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    HANDKERCHIEF WAS IN THE POCKET OF MICHAEL COLLINS WHEN HE DIED

    Saturday, September 21st, 2024

     A framed linen handkerchief on Michael Collins at the time of his death at Hegarty’s. UPDATE: THIS LOT WAS WITHDRAWN AND SOLD PRIOR TO THE AUCTION

    As the autumn season moves into high gear an impressive selection of highly collectible lots is available to collectors up and down the country next week.  The  range on offer right now includes everything from a rediscovered painting by Frank O’Meara at Adams, a Rolls Royce Silver Spirit at Sheppards and a linen handkerchief which Michael Collins had in his pocket when he died at Hegarty’s in Bandon.

    When the autumn art selling season kicks off at Adams in Dublin on the evening of September 25 there will be much interest in A Knitting Shepherdess painted in 1880 by Frank O’Meara.  This small scale transitional work by a short lived though renowned Irish artist, unknown to researchers, has been in an Irish private collection for decades. It is estimated at €10,000-€15,000.

    Frank O’Meara (1853-1888) – A Knitting Shepherdess at Adams. UPDATE: THIS MADE 24,000 AT HAMMER

    The Bog Pool by Paul Henry is at €120,000-€160,000, the most expensively estimated lot in this auction of 150 lots which features work by Jack B Yeats, Paul Henry, Colin Middleton, Louis le Brocquy, Sean Keating, Frank McKelvey, Gerard Dillon and Lilian Davidson.  On the contemporary side there is a large work painted in 2008 by Hughie O’Donoghue – No. 37, Stuttgart 7 Hours 20 Minutes 24.7.44 – of a Lancaster bomber during the Second World War setting the night sky ablaze (€30,000-€50,000).  Painting and sculpture by Neil Shawcross, Colin Harrison, Edward Delaney, Melanie le Brocquy, John Behan and many others add enormous interest to this sale.

    The petrol driven 1984 Rolls Royce at Sheppards Legacy of the Big House auction of more than 1600 lots on September 24, 25 and 26 in Durrow is estimated at €20,000-€30,000.  A west Cork collection assembled in Ireland, Europe and America has a strong emphasis on 17th and 18th century furniture.  An Irish 17th century leather bound marriage trunk with metal and stud decoration and domed lid, inscribed 1693, is certain to create interest. The estimate is €4,000-€6,000.

    An Irish 17th century leather bound marriage trunk at Sheppards. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD

    An Italian 18th century carved gilt console table with marble top is estimated at €3,000-€5,000. There are Regency tables, an Irish oak rent table, a Grand Tour marble specimen table, a 17th century walnut and crossbanded chest, a Cork Regency carved giltwood mirror and a pair of early 19th century Viennese salon chairs among an appetising selection.

    Curiosities include a 19th century Cork ebony and ivory octant and a bronze model of a Venetian Lion of St Mark.  There is a collection of fountain pens,  jewellery from Atelier Jacobi, Stuttgart and art by James Arthur O’Connor, Guido Reni, Norah McGuinness, James Humbert Craig and others. Viewing starts in Durrow today.

    A framed white linen handkerchief which Michael Collins had with him on the evening of his death on August 22, 1922 comes up at Hegarty’s sale in Bandon on the evening of September 25.  It is accompanied by a manuscript letter in pencil signed by Collins’ brother Sean O Coileain dated August 31 to General Sean MacMahon asking him to: ‘accept enclosed as a souvenir of Michael – in his pocket at time of death’ .  The estimate is €10,000-€20,000.  The provenance of the handkerchief is General Sean MacMahon and thence by descent.

    The online sale features antique furniture, art, silver and jewellery including a  Victorian emerald and diamond shamrock bar brooch.

    A Cork Regency carved giltwood mirror at Sheppards. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD

    A KINSALE SILVER SPOON AND A SET OF TAIN LITHOGRAPHS

    Thursday, September 19th, 2024

    EXTREMELY RARE KINSALE TABLESPOON by John Wall c1720. UPDATE: THIS MADE 4,200 AT HAMMER

    Kinsale silver is desperately hard to come by so there is some excitement around this extremely rare c1720 tablespoon by John Wall. It comes up as lot 119 at a sale of four collections by de Veres in association with Aidan Foley in Dublin on September 24. The estimate is €1,000-€2,000. The auction is on view at Kildare St. from today and the catalogue is online. The 216 lots comprise four different collections of silver, stamps and coins, art and books. Among more than 120 lots of silver is this rare tablespoon and a 1701 Dublin tankard by Thomas Bolton. Coins and sovereigns include a 1943 Florin, there is a collection of stamps from 1949 to 2023 and a complete set of The Tain lithographs by Louis le Brocquy. UPDATE: An Irish William III silver tankard by Thomas Bolton made 6,000 at hammer and an Irish George I silver tankard by Joseph Walker made 8,000 at hammer. The Tain lithographs were unsold.

