A 19th century inlaid foldover card table UPDATE: THIS MADE €300 AT HAMMER
The auction by Mullen’s of Laurel Park, Bray on February 1 kicks off a busy week of sales in Ireland. Estimates for furniture are reasonable and there is no shortage of attractive antique pieces like a 19th century walnut and kingwood foldover card table (€400-€600), a continental display cabinet (€500-€700), a Georgian mahogany chest on chest (€500-€800) and a vintage Beidermeier style kingwood and walnut pedestal desk (€400-€600).
The most expensively estimated lot, from a total of 633, is a Georgian mahogany bureau bookcase with an architectural pediment and mirrored doors (€1,500-€2,000). There is value in pieces like an early carved oak court cupboard (€300-€400), an embossed leather five fold screen (€200-€300), a set of ten dining chairs (€500-€800) and a nest of quartetto tables (€300-€400). An Irish four piece silver tea set, made in Dublin in 1973, is estimated at €800-€1,200).
The auction is on view from 10 am to 4 pm today and tomorrow. The catalogue is online and the sale kicks of at 6 pm.
A 1973 Irish silver tea service UPDATE: THE CLOSING BID WAS €1,950
A pair of 19th century Japanese censers. UPDATE: THESE MADE €150 at hammer
Viewing gets underway in Castlecomer today for Fonsie Mealy’s Making Room sale which will take place over two days on February 4 and 5. There are 633 lots in total including this pair of 19th century bronze Japanese censers of elephant form with pagodas. They are each 13 inches in height and the estimate is €250-€350, The catalogue is online.
Graham Knuttel and David Linley with their collaborative project. UPDATE: THIS MADE €40,000 at hammer
One of Graham Knuttel’s most striking creations is a chess set made in collaboration with the furniture designer and manufacturer David Linley. The limited edition (of 12) square table with marquetry chessboard top designed by Linley and silver and bronze chess pieces created by Knuttel is lot 5 at the Graham Knuttel II sale at Adam’s in Dublin on February 10. The four square table is supported by a tapered column on a walnut base, with a marquetry chessboard. The white chess pieces are made of solid silver, the black pieces are made of bronze. The estimate is €50,000-€80,000. It is the most expensively estimated lot in a sale of mostly paintings with some sculptures with estimates from €300 up. The catalogue is online
Enrico Prampolini – Compoizione Speziale B,1950-1951 UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
An abstract by Italian Futurist Enrico Prampolini, a lithograph by William Scott, three classic Andy Warhol Marilyn’s and a collection of mobile works on paper by Alexander Calder feature at the online modern and contemporary art sale by Lismore based Lot 100 which runs from January 29 to February 10.
Prampolini’s Compoizione Speziale B was exhibited at Italy’s National Gallery of Modern Art in 1961. The tempura on paper dates to 1950-51 and is estimated at €6,000-€8,000. Italian Futurists do not feature regularly at auction in Ireland and this work highlights how Lot 100, now in its second year of operation, is bringing a different set of offerings. Warhol’s Marilyn’s, from the Sunday B. Morning screenprint series are each estimated at €800-€1,000. There are mobile lithographs by Alexander Calder (€250-€600) who will be the subject of a solo show at Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris from April 15 to August 16. A screenprint triptych of skateboards by Basquiat is estimated at €600-€800 and William Scott’s Dead Fish, a lithograph from 1970, is estimated at €800-€1,000.
Among the artists in the auction are Matisse, Sean Keating, Charles Tyrrell, Joan Miro, Norman McCaig,, Maurice MacGonigal, Patricia Jorgensen and Henry Moore.
This captivating 1936 ink and colour on paper work by Diego Rivera, Mujer sentada de perfil con sombrero amarillo (Woman sitting in profile with yellow hat) from the collection of Doris Brynner comes up at Sotheby’s in Paris on January 27 with an estimate of €30,000-€50,000. The collector collaborated with Pierre Cardin, married Yul Brynner in 1960 and became a leading figure of elegance in 20th century high society and artistic circles. She had close friendships with Audrey Hepburn, Frank Sinatra and Elizabeth Taylor. In 1997 Doris joined the House of Dior to re-invent its Maison and Gifts department, a role she held for two decades. Among the lots on offer are a Bulgari emerald, sapphire and diamond brooch once owned by Hepburn, a diamond brooch gifted by Taylor, a sketch by John Galliano, a drawing dedicated to Brynner by Karl Lagerfeld, two photographs by Andy Warhol and a three branch candleabrum by Claude Lalanne.
Chinese Chippendale Mirror UPDATE: THIS MADE 650 AT HAMMER
The estimate on this Chinese Chippendale carved wood and gilt mirror surmounted by an eagle is €1,200-€2,200. It comes up as lot 15 at Gormley’s auction of contents from St. Martin’s, Trim, Co. Meath on January 27 at 5 pm. Around 480 lots will come under the hammer. St. Martin’s is the house where actor Mel Gibson stayed while Braveheart was being filmed in Ireland. On offer is the unique collection of Meath publican, hotelier and businessman Gerry Brady, who hosted the cast and crew. On offer is a 60 year collection of furniture, art, porcelain, glass and pub memorabilia. The catalogue is online.
