The 1823 2nd edition of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
The Moore St. flag of Truce from the Easter Rising was the top lot at Fonsie Mealy’s rare book and collectors sale. It made a hammer price of €62,000. Other leading hammer prices were: A rare edition of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (€24,000), Kevin Barry’s personal crucifix and scapular (€19,000), a first edition of Adam Smith’s Inquiry into the wealth of nations (€15,000), an archive from the Gaiety Theatre, Dublin (€15,000), a programme for the 1914 All Ireland Football Final (€14,000), a 2nd edition of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice (€9,500), a 1795 general atlas by Thomas Kitchin and others (€9,000), a rare 1918 Irish Proclamation (€8,500) and the Carton House music collection (€8,000).
(See posts on antiquesandartireland.com for June 20 and June 13, 2026)
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn – Let The Little Children Come Unto Me, c.1627 UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £8 MILLION
A rare and fascinating early history painting by Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn comes up at Sotheby’s in London on July 1. Discovered just over a decade ago, and carefully restored since it offers insights into his working practices and reveals a powerful message of tolerance. There is a vivid self-portrait, depictions of his mother and father and, quite possibly, of his god-parents and god-sister too. In no other image does Rembrandt bring his family together so completely. He made it after his return to Leiden following his apprenticeship with leading Amsterdam artist Pieter Lastman. Rembrandt ultimately left the foreground unfinished. It was completed at a later point, by an unidentified contemporary or follower. Recent restoration has removed these additions to reveal Rembrandt’s original hand.
The tall figure in the centre of the scene had – under Rembrandt’s hand – been wearing a turban, but this was replaced during the re-painting by a more familiar-looking Dutch soft cap. The presence of this oriental (possibly Muslim) figure might here be particularly pertinent, given that the Jewish and Christian faiths are also represented in the painting. In light of this, it is possible that Rembrandt was seeking to harness the image to spotlight the question of tolerance between faiths. The 30 years war at its height and Leiden was full of refugees, a question that would have probably preoccupied him at this time.
Rivalry between religious factions was then spilling onto the street, something Rembrandt would have felt acutely, given his own mixed religious heritage (his mother had Catholic roots, his father Protestant).
Amadeo Mogliani’s Nu assis au collier sold for a record £48.2 million at Sotheby’s tonight. This was a new European record for the artist. The collection of billionaire Joe Lewis achieved £296.3 million to become the highest single owner collection ever sold in London. A 1995 nude by Lucian Freud, Sleeping by the Lion Carpet made £29.3 million and a portrait of Gertrud Loew by Gustave Klimt sold for £36.2 million. Magritte’s La Belle Promenade, with a high estimate of £4 million, sold for £16 million, a record for a work on paper by the artist. Joe Lewis, former owner of Tottenham Hotspur football club, built up the collection with his daughter Vivienne.
The Modern and Contemporary auction followed at Sotheby’s. Claude Monet’s Nymphéas was the top lot, selling for £40.7 million.
Masterpieces from the Lewis Collection and the Modern & Contemporary Evening Auction achieved a combined total of £393.4 million – the highest auction total ever achieved in a single night in Europe.
(See posts on antiquesandartireland.com for June 19, June 13, June 7 and May 1, 2026)
This Qianlong Famille Rose ‘Boy and Chicken’ cup made a hammer price of €115,000 at Adam’s sale of Fine Asian Art in Dublin today. It had been estimated at €20,000-€30,000. Cups of this type derive from earlier Chenghua doucai prototypes, particularly chicken-decorated examples. All bear the mark Da Qing Qianlong Fanggu ‘made in imitation of antiquity’ reflecting the Qianlong emperor’s strong interest in archaism. The inscription praises earlier artistic traditions, especially Ming dynasty chicken cups.
A possibly imperial Le Shan Tang seal made €55,000 at hammer, a pair of Imperial copper enamel painted dragon and phoenix covered ewers made €50,000, an Imperial white jade lança bowl made €34,000 and a celadon jade carving of a horse of sea made €15,000.
The Gaiety Theatre archive. UPDATE: THIS MADE 15,000 AT HAMMER
From the rapid construction of the Gaiety Theatre in Dublin in 1871 to an incredibly rare 1823 second edition of Frankenstein, the Carton House music collection to the earliest printed house contents sale catalogue in Ireland, Fonsie Mealy’s rare book and collections sale in Castlecomer next week covers a multitude.
The catalogue includes the fascinating fact that the much loved Gaiety Theatre – which opened in 1871 and continues merrily to this day – was reputedly built in just 28 weeks from start to finish. Contrast that with a certain Events Centre in Cork where the first sod was turned ten and a half years ago and sod all has happened since. An archive of around 200 vellum patents and legal documents relating to The Gaiety – Sarah Bernhardt, Eileen Terry, Pavarotti, Maureen Potter, Jimmy O’Dea and the D’Oyly Carte Company have all performed here – is estimated at €7,000-€9,000.