    AN ATTIC BEDROOM BY GRACE HENRY AT WHYTE’S

    Wednesday, September 18th, 2024

    GRACE HENRY HRHA (1868-1953) – ATTIC BEDROOM. UPDATE: THIS MADE 2,600 AT HAMMER

    Attic Bedroom by Grace Henry is lot 15 at Whyte’s sale of Important Irish Art in Dublin on September 30. The oil on board is estimated at €1,500-€2,000. Included in the sale are major works by Jack Butler Yeats, Paul Henry, William Orpen, Seán Keating, Mildred Anne Butler, William Percy French, William Conor, Mary Swanzy, Colin Middleton, Daniel O’Neill, Nano Reid, Patrick Collins, Camille Souter, Norah McGuinness, Patrick Hennessy, Donald Teskey, Rowan Gillespie, Anthony Scott, Liam O’Neill, Rita Duffy and many others. Viewing for the sale of 149 lots gets underway in Dublin today.

    ONLINE SALE OF ANTIQUES, COLLECTIBLES AND ART BY AIDAN FOLEY

    Sunday, September 15th, 2024

     A model of the Irish Hazel. UPDATE: THIS MADE 800 AT HAMMER

    Viewing us underway in Doneraile, Co. Cork for Aidan Foley’s two day onllne sale of antique furniture, art, interiors and outdoor furnishings on September 16 and 17. Art on offer includes a mixed media print work by Banksy of The Walled Off Hotel Bethlehem (€1,400-€1,600, a pencil sketch of A Day at the Races by Jack B Yeats (€800-€1,200), and art by John Butler Yeats,  George Gillespie, Marie Carroll, Martin Finnin, Elizabeth Cope, Graham Knuttel and many more.

    The top lot is a Killarney wood sewing table (€4,000-€6,000), there is also a Killarney wood box and a Killarney book slide and the sale offers Persian rugs, Tiffany style lamps, tractor seat high stools, vintage model ships, a pair of fern decorated cast iron garden seats and a 19th century marble and gilt consul table. The catalogue is online.

    A pair of tractor seat high stools  UPDATE: THESE MADE 220 AT HAMMER

    THE WAY WE LIVED THEN MAKES GOOD BUSINESS NOW

    Saturday, September 14th, 2024

    Shell petrol pump. UPDATE: THIS MADE 3,000 AT HAMMER

    In an era when the market for collectibles is expanding Cavan based Victor Mee Auctions has led the charge on pub memorabilia. Nostalgia is sure to reign supreme during three days of sales with over 1,400 lots on September 17, 18 and 19 from 6.30 pm on each day.

    UPDATE: THE DATES FOR THIS SALE HAVE BEEN CHANGED TO SEPTEMBER 24, 25 AND 26.

    The lots on offer in this sale are freighted with memory.  The way we lived then is making good business for auctioneers in Ireland.  How about  a rare 19th century Cadbury’s Chocolate mahogany and glass floor display cabinet from some long vanished sweetshop of yore? Or an early 20th century chrome National till of a sort that graced so many retail establishments, or even a Michelin Man.

    19th century Cadbury’s floor display cabinet. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD

    A yellow Shell petrol pump complete with white scallop shell light and vivid red writing recalled filling stations up and down the country and Edward Hopper’s famous 1940 painting Gas. This too represents a vanished era but the petrol pumps Hopper depicts are selling Mobil.

    The good news is that 21st century collectors like the sort of lot that was once to be found everywhere.  “We’ve been doing the advertising and memorabilia for a long time now,” said Victor Mee. “It’s a very, very interesting area of antiques because there’s so much history, and in that there existed such competition. The variety of merchandise and advertising made over the eras makes hunting for rarities an exciting game”.

    Mirrors advertising whiskey are always sought after and there is a share of them of offer in this auction. One off items like the 20th century Guinness mahogany bar back from The O’Conor Don pub in Marylebone, with a central mirror flanked by Guinness Harps, are unlikely to come our way again. This establishment claimed to be the oldest Irish pub in London. The estimate is €600-€1,200.

    There are signs of damp on an old framed Allman’s Irish Whisky pure pot still framed advertising showcard. This memento of the rare old times in Bandon and beyond is estimated at just €400-€600.

     Craven A  cork tipped Virginia cigarettes advertising print: Will not affect your throat. UPDATE: THIS MADE 80 AT HAMMER

    If you thought social media misinformation was something new then lot 636 might inspire a rethink. A framed advertising card for Craven A Cork tipped Virginia cigarettes claims they will not affect your throat. The estimate here is €120-€220. The petrol pump is estimated at €3,700-€4,700, the Cadbury’s display cabinet at €3,000-€5,000, the chrome till at €800-€1,200 and the most expensively estimated lot is a 19th century McConnell’s Old Irish Whisky Cromac Distillery, Belfast mirror at €3,000-€6,000. What this sale has in spades is variety.

