John Henry Foley, RA (1818-1874) – Statues of Oliver Goldsmith and Edmund Burke
These 51 cm high statues of Oliver Goldsmith and Edmund Burke made a hammer price of €13,000 over an estimate of 4,000-6,000 at Fonsie Mealy’s Chatsworth summer fine art sale in Castlecomer today. They are maquettes for the full-size bronzes erected at the gates of Trinity College Dublin in 1863 and 1868. The original plaster models are in the Birmingham City Art Gallery. Foley is best known for his statutes of Daniel O’Connell at the O’Connell monument in Dublin and of Prince Albert for the Albert Memorial in London. A 16th century tapestry once in the Rathcormac collection of American actor Hurd Hatfield made 9,500.
Louis le Brocquy HRHA, 1916-2012 – Milles Tetes Gris Noir Blanc
This Aubusson tapestry by Louis le Brocquy, hand made by Tabard Freres & Soeurs, was the top lot at de Veres outstanding Irish art a sculpture auction in Dublin this evening. It made a hammer price of 155,000. A portrait entitled Edith, Gypsy Girl by Sir William Orpen made 100,000, The Overflow of the Canal by Jack B Yeats and an Image of W B Yeats by Le Brocquy each made 70,000, a Still Life by Roderic O’Conor made 60,000, a landscape by John George Mulvany (1766-1838) and Game of Chance by Colin Middleton from the Wilderness series each made 40,000. The auction brought in €1.6 million and was 85% sold.
This 19th century band stand originally from the St. Louis Convent in Co. Monaghan made 5,000 at hammer
A rare 19th century bandstand from the St. Louis Convent in Co. Monaghan made a hammer price of €5,000 on day of Victor Mee’s two day summer garden sale today. It comes complete with cast iron Corinthian columns, timber frame and zinc roof. The guttering, not in the photograph, is included. A good quality wrought iron French greenhouse in the Victorian style made 6,200. A pair of bronze statues of foals and a bronze of a bellowing stag each made 4,000 and a decorated moulded sandstone fountain made €3,900. A set of entrance gates with cast iron gates posts made 3,200 and a pair of 19th century cast recumbent lions made 2,950.
An important Irish Provincial 18th Century two handled Loving Cup, by Joseph Johns, Limerick c. 1760’s
Irish silver made its mark at Fonsie Mealy’s Chatsworth two day summer fine art sale which got underway today. This two handled Limerick loving cup by Joseph Johns made €4,000 at hammer over a top estimate of €2,500. Other hammer prices included the following: an 18th century rococo style Irish silver coffee pot by William Reynolds, Cork (€3,800); An 18th century soup ladle by George Halloran, Limerick (€3,100); a c1770 provincial soup ladle by George Moore, Limerick (€3,000); a c1919 Dublin presentation salver by West (€2,600); a pair of 1770’s basting spoons by Phillip Walshe, Limerick (€2,500); a pair of c1750’s serving spoons by Joseph Johns, Limerick (€2,300); a c1740-50 pair of Irish table spoons by George Moore, Limerick (€2,200); a mid Victorian silver claret jug in the form of an Armada jug by Richard Martin and Ebenezer Hall (€2,100); a c1780’s Irish silver coffee pot by William Thompson and Michael Cormick (€2,000) and an 1841 tea and coffee service by William Hunter (€1,900).
18th Century Irish rococo Provincial Coffee Pot by William Reynolds, Cork
Top lots at Whyte’s sale of Important Irish Art in Dublin this evening included: Discovery 1952 by Jack B. Yeats (€380,000 at hammer €473,000 gross); Paul Henry – A Village in the West 1916-17 (€280,000 at hammer); Sir John Lavery’s Miss Alice Fulton at Paisley Lawn Tennis Club 1889 (€95,000 at hammer); Louis le Brocquy – Image of Samuel Beckett 1982 (€100,000); Mary Swanzy – In the Window 1920’s (€90,000 at hammer); The Fourth Estate 1945 by Jack B Yeats (€85,000 at hammer) and William Scott – One Pear 1979 (€60,000 at hammer). The sale grossed over €2 million with 80% of lots sold. It is expected that another 10% will sell by private treaty in post auction sales.
