the celebrated English cabinet makers William Vile and John Cobb. After Thomas Chippendale they were arguably the most accomplished cabinet makers of the mid Georgian period, a golden age of carved mahogany furniture. On the open market for the first time since 1955 they come up at the Exceptional Sale at Christie’s in New York on October 14 from the collection of Abby and George O’Neill. Their passion for the arts was a tradition begun by Abby’s grandparents John D. Rockefeller Jr. and Abby Aldrich Rockefeller. Selected works from the collection will be offered at various sales at Christie’s in coming months. The commodes are estimated at $150,000-$250,000.
The wine cellar from Luggala, a pair of sculpted whippets attributed to John Hogan, the intact electrical unit installed by the Jennings family at the first home in Cork with residential electricity and a pair of opium chairs from Korea are among the lots at Fonsie Mealy’s Chatsworth Fine Art sale in Castlecomer on September 28, 29 and 30.The 1,631 lots on offer range from antique furniture and paintings to silver, Oriental ceramics, jewellery, carpets, fireplaces, taxidermy and even vintage cars. Viewing continues to be available by appointment from 1 pm to 5 pm today and tomorrow and the entire sale is online. More than 100 lots of wine from Luggala, the Guinness family home of the late Garech Browne, will come up on day one from lot 410. The selection includes vintages from 1959, 1960 and ‘6i. There are various lots of unopened cases of wines from the Medoc and Bordeaux, champagnes, wines from Spain, Portugal and Chile, vintage port and four bottles of 1990 Chateau d’Yquem. On offer too is a 1939 red Austin 8 convertible and a stylish two tone 1959 Morris Minor with retractable red soft top. Brookfield, now part of the UCC medical campus, was the first private residence in Cork with electricity. The brass and copper wall mounted unit in an Edwardian walnut cabinet installed by Porter Sykes & Co., Electrical Engineers, Cork & Dublin remains intact with amp and volt meters. Lot 1267 is estimated at €2,000-€3,000.
A carved oak breakfront overmantle by Pugin originally at Fonthill Abbey, Wiltshire is estimated at €4,000-€6,000. A selection of sculpture by Edward Delaney from the collection of Garech Browne includes a figure of Cu Chulainn (€6,000-€8,000). Lot 1357, a pair of sculptured marble whippets attributed to John Hogan, is estimated at €15,000-€20,000. Lot 153 is a pair of large Korean opium hardwood benches (€350-€450) and lot 154 is a pair of small opium benches (€200-€300). The three day online auction starts at 11 am on each day.
Pair of sculptured marble whippets attributed to John Hogan (1800-1858). UPDATE: THESE MADE 13,000 AT HAMMER
Young Man Holding a Roundel by Sandro Botticelli will come up at Sotheby’s in New York next January.With an estimate in excess of $80 million it will highlight the annual Masters Week sales series. In market terms this price will establish it in art market history as one of the most significant portraits, of any period, ever to appear at auction – alongside Gustav Klimt’s Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II (sold in 2006 for $87.9 million) and Van Gogh’s Portrait of Dr Gachet (sold in 1990 for $82.5 million).
Young Man Holding a Roundel is the pictorial synthesis of the ideals, the magic and the beauty of Renaissance Florence where, for the first time since antiquity, the individual and the human figure were at the centre of both life and art. Botticelli was at the vanguard of this movement, and his revolutionary style lead him to be one of the first artists to abandon the tradition of depicting sitters in profile. Yet for all it embodies of the Florentine Renaissance, the painting is timelessly modern in its stark simplicity, bold colors, and graphic linearity.
Young Man Holding a Roundel was first securely recorded in the 1930s in the collection of Lord Newborough at Caernarvon in Wales, and is believed to have been acquired by his ancestor Sir Thomas Wynn, 1st Lord Newborough (1736-1807) while living in Tuscany. In 1935/8, the portrait passed via a London dealer to a private collector, whose heirs sold it at auction in 1982 to the present owner for £810,000.
In the past 50 years, the painting has spent extended periods on loan at the National Gallery, London, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Sandro Botticelli – Young Man Holding a Roundel.UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR $92,184,000
Antique furniture, art, jewellery and collectibles will come under the hammer at a live online sale at Hegarty’s in Bandon, west Cork on September 27. The catalogue features 330 lots including an Irish marble statuary fireplace in the manner of Pietro Bossi, an Art Deco sapphire and diamond ring, a two page handwritten letter from Terence MacSwiney – the Cork Lord Mayor who died on hunger strike in Brixton Prison in 1920 – to Pauline Henley in 1916, a Killarney trinket box and an Irish 18th century mahogany fold over tea table.
IRISH 18TH CENTURY MAHOGANY FOLD OVER TEA TABLE. UPDATE: THIS MADE 1,400 AT HAMMER
There was a world record for a print by Banksy at Christie’s London Editions sale today. His Balloon Girl – Colour AP (Purple) sold for £791,250 over a top estimate of £350,000. The Banksy I Can’t Believe You Morons Actually Buy This Sh*t sale was 100% sold by lot and brought in £2,121,250. This is the highest total achieved for a dedicated Banksy auction. The London Editions achieved a combined total of £4,374,125.
Among the works Dublin sculptor John Behan is famous for are his depictions of famine ships in bronze. A rare depiction on canvas of a famine ship by the artist comes up at Whyte’s timed online auction running now. The acrylic on paper has rippling which has led to cracking of the paint. It is estimated at 300-500. According to the auctioneers the sale of over 260 lots with guides from as low €60 to a top estimate of €5,000 will encourage both first-time buyers and seasoned bidders. Many famous Irish artists are represented and the auction runs to October 5.
FAMINE SHIP, 2000 – JOHN BEHAN RHA (B.1938). UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 460 AT HAMMER
The Carnal Series is the title of these pieces by the sculptor Edward Delaney, RHA (1930 – 2009). They come up as part of a collection of sculptures by the artist at Fonsie Mealy’s autumn fine art sale in Castlecomer on September 28, 29 and 30. The set of four variant silver alloy statues depicting alternative poses of sexual acts, each initialled and hall marked, gifted by the sculptor to the Honourable Garech Browne, are estimated at 2,000-3,000. There are a number of works by Edward Delaney from the Luggala collection of Garech Browne in the auction.
EDWARD DELANEY, RHA (1930 – 2009) “THE CARNAL SERIES. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 4,400 AT HAMMER