    Allman’s Irish Whiskey Pure Pot Still framed advertising showcard. UPDATE: THIS MADE 380 AT HAMMER

    THE DEBORAH BROWN COLLECTION AT ADAMS IN DUBLIN

    Friday, September 13th, 2024

    Deborah Brown (1927 – 2023) – The Harper, 1952/53. UPDATE: THIS MADE 4,400 AT HAMMER

    A timed auction of the Deborah Brown collection will be held at Adams in Dublin on October 1. Deborah Brown was an artist of international repute mostly unheard of in her own country even though her work was regularly included in survey exhibitions of contemporary Irish art, including a number of major touring exhibitions and at ROSC. A 1982 retrospective exhibition was shown at the Ulster Museum and in Dublin at the Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery of Modern Art and there was a retrospective at the F.E. McWilliam Gallery in Banbridge in 2012/13.

    The sale is a fascinating collection of works by artist friends and contemporaries, those who particularly influenced her career and the studio collection of Deborah’s own work. There is art by James Humbert Craig; Mainie Jellett, Evie Hone, Alice Berger Hammerschlag, T.P. Flanagan, William Scott and Basil Blackshaw.

    After studying at Belfast College of Art and the NCAD in Dublin Deborah Brown moved to Paris in
    1950. Experiences of modern French painting transformed her work. In 1951 she was invited to hold a one-person exhibition in Belfast, with a subsequent exhibition organised in Glasgow in 1955 by the British Council. This in-turn led to her 1956 solo exhibition at the Ulster Museum. In 1953, Deborah Brown began to exhibit with Victor Waddington in Dublin and the Mayfair Gallery in London in 1954. She exhibited with the Ulster Academy of Arts between 1946 and 1976 and the Society of Women Artists in London, the Women’s International Art Club and the Ulster Society of Women Artists. In the late 1950s, Deborah Brown’s work became completely abstract and she exhibited increasingly outside Ireland at the New Vision Centre Gallery, in London, the Free Painters Group and at the Arnolfini Gallery, Bristol. The catalogue for the sale is online.

    JEFF KOONS’ BALLOON MONKEY (BLUE) AT CHRISTIE’S IN LONDON

    Thursday, September 12th, 2024

    Jeff Koons. – Balloon Monkey (Blue). Executed in 2006-2013. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £7,555,000

    Jeff Koons’ Balloon Monkey (Blue) will be offered by Christie’s as one of the highlights of the October Frieze Week 20th/21st Century London evening sale on October 9. With an estimate of £6,500,000 – 10,000,00 this sculpture is one of five unique versions (Red, Magenta, Blue, Yellow, and Orange).

    It is to be installed in St James’s Square, adjacent to Christie’s Headquarters in London, from September 30 to October 9. The work comes to auction following the success of Balloon Monkey (Magenta) sold in 2022 for £10,136,500 and is an evolution of Koons’ renowned Celebration series which began in 1993. The series includes some of his most iconic creations — such as Balloon Dog (1994-2000).

    146th ANNUAL EXHIBITION OF DUBLIN PAINTING AND SKETCHING CLUB

    Thursday, September 12th, 2024

    Harbour Lights by Margaret Kent

    This painting by Margaret Kent features at the 146th annual exhibition of the Dublin Painting and Sketching Club at the Town Hall space of the Windmill Quarter, Dublin 2 until September 21. More than 150 paintings are on display. In 2019 Margaret Kent was winner of The Irish Arts Review Award at the Water colour Society of Ireland annual Exhibition at Farmleigh Gallery. The club, which was formed in 1874, is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year and the exhibition is sponsored by auctioneers Whyte’s.

    A VIEW OF SHERKIN ISLAND AT MORGAN O’DRISCOLL’S SALE

    Thursday, September 12th, 2024

    MAJELLA O’NEILL COLLINS (B.1964) – TOWARDS THE WEST OF SHERKIN. UPDATE: THIS MADE 1,100 AT HAMMER

    This 2023 oil on canvas by Majella O’Neill Collins comes up as lot 14 at Morgan O’Driscoll’s current off the wall online auction of Irish art which runs until September 16. The estimate is 1,200-1,800. More than 450 lots are on offer in this sale and the catalogue is online.

    MILDRED ANNE BUTLER AT THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF IRELAND

    Wednesday, September 11th, 2024

    Mildred Anne Butler, 1858 – 1941 – A Sheltered Corner – Courtesy of National Museums NI, Ulster Museum Collection.

    Mildred Anne Butler: At Home in Nature opens at the National Gallery of Ireland on September 14 and will run until next January 5. This new display of the art of one of Ireland’s first professional women artists is part of the Gallery’s broader effort to celebrate the contributions of Irish women artists. It showcases 16 watercolours, drawn from public and private collections across the island of Ireland, along with a selection of archival material, on loan from Trinity College Dublin, which provide further insights into her life as a working artist. Mildred Anne Butler was born and raised at Kilmurry, a grand mid-18th-century manor house near Thomastown, County Kilkenny. The 350-acre estate provided her with an endless source of inspiration, and a wealth of exquisite colour to paint. Her work captures the essence of her immediate environs with both striking accuracy and a sense of fresh immediacy. She is best known for her sumptuous garden scenes, as well as her detailed depictions of animals and birds, which she cleverly imbued with subtleties of character.