In the Window by Mary Swanzy made €90,000 at hammer.
The Fourth Estate (1945) by Yeats at Whytes features the interior of a newsagents shop and a cat sitting on a row of books. The cat can be taken to represent a reporter on the press gallery. UPDATE: THIS MADE 85,000 AT HAMMER
IT may not be strictly accurate to compare art sales to buses. But three of them are arriving one after the other in Dublin next week – at Whyte’s on Monday, de Veres on Tuesday and Adams on Wednesday. Millions of euro worth of Irish art will come under the hammer in a market that has expanded steadily rather than spectacularly over the years.
The old stalwarts still tend to hold sway – even more so in times of global uncertainty – and this mirrors the situation of the art market internationally. The most expensively estimated work in Dublin next week is a 1952 Yeats at Whyte’s entitled Discovery. The estimate is €300,000-€500,000.
A c1891 still life by Roderic O’Conor – Flowers, Bottle and Two Jugs would, at €120,000-€180,000, have been the highest estimated lot at de Veres, but it has been sold prior to auction and the sale will now be led by an Orpen estimated at €100,000-€150,000.
Another Yeats, The Water Steps from 1947, will lead the sale at Adams with an estimate of €120,000-€180,000. Yeats, Osborne, Paul Henry and Sir John Lavery – among the blue chip artists whose work continues to dominate Irish sales – are all represented in Dublin next week. It might create an impression that nothing ever changes but in fact many changes are afoot in an Irish market which is dynamic. Tastes are evolving and new artists are emerging with access to international cutting edge work in a way that their older counterparts did not.
Game of Chance by Colin Middleton at de Veres. UPDATE: THIS MADE 40,000 AT HAMMER
The market evolves more quickly on the international front but there are resemblances. For instance the six marquee week sales at Christie’s in New York last week brought in more than $640 million (587.46 million). The highest individual sale total, at $413.3 million (€379.21 million), was the 20th century evening sale led by Andy Warhol’s Flowers which made $35.5 million (€32.59 million) followed by blue chip artists like Van Gogh, David Hockney and Alberto Giacometti in a sale where 15 works made more than $10 million (€9.18 million).
Next Monday evening Whyte’s will offer a carefully curated sale of 131 lots. Along with Yeats there are two significant paintings by Paul Henry with works by Louis le Brocquy, F E McWiliam, Mary Swanzy, William Scott, Donald Teskey and Genieve Figgis featuring strongly.
At de Veres, where Dan O’Neill, William Crozier, Louis le Brocquy, Orla de Bri, Colin Middleton, Stephen McKenna and Harry Kernoff are among the leading artists on offer, there will be over 100 lots in a timed sale closing from 6 pm on Tuesday.
On Wednesday evening Adams will offer fresh to market work like Early Market, Quimperle by Walter Osborne. Painted in 1883 it has been in the same family since being acquired directly from the artist and is estimated at €120,000-€160,000. Another painting by Osborne not on the market before is Sheep in a Field, acquired directly by fellow artist Sarah Purser from Osborne (€60,000-€80,000). There is value to be had in quality Irish landscapes from earlier periods. The catalogue includes more contemporary art by Patrick Scott, Sean Keating, John Shinnors, Tony O’Malley, F E McWilliam, Felim Egan, James Dixon, Basil Blackshaw, Martin Mooney and many others.
Gold Painting by Patrick Scott at Adams. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
An oversized bronze of a crab at Victor Mee. UPDATE: THIS MADE 10,000 AT HAMMER
The possibilities seem limitless at two day sales by both Fonsie Mealy in Castlecomer and Victor Mee in Belturbet on May 28 and 29. A 16th century tapestry once in the Rathcormac collection of American actor Hurd Hatfield and the advertising mirrors from the old Clancy’s Bar in Cork city centre give some idea of the breadth and scope of Fonsie Mealy’s two day summer fine art auction with 1,200 lots.
You could opt instead for a seven foot tall bronze sculpture of a crab (€8,000 – €12,000) or a wrought iron Victorian style conservatory with remotely controlled windows (€15,000-€25,000) at Victor Mee’s annual summer garden sale.