A letter signed by Michael Collins as Minister for Finance. UPDATE: THIS MADE 2,500 AT HAMMER
The Carton House collection of 18th and 19th century music, purchased at the 1949 dispersal sale, is among the largest collections of music from an Irish stately home to come to market. Music by Handel, Beethoven and Haydn is included among 45 volumes in original calf bindings, many signed by the Duke of Leinster (€5,000-€7,000).
The newly discovered catalogue by Baillie Auctioneer for the sale of the goods of the late Edward Wingfield at Powerscourt and his house in Dublin (€3,000-€5,000) announces (confusingly) that it will begin .. “on Tuesday the 25th day of February 1728-29 and to continue till all are sold”. It lists contents from 45 rooms with lots ranging from 24 fine walnut chairs with Barbary leather seats, a Turkey carpet, five pairs of yellow Indian damask curtains to “One young black Stone Horse fit for an officer” and a stage coach with a new seat cloth never used since it was re-lined.
A 1951-52 photograph of Brendan Behan and Micheal MacLiammoir signed by Daniel Farson. UPDATE: THIS MADE 700 AT HAMMER
Irish and international literature is headed by a rare 1823 edition of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, a second (1813) edition of Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen and a signed limited edition printing of Bog Poems by Seamus Heaney. A sonnet handwritten by William Wordsworth with provenance to the de Veres of Curragh Chase and the O’Briens of Dromoland Castle is estimated at €1,500-€2,000. A 1951-52 photograph of Brendan Behan and Michael MacLiammoir by Daniel Farson (€700-€900) and a first (1957) edition of From Russia with Love by Ian Fleming (€350-€420) feature among the fascinating lots.
The most expensively estimated of these is the Moore St. flag of Truce, a white linen handkerchief used by Volunteers to surrender during the East Rising (€10,000-€15,000). There is a rare 1918 printing of The Proclamation of the Irish Republic, a 1916 Volunteers green tunic and a 1920 letter signed by Michael Collins as Minister for Finance.
Sporting memorabilia includes a programme for an early soccer international between Ireland and England at Goodison Park, Liverpool in 1907 and a 1914 All Ireland football final programme between Kerry and Wexford which ended in a draw.
The three day sale takes place next Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday June 23, 24 and 25. It is on view in Castlecomer on the afternoon of June 21 and from 10 am to 5 pm on June 22. The catalogue is online.
Ist Edition From Russia with Love UPDATE: THIS MADE 400 AT HAMMER
The Islands by Vivien John (1915-1994) UPDATE: THIS MADE €120 AT HAMMER
Aidan Foley’s online evening auctions on June 22 and 23, now on view in Doneraile, offer 122 lots of paintings and prints headed by a Translucent Study by Francis Tansey and a pencil sketch of Lily Yeats by John Butler Yeats. There is a Regency style three pillar dining table, a Victorian boot and stick stand, a Victorian oak consul table, an Edwardian Sutherland table and a pair of gilt framed armchairs among a selection of 82 lots of furniture. A selection of pub memorabilia, garden furniture, porcelain and crystal and a wide variety of collectibles is on offer.
A gem set and diamond bracelet. UPDATE: THIS MADE 7,000 AT HAMMER
This gem set and diamond bracelet is among the leading lots at Adam’s Jewellery Box sale in Dublin on June 23. Mounted in 18 carat gold with partial Italian registry marks it contains rubies, sapphires, emeralds, citrines, amethysts, tourmalines, peridots, aquamarines topazes, morganites and diamonds. The estimate is €7,000-€8,000. A total of 336 lots will come under the hammer.
Claude Monet – Nymphéas. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £40,760,000
Nymphéas (1907) by Monet at Sotheby’s Modern and Contemporary evening auction in London on June 24 carries the highest estimate ever placed on a work by the artist at auction in Europe. Painted in 1907 the ethereal and luminous view of Monet’s famed water lily pond at Giverny is estimated at £30-£40 million. Together with the Lewis Collection and other major works on the same evening the painting arrives at a defining moment for the London art market, bringing an exceptional concentration of museum-quality works to auction.
ART DECO WALNUT AND CHROME CONSOLE TABLE. UPDATE: THIS MADE 1,200
This Art Deco console table of inverted triangular form is lot 89 at Mullen’s timed online auction which runs at Laurel Park, Bray, Co. Wicklow until the evening of June 21. The estimate is €1,200-€1,800. There are 629 lots on a catalogue which features art, twenty lots of garden furniture, furniture and a wide selection of collectibles.
This lithograph by Henry Moore is at Whyte’s summer online art auction which runs until June 29. Number 9 from an edition of 50 is signed on the lower right and estimated at €1,000-€1,500. The sale of 242 lots includes work by Jack Butler Yeats, Walter Osborne, Estella Solomons, Eva Hamilton, Harry Kernoff, Daniel O’Neill, James Brohan, Liam Treacy, Bridget Flinn, Banksy and Nelson Mandela. Viewing gets underway at Molesworth St. in Dublin today and the catalogue is online.
