An antique Victorian copper bath tub and warmer UPDATE: THIS MADE €1,160 at hammer
An antique Victorian copper bathtub is among the highlights at Aidan Foley’s three day sale in Doneraile on November 3, 4 and 5 at 6 pm each day. From a period house in Mitchelstown and complete with traditional jug warmer it is estimated at around €1,000. This auction, now on view, offers an outstanding collection of highly sought after automobilia and pub memorabilia including a Texaco double sided forecourt sign from the 1960’s along with antique furniture, rugs, silver and jewellery. The catalogue is online.
This History of the Life of James Duke of Ormonde (1610-1688) by Thomas Carte is at Hegarty’s online sale in Bandon on November 5. James Butler, Duke of Ormonde was an important Irish statesmen and soldier, the 12th Earl and 1st Duke of Ormond known as the ‘Great Earl’. Butle was born at Clerkenwell, London, in 1610, in the house of his grandfather, Sir John Poyntz. His parents returned to Ireland shortly after his birth. He succeeded to the earldom in 1633 and was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland six times. He arranged a cease fire with Irish rebels in 1643 and offered a treaty in 1646 which granted religious tolerance to Catholics. He fought for the king in the senate and the field until 1650, when he retired to France. He played an important role in the restoration of Charles II and was afterwards created Marquis and Duke by him. He retired to Dorset and died there in 1688. The two volume set was published in London in 1736 it was printed for J. J. and P. Knapton; G. Strahan; W. Innys and R. Manby; F. Giles; and T. Wotton. It is estimated at €200-€400.
A Family of Cheetahs in a Rocky Landscape, attributed to Basawan made £10.2 million.
There was a world record for a Mughal painting at Christie’s when this c1575-80 painting attributed to Basawan made £10.2 million (€11.6 million). This was 14 times over estimate. The auction of exceptional paintings from the personal collection of Prince and Princess Sadruddin Aga Khan achieved £45.7 million (€52.2 million) and was 100% sold.
PAIR OF CHINESE CLOISONNÉ ENAMELLED CENSERS. UPDATE: THESE MADE €1,900 at hammer
This pair of Chinese cloisonné enamelled censers will be included in Sheppards sale of a private collection of Asian art on November 5. A total of 155 lots will be sold without reserve. Estimated at €8,000-€12,000 the censers are among the highlights of the sale. The catalogue is online and the auction will be on view in Durrow on November 3 and 4.
A walnut and gilt metal chest by Luciano Frigerio. UPDATE: THIS MADE 2,800 AT HAMMER
The appetite for design has grown greatly since de Veres first introduced sales of designer furniture and contemporary art in this country. Design classics by Eileen Gray, Mies Van Der Rohe, Arne Jacobsen, Niels Moller and Finn Juhl and contemporary labelled pieces by makers like Ligne Roset, Roche Bobois and Knoll will come under the hammer at de Veres current timed online art and design sale which runs until November 4.
This is the 25th design auction by de Veres, who have seen interest grow and grow. There is statement art by Anne Madden, Mainie Jellett, Manar Al Shouha, Patrick Scott, Donald Teskey and John Shinnors and many other artists whose work sits particulary well with mid 20th century design. The auctioneers say that this is their biggest and best sale to date. It will be on view at the RHA from November 1-4.
A wool rug handwoven to a design by Mainie Jellett by Ceadogan Rugs. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
U2 musician Adam Clayton with guitars from his personal collection. Brian McEvoy/Julien’s Auctions. UPDATE: THE ENTIRE COLLECTION SOLD OUT
Adam Clayton’s personal collection of 18 bass guitars will come under the hammer as part of Julien’s Played Worn & Torn sale in Nashville on November 20 and 21. The live and online sale will be held at the Musicians Hall of Fame & Museum. Meantime a three-week exhibition celebrating the collection of the U2 bassist and this collection opens today at The Museum of Style Icons in Newbridge, Co Kildare. It runs until November 9.
Highlights include his 2014 Sherwood Green Fender Adam Clayton signature Jazz Bass, played during U2’s Innocence + Experience tour in 2015. Notable stops were in Dublin, Belfast, Paris, Glasgow, London, Koln, Antwerp, Barcelona, Berlin, Stockholm, Amsterdam, Turin, NYC, Boston, Toronto, Chicago, Montreal, Denver, Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Jose, and Vancouver (estimate: $40,000-$60,000); his 200 Lakland Joe Osborn J sunburst bass, played during the U2’s Vertigo Tour for their classic hit “One,” notably in Dublin on August 27, 2005 (estimate: $20,000-$40,000); a 2010 Gold Sparkle Fender Adam Clayton Precision Bass deemed a “mistake” by Clayton’s guitar technician due to the Jazz Bass decaled headstock (estimate: $40,000-$60,000); Clayton’s stunning U2 360 Tour 2010 Warwick Gold Reverso electric basses (estimate each: $20,000-$40,000) and Clayton’s prized Fender Jazz Basses ranging from the 1960’s and 1970’s.