Late 18th/early 19th century Italian marble model of the Warwick Vase UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £6,033
This Italian marble model of the Warwick Vase – an ancient Roman marble vase excavated from Hadrian’s Villa in Tivoli around 1771 – is at Woolley and Wallis on January 20 with an estimate of £4,000-£6,000. It was previously owned by Earl-Bishop Frederick Hervey, (1730-1803), Bishop of Cloyne, Country Cork Ireland and later the Bishop of Derry, until his death. The vase was housed at the estate he built, the historic Downhill House in Northern Ireland, and remained there until 1950 when the house was sold. It was then given as a gift to prominent Belfast solicitor and connoisseur Peter Rankin (1943-2015), who amassed a large carefully curated private collection and became a leading figure in the preservation and promotion of architectural and cultural heritage in Northern Ireland and beyond. He was a founder member of the Ulster Architectural Heritage Society.
Frederick Remington (1861-1909) – Argument with the Town Marshall. UPDATE: THIS MADE $11.847,500
High Noon at Christie’s at the Rockefeller Center in New York on January 21 sees the most valuable collection of Western American art in history come under the hammer. The low estimate for the William I Koch’s collection is $50 million (€42.9 million). This more than doubles the previous record for any Western American art auction.
Bill Koch, who won the America’s Cup in 1992 with the yacht America3, feels the time has come to pass on this history to other collectors passionate about the American west. “I have been fortunate to collect things that resonate with me, The treasures in this sale are among my favourites” he said.
Charles Marion Russel (1864-1926) – The Sun Worshippers. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
Visions of the West is split into two auctions, an evening sale next Tuesday followed by High Noon on Wednesday. There are masterworks by Frederick Remington, Albert Bierstadt and Charles Marion Russell in a collection that is acclaimed around the world.
Remington’s sunset painting Coming to the Call is estimated at $6 million – $8 million (€5.1 million – €6.8 million). Other titles of art by Remington like The Broncho Buster, Argument with the Town Marshall and Coming through the Rye, set the scene firmly in the wild west.
Newell Convers Wyeth (1882-1945) – Wild Bill Hickok at the Cards. UPDATE: THIS MADE $2,210,000
Another work of great interest is Wild Bill Hickok at the Cards by N C Wyeth, patriarch of the Wyeth family of artists. It shows American legends Buffalo Bill Cody and Wild Bill Hickok in a card game gone wrong.
Alfred Jacob Miller’s The Buffalo Hunt dates to around 1850 while G Harvey’s Texas Oil Patch from 1981 focuses on the booming oil industry, the basis of much of the wealth of the billionaire businessman.
The old adage caveat emptor (buyer beware) should never be far away from the mind of any collector, big or small. When it comes to Bill Koch it is a case of the seller beware. This keen collector of art and wine demands that it must be what it says on the tin. He has served several high profile lawsuits against sellers, the most notable related to the sale of wine purported to have been owned by Thomas Jefferson. This case is reported to have been settled for $3 million (€2.58 million) in 2014.
UPDATE: The total for both sales exceeded $84 million.
Albert Bierstadt (1830-1902) – Mountain Lake. All images courtesy Christie’s Images Ltd., 2025. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
Tony O’Malley (1913-2003) – Untitled. UPDATE: THIS MADE 950 AT HAMMER
This carborundum print by Tony O’Malley is lot 7 at Morgan O’Driscoll’s Off the Wall online art auction which runs until January 19. It is signed with the artists initials and numbered 22/40. The estimate is €400-€600. More than 450 lots will come under the hammer in a sale that features artists like Graham Knuttel, Markey Robinson, Cecil Maguire, Elizabeth Cope, Majella O’Neill Collins, Louis le Brocquy, Elizabeth Brophy, Maurice Wilks, Jane O’Malley, Frank McKelvey and many more. The catalogue is online.
A masterpiece by Canaletto – Venice, the Bucintoro at the Molo on Ascension Day – will lead Christie’s Old Masters auction in New York on February 4. The Bucintoro, the official galley of the Doge and a symbol of La Serenissima, was used exclusively on Ascension Day. The Molo is the quay beside the Doge’s Palace.
The spectacular celebration was a subject Canaletto returned to frequently as he brought the pomp and ceremony of the Venetian lagoon to life. This theatrical masterpiece, his last known rendition on the theme, was commissioned around 1754 by the King family (later Earls of Lovelace) and remained in their possession for almost 200 years. The first, commissioned by Britain’s first Prime Minister Robert Walpole (1676-1745), made a new world record of £31.9 million (€36.5 million) at Christie’s Old Masters evening auction in London last July.
Among the offerings at Christie’s on February 5, during what is shaping up to be an especially strong Classics Week at Christie’s in New York, is an Old Master chalk, pen and ink drawing by Claude Lorrain.
