Pistols with which Napoleon once intended to kill himself were sold for €1.69 million at French auction house Osenat on July 7. Made by Paris gunmaker Louis-Marin Gosset and owned by Napoleon they had been estimated at €1.2 – €1.5 million. Inlaid with gold and silver they feature an engraved image of the Emperor. They were sold at Osenat Fontainbleu, near the palace where the French Emperor tied to take his own life following his abdication in 1814. France’s culture ministry recently classified them as national treasures and banned their export. The French government now has 30 months to make a purchase offer to the new owner.
Cork Regency brass fender. UPDATE: THIS MADE 1,300 AT HAMMER
Sheppards will offer contents from St. Austins, Gorey, Co. Wexford on July 16 and 17 with viewing on the premises on July 13 and 14. More than 1,300 lots will be on offer and highlights include a large 19th century gilt overmantle, an 18th century Dublin longcase clock, a large Cork brass fender and art by Letitia M Hamilton, James Humbert Craig and Grace Henry. The sale will be held in Durrow and the catalogue is online now.
The Sunlit Valley, The Rosses, Co. Donegal by James Humbert Craig. UPDATE: THIS MADE 9,000 AT HAMMER
Art as an event in the Olympic Games was abandoned after 1948 because artists were considered to be professional and the games were for amateurs. That was then and this is now so our professional golfers Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry, both qualified to represent Ireland at the games this year which get underway in Paris on July 26, have nothing to worry about.
At a time from 1912 to 1948 when medals were awarded for painting and sculpture inspired by sport, as well as to musicians, writers and architects, the northern Irish artist James Humbert Craig (1877-1944) was part of the Painting Event at the 1932 summer olympics in Los Angeles. He did not win but his landscapes are very highly regarded. One of them, an oil on canvas titled The Sunlit Valley, Rosses, Co. Donegal, will lead Fonsie Mealy’s Chatsworth summer art sale in Castlecomer on July 10 with an estimate of €6,000-€8,000. It is the most expensively estimated artwork at the sale.
The auction, on view in Castlecomer next Monday and Tuesday, features 345 lots of Irish and international art and sculpture along with Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian paintings.
Athlone Castle by James Lawson Stewart. UPDATE: THIS MADE 300 AT HAMMER
A topographical View of Athlone in 1853 from an elevated site attributed to George Vincent Cole is estimated at €300-€400 and a watercolour of Athlone Castle by British artist James Lawson Stewart (1829-1911) shows many features now disappeared (€400-€500). A hand coloured print of Edinburgh Castle from Holyrood House by Charles Windsor, now King of England, signed and dated on the lower right, is estimated at €800-€1,000. There is a similar estimate on an abstract landscape attributed to Andre Lhote.
Lot 261 is a bronze bust of Roger Casement attributed to Marshall Hutson. Though unsigned it is similar in style to the work of the Cork artist who died in 2001 and is estimated at €1,000-€1,500. Among his sculpted works is the stone crest of the City of Cork at the headquarters of Cork Harbour Commissioners at Custom House Street in Cork.
Ar an Costa by Daniel Corkery (1878-1964). UPDATE: THIS MADE 360 AT HAMMER
Ar an Costa is a watercolour of a coastal scene with figures on a beach by Daniel Corkery (1878-1964), a close friend of Terence McSwiney who became Professor of English at UCC in 1930. One of a group who established the Cork Dramatic Society in 1908 he wrote plays and short stories, played the cello, took night classes in painting at the Crawford and was author of The Hidden Ireland, a 1924 study of the poetry of 18th century Irish language poetry in Munster. Lot 44 at Mealy’s is estimated at €180-€220 and was formerly in the collection of An t’Athair Eric Mac Fhinn (1895-1987) of Galway.
There is a portrait of Walter Osborne by Augustus Burke (€3,000-€4,000), a pencil sketch of John O’Leary at trial by John Butler Yeats (€400-€500), a watercolour of the Rock of Cashel by Patrick Hennessy (€400-€600) and an oil of Country Cottages, Ireland c1810 by William Mulready (€700-€1,000) among a selection on offer that is both varied and affordable.
The sale will be on view in Castlecomer on July 8 and 9 and will begin at 2 pm on July 10. The catalogue is online. Nowadays the Venice Biennale is often referred to informally as the Olympics of art.
This Victor Edelstein magenta silk and lace evening dress sold for $910,000 (€849,890).
Celebrity adds value and when it comes to Princess Diana it does so in spades. A collection of her most famous gowns, suits, handbags and accessories was sold out at Julien’s in Hollywood in a sale that brought in $5.5 million (€5.13 million). Many of the pieces in the sale drew crowds to viewings at the Museum of Style Icons in Kildare in June and in Hong Kong, New York and Los Angeles.
