The unsettling ambiguity of La plaine de l’air (1940) by Magritte resonated strongly with critics when exhibited at Galerie Dietrich in Brussels in 1941. Painted at a moment when Europe was being engulfed by conflict it shows a single oversized leaf grafted onto a trunk set against a stark mountain landscape. The leaf, one of Magritte’s most distinctive and recurring motifs, introduces a solitary, watchful presence and channels all the tension of the early Second World War. Estimated at £3.5-£5.5 million (€4.03-€6.33 million) it features at Modern Visionaries – the Roger and Josette Vanthournout Collection at Christie’s in London on March 5 and 6 plus an online auction. Assembled over six decades their collection, with an overall estimate is in the region of £40 million (€46 million), spans almost 150 years and ranges from symbolism, Belgian expressionism and surrealism to post war avant garde, minimalism to modern and contemporary British art. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
A Dublin made bombe marquetry bureau at Woodwards. UPDATE: THIS MADE €1,600 AT HAMMER
One of the more distinctive lots of furniture at Woodwards auction in Cork on February 7 is a bombe marquetry bureau. The word bombe in furniture describes a curved front and or sides and this bureau was made in Dublin around 1870 by PJ Walsh & Sons. Woodwards estimate it at €2,000-€2,500.
The sale, with contents from a Cork convent and residences in Rochestown and Bishopstown, offers antique furniture including a Georgian walnut chest on chest and a Georgian longcase clock by Houghtons of Handsworth each estimated at €600-€1,000. A Victorian library or serving table (€400-€600), a William IV teapoy (€600-€1,000), a crossbanded rosewood card table (€400-€600), an Art Deco conservatory table (€600-€1,000) and a Victorian three tier dumb waiter (€400-€600) feature in a selection that includes art, glassware, a cast iron garden bench and a large portrait of a lady carrying a mask. The catalogue is online.
A large portrait of a lady with mask at Woodwards. Therein lies a story. UPDATE: THIS MADE €140 AT HAMMER
Classic Ford sign among the automobilia collectibles. UPDATE: THIS MADE €840 AT HAMMER
Collectibles are a major up a coming category in Ireland and there will be plenty to choose from at three days of sales by Aidan Foley in Doneraile on the evenings of February 2, 3 and 4. The online sale on Tuesday evening features two lifetime collections of automobilia with 277 lots in total including dealership signs, enamel signs, oil cans, banners and petrol globes. An oval Esso forecourt sign and a Munster Simms Oil cabinet are of particular interest. Mondays sale offers antique furniture, jewellery and art by Ivan Sutton, Graham Knuttel, Marie Carroll and others. There will be 150 lots pub memorabilia on offer on Wednesday. The catalogue is online.
Irish Georgian mahogany serving table, possibly Cork. UPDATE: THIS MADE €360 AT HAMMER
With everything from a 1963 Morris Minor and a 19th century decorated hand painted Sicilian cart to a 19th century inlaid boulle credenza and a Irish Georgian mahogany serving table possibly made in Cork Fonsie Mealy’s Making Room sale in Castlecomer on February 4 and 5 has lots to interest collectors of every hue.
More than 840 lots of antique furniture, paintings, decorative arts and collectibles will come under the hammer. Estimates are reasonable and all lots are to be sold.
There will be Cork interest in a retro wooden mantel clock presented to solicitor John Rearden in September 1950. A small plaque on the Edwardian mahogany clock records that it was presented by the Cork Employers Federation Ltd. “In token of their appreciation of his 42 years service as Secretary”. The lot, complete with a photograph of the presentation, is estimated at €180-€220. An inlaid wall clock by Hilsers of the Grand Parade has an estimate of €120-€180.
Given that it is reckoned that you could travel around central London in a horse drawn carriage in the old days more quickly than by fast car nowadays the contrasting options of a 19th century pony trap (€800-€1,200) and the four cylinder Morris Minor (€3,000-€4,000) are of interest. The car was owned by the Odlum family of Portarlington. The Sicilian cart, with spoked and iron clad wheels, has an estimate of €400-€600.
Tables, chairs, chests, Oriental screens, display cabinets, paintings, rugs and a converted 18th century spinet, an early 20th century carved wooden hobby horse, a Cork Mansion House service plate, a pair of Dresden bowls and three pieces of Copeland to be sold as one lot and all sorts collectibles vie for attention in an auction where the offerings are comprehensive. Ebony string inlay marks an Irish Georgian serving table as a possible Cork piece. The estimate is a mere €400-€500. The catalogue is online and the sale is on view in Castlecomer on February 3.
A pair of Dresden floral bowls, a Copeland dish and two matching plates. UPDATE: THIS LOT MADE €140 AT HAMMER
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.