Adam Clayton “Achtung Baby” Era Rolex Oyster Perpetual Datejust Wristwatch made $16,000, more than eight times the estimate. A portion of the proceeds will benefit MusiCares
Petalas coffee table in jacaranda by Jorge Zalszupin at Adams. UPDATE: THIS MADE 10,000 AT HAMMER
Interiors created by architect designers like William Morris, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Frank Lloyd Wright, Cesar Manrique and Jorge Zalszupin have a seductive appeal that withstands the constant ebb and flow of fashion and is timeless.
Auctions underway in Ireland right now challenge chic antique home designers to build their own timeless lnteriors in genres that range from Mid Century Modern at James Adam to Irish Vernacular by Victor Mee, silver and collectibles at Woodwards and the contents of Cork antique shop Salvagem by Mitchelstown based Ray Alley Auctioneering.
The pickings are rich and mostly affordable, though it must be said that you will not come across objects like Zalszupin’s Petalas coffee table in Jacaranda every day. At €10,000-€15,000 it is among the most expensively estimated lots at Adams in Dublin on October 21. The noted Jewish Polish Brazilian architect designer, who died aged 98 in 2000, founded L’Atelier in Sao Paulo, Brazil in 1959. The iconic Petalas table captures many of his core concerns like minimal ornament, excellence in material, structural innovation and an approach to modernism that is lyrical.
The sale at Adams offers furniture by Eileen Gray, Finn Juhl, Arne Jacobsen, Niels Otto Muller, Arne Vodder, Pierre Jeanneret and Charlotte Perriand, Gerrit Rietveld, le Corbusier, Charles Eames, Monika Graffeo and a range of illustrious designers. There is art by Anselm Kiefer, Alexander Calder, Gerard Byrne, John Boyd, Patrick Graham, Merlin James, Picasso, Georges Rouault, Elizabeth Magill, Liam Belton, Sean Scully and others along with a selection of rugs, lighting and collectible objects.
A silver freedom box at Woodwards sale today. UPDATE: THIS MADE 5,250 AT HAMMER
Irish and English silver, art, militaria and various collectibles will come under the hammer online at Woodwards from 10 am today. The sale is headed by an 1808 silver freedom box by Kean Mahony of Cork with Dublin assay marks (€8,000-€12,000) and a large Birds in Flight bronze by John Behan (€6,000-€10,000). There is Cork and Irish silver including a pair of c1760 salvers by William Reynolds, Cork, a large silver bowl by Padraig O Mathuna with Dublin hallmarks for 1974, a pair of c1780 serving spoons by Maurice Fitzgerald, Limerick and a London silver tea set.
Collectors will find everything from an early 19th century Irish settle bench and a scumbled pine kitchen cupboard to spongeware, a dug out chair, painted pine dressers and hand cut limestone troughs at Victor Mee’s Irish vernacular sale on October 19. These were staples of rural Irish homes made by local people using materials to hand.
A 19th century painted pine dresser from Co. Clare at Victor Mee. UPDATE: THIS MADE 900 AT HAMMER
Irish spongeware pottery made from clay is loved for its colourful decoration and the sale offers a selection of Irish and French pieces. There are floor candle holders and a rare rush light holder from Co. Fermanagh, kitchen tables, chairs, milking stools, a cast iron skillet pot, banks of drawers, wall racks and a 19th century pine washboard in a selection of over 700 lots calculated to stir many old memories of an Ireland that is now vanished.
Antique furniture, rugs, collectibles and lighting from Salvagem, the McCurtain St., Cork antique shop which closed last month, will be auctioned today at the Metropole Hotel in Cork and online by Ray Alley Auctioneering of Mitchelstown. Estimates are very reasonable and the catalogue is online. Salvagem operated since 2020 in an era when many antique shops have been lost. Salvagem owner Michael Wall hopes to continue with an online shop.
A Cork Regency sofa table at the sale of contents from Salvagem antique shop today. UPDATE: THIS MADE 300 AT HAMMER
CHRISTIE’S IMAGES LTD. 2024. UPDATE: THIS SOLD ONLINE FOR €850,000
The most desirable copy imaginable of Salomé by Oscar Wilde will highlight an online sale of books and manuscripts by Christie’s Paris from October 22-November 5. Wilde’s own copy is illuminated with original ink drawings by the English essayist, parodist and caricaturist Max Beerbohm — several depicting the author himself — created especially for him. Wilde later gave this copy to his lover Robert Ross with a signed autograph inscription.