The top lot was a magenta silk and lace evening dress by Victor Edelstein. It made $910,000 (€849,890) over a top estimate of $200,000 (€186,570). A navy blue silk blouse by Edelstein made $76,200 (€71,083) over a top estimate of $6,000 (€5,597). A midnight blue strapless tulle diamante star gown designed by Murray Arbeid made $780,000 (€727,620) over a top estimate of $200,000 (€186,570). A pair of Ferragamo pumps made $127,000 (€118,470). No less than 15 of the top lots went to Renae Plant, owner of the Princess Diana Museum in Los Angeles.
A signed Jacques Azagury illustration for a 1995 black evening gown made for Princess Diana.
GEORGE I BURR MAPLE BUREAU BOOKCASE. UPDATE: THIS MADE 1,600 AT HAMMER
In Dublin James Adam will offer this George I burr maple bookcase in a timed online warehouse auction on July 10. The estimate is 2,000-4,000 and a starting bid of 200 is being sought at this stage. The bookcase is to be sold without reserve. In the manner of Coxted and Woster it is in three sections with arched mirrored doors, a fitted interior and a slope front desk. The sale will be on view in Dublin on July 8 and 9 and the catalogue, with 316 lots, is online.
A six seater Victorian carriage. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
IT is in need of restoration but this six seater Victorian carriage with a fringed canopy top takes pride of place at O’Donovan’s online sale in Newcastle West, Co. Limerick on July 10. On offer is the excess stock from the Old Irish Ways Museum near Bruff. A Surrey is defined as a popular American doorless four wheeled carriage with a variety of tops including a fringed canopy top so this one. though Irish, presumably fits the bill. It is, at 1,500-3,000, the most expensively estimated lot in an auction with 345 lots. The catalogue is online.
Rosewood sideboard by Gianfranco Frattini. UPDATE: THIS MADE 1,000 AT HAMMER
This Italian rosewood credenza dates to the 1960’s and comes up at de Veres timed summer online art and design auction which runs until July 24. It was designed by Gianfranco Frattini for internationally renowned La Permanente Mobili Cantù with shelf gallery back above drawers with shaped handles, on metal legs. The estimate is 600-900. The auction of over 150 lots offers a selection of art along with furniture, lamps, mirrors and collectibles by renowned designers.
Attributed to Sean Keating (1889-1977) – Irish Free State Chicken. UPDATE: THIS MADE 2,500 AT HAMMER
In 1928 Sean Keating painted a finished design in gouache entitled Irish Free State Chicken. Commissioned by the recently-formed Empire Marketing Board it was part of a campaign to promote the sale of agricultural produce, including Irish produce, internationally. Keating produced three images for the campaign, to be used as the basis for posters and billboards; the other two designs were for bacon and dairy. In his finished version of Irish Free State Chicken, along with a donkey and cart and a multitude of white poultry, he included the figures of men and women he had sketched on the Aran Islands, building up an image that conveyed the spirit of independence he so admired in the West of Ireland. This work, which comes up at Fonsie Mealy’s Chatsworth summer art sale in Castlecomer on July 10, is close to Keating’s finished design. There are also significant differences, and it is possibly a preparatory sketch. Mealys say that the provenance of this work also suggests it is by Keating. The estimate is 3,000-5,000. The catalogue for the sale is online.
There was a new world auction record to Titian at Christie’s in London this evening when his early masterpiece Rest on the Flight into Egypt made £17,560,000. The painting was offered by Lord Bath and the Longleat Trustees as part of their long-term investment strategy. It has been owned by Dukes, Archdukes and Holy Roman Emperors, by Napoleon and stolen in the late 20th century.
Lord Bath said: “It has been fabulous to see the interest in Titian’s work as this unique painting was previewed in the lead-up to this evening’s auction. It has been well-received which clearly demonstrates how the fascination with this exquisite early masterpiece has been maintained across the centuries. It has an extraordinary history, looted by Napoleon, bought by the 4th Marquess in 1878 and then stolen from Longleat in 1995 before miraculously being recovered. As the next chapter in the Rest on the Flight into Egypt’s story is written, I am pleased with the outcome of tonight; which will support our considerable long-term investment strategy at Longleat to build on the vision and legacy of my ancestors for the benefit of future generations.” The Titian was the top lot at Christie’s Classic Week evening sales, Old Masters Part I and The Exceptional sale, which realised a combined total of £50,788,420.
(See post on antiquesandartireland.com for April 4, 2024)
DAMIEN HIRST (B.1965) BRITISH – BUTTERFLY SPIN. UPDATE: THIS MADE 2,900 AT HAMMER
Butterfly Spin by Damien Hirst comes up as lot 17 at Morgan O’Driscoll’s Off the Wall online art auction which draws to a close from 6.30 pm this evening (July 2). The estimate for the acrylic on card is 3,000-5,000, making it the most expensively estimate lot in the sale. More than 450 lots of affordable art will come under the hammer and the catalogue is online.