Fonsie Mealy will offer art by Montague Dawson, Gerard Dillon, Harry Kernoff, Augustus Burke, Dan O’Neill, Sean Keating and others, quality affordable and decorative furniture, Irish Provincial and Dublin silverware, clocks and jewellery. Lot 723 in this sale is the Ladbrokes Epsom Gold Cup from 1963 (€3,000-€5,000). The Choice of Hercules, the Flemish tapestry from the Hatfield collection is estimated at €10,000-€15,000. The actor was best known for playing the lead in the Oscar winning 1945 film of The Picture of Dorian Gray.
Among the feature lots at Victor Mee are the Victorian bandstand from the famed St. Louis Convent in Co. Monaghan, a 19th century Carrara marble bath, a cast iron statue of a pig, a pair of majestic moulded sandstone lions, a sandstone fountain, a statue of boxing hares, a tree trunk bench and an Art Nouveau style stone figure of a lady along with an array of planters and gates, piers, pillar caps, steps and exterior lighting. Full catalogues for both sales are online.
A mirror advertising Paddy from Clancy’s Bar in Cork at Fonsie Mealy. UPDATE: THIS MADE 2,500 AT HAMMER
Jack Butler Yeats RHA (1871 – 1957) – Crossing the Canal Bridge, from the Tram Top (1927). UPDATE: THIS MADE 90,000 AT HAMMER
This unusual night oil on panel by Yeats shows a view from the top of a double decker tram as it crosses the Grand Canal at Portobello in Dublin. The No. 15 tram ran from Nelson’s Pillar via Rathmines to Terenure. It comes up at Adams sale of Important Irish Art in Dublin on May 29 with an estimate of 70,000-100,000. Viewing for the sale gets underway in Dublin today and continues until May 29. The catalogue is online.
RODERIC O’CONOR (1860-1940) – MONTAGNE SAINTE-VICTOIRE. UPDATE: THIS MADE 12,500 AT HAMMER
Montagne Sainte-Victoire is a signature motif of Cezanne. This painting of the same mountain from a different vantage point by Roderic O’Conor is at Whyte’s sale of Important Irish Art on May 27. O’Conor, who was an early admirer of Cezanne, was in Cassis just 50 kilometres north Aix-en-Provence in 1913. The Irish artist has chosen to view the 1,000 metre-high limestone ridge from the south – departing from his hero’s unvarying profile view from the west. The small painting is estimated at 6,000-8,000. Whyte’s sale is now on view in Dublin and the catalogue is online.
Some of the collection in situ at George Farrow’s home in Jersey.
This collectors home in Jersey demonstrates one way to show a wonderful selection. The George Farrow collection containing hundreds of sought after pieces from all over the world including rare art and antiques from China, the Middle East and Europe will come under the hammer at Roseberys in London on June 4. Brought up in South London George Farrow (1916-2001) rose to prominence as one of Britain’s largest private landlords after WWII. Post-retirement, his travels brought him to San Remo and Monte Carlo, but he ultimately longed for a British way of life and returned to his roots with his family. They converted Anne Port, an old farmhouse in Jersey, to house his significant collection of antiques. Farrow, who left school at 16, was inspired by childhood trips to Horniman Museum and the V&A and the literary works of Edgar Wallace and began collecting at the age of 12 or 13.
A 17th century North Italian marble relief of Marcus Curtius (Lot 45), acquired by a British private client for £91,240 against an estimate of £1,000-£1,500.
Highlights include a Berlin chinoiserie tapestry (£100,000-£200,000) showing the Chinese Emperor and other richly attired courtly figures around an elaborate dining table. It is attributed to the workshop of Jean II Barraband and Charles Vigne, after the design of a tapestry from the same series currently held in the collection of the Met. A pair of Chinese fishbowls (£30,000-50,000) exemplifies the zenith of Chinese export porcelain production during the reign of Qianlong. Two voided crimson velvet and silk 17th century catma panels (£20,000-30,000) are woven with repeating floral roundels of tulips, pomegranates and saz leaves and are a rare survival of court quality Ottoman velvets. The catalogue is now live at Roseberys.
UPDATE: THE SALE REALISED £1,071,000.
A fine and rare Berlin Chinoiserie tapestry. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