The play is enriched with an original autograph poem by the Pierre Louÿs, the French novelist and poet renowned for expressing pagan sensuality with stylish perfection. Christie’s say that this copy brings together all the qualities sought after by a true bibliophile: an original edition of the text, first published in French in 1893, having been censored in England; an association copy with perfect provenance, from the author to his lover; and additional original drawings making the copy even more unique. In this instance, Oscar Wilde himself acts as a bibliophile, transforming this copy into a unique and singular work.
CIRCLE OF JOHN WOOTTON (1682-1764) – A Race on the Beacon Course at Newmarket Races with the Prince of Wales and other Noblemen in the Foreground
A rare officer’s dress sword with gold and diamonds was the top lot at the James Adam Country House Collections sale at Townley Hall. The sword was Presented by the East India Company to Lt. Col. Barry Close (1756-1813) and made a hammer price of €280,000. A painting of a race at Newmarket from the Circle of John Wootton made €55,000; an American silver gilt dinner service made €36,000: a painting of the Hawkesbury River in Australia by Girolamo Nerli (1860-1926) made €32,000; A Prospect of the Most Famous Parts of the World by John Speed made €18,000 and a Louis XV style bureau made €16,000.
Attributed to James Seymour – Sir Edward O’Brien in Hunting Costume of his Day. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
Behind this portrait of a man on a horse – one of the leading lots at Adams Country House Collections at Townley Hall on October 13 and 14 – lies a partial history of sporting life in Ireland in the 18th century. Attributed to James Seymour it is a painting of Sir Edward O’Brien of Dromoland in the hunting costume of his day estimated at €50,000-€80,000.
Renowned for his extravagance and passion for horse racing the 2nd baronet of Dromoland entered the Irish House of Commons in 1727 and represented Clare until his death nearly four decades later. He epitomised a certain type of Irishman renowned in song and story in the 18th century.
This was in the century that witnessed the first steeplechase from Buttevant to Doneraile (resulting from a bet in 1752) and the Rakes of Mallow. The song written by Ned Lysaght around 1740 describes the rakes as the true begotten sons of Bacchus spending faster than it comes. Known for his heavy gambling and reckless managemen O’Brien knew the pleasures and perils of 18th century sporting culture. On the plus side the walled garden, the stable block, the Temple of Mercury, the octagonal pond and the Dromoland turret were all constructed under his watch. On the minus side his lifestyle prevented him from being chosen as heir to the vast Thomond estates.
A c1750 Irish bureau-writing cabinet UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
Now an annual auction fixture Adams Country House Collections at Townley Hall showcases fine period furniture, paintings, silver and decorative arts. Highlights include the dress sword presented by the East India Company to Lt. Col. Barry Close (€300,000-€400,000), a painting from the circle of John Wootton (1682-1764) of a race on the Beacon Course at Newmarket with the Prince of Wales and others believed to include Sir Edward O’Brien in the foreground (€60,000-€80,000), a c1750 Irish George II mahogany bureau cabinet (€40,000-€60,000) and a portrait entitled Nellie by Sir George Clausen (€20,000-€30,000) once in the collection of the late Cork artist Marshall Hutson.
An American silver gilt dinner service (€30,000-€50,000), a pair of Limerick silver salvers by Joseph Johns (€15,000-€20,000) and a pair of silver sauce boats by Paul de Lamerie (€8,000-€12,000) feature among the leading lots.
A George III commode attributed to William Moore UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
A George III harewood and marquetry commode attributed to William Moore (€20,000-€30,000), a George III three pillar extending dining table (€15,000-€20,000), a c1850 Victorian carved oak extending dining table from Dunecht House in Scotland (€12,000-€18,000), a pair of c1770 carved giltwood console tables with yellow marble Siena tops (€12,000-€16,000), a pair of Irish stained pine side tables with green marble tops (€12,000-€15,000) and a 17th century Louis XIV boulle and red tortoiseshell desk (€10,000-€15,000) are feature antique furniture pieces.
As in any big sale there are plenty of pickings for those of us whose budget does not extend to an €80,000 portrait, no matter how colourful the gentleman depicted used to be. With everything from Georgian knife boxes to a Cork silver basting spoon by Carden Terry to a 1729 book on The Procedure, Extent and Limits of Human Understanding by Dr. Peter Browne (1665-1735) theologian, Bishop of Cork and Ross and Provost of Trinity College, Dublin there is available a wide variety of lots at highly affordable estimates.
Viewing at Townley Hall, Drogheda is underway. An online only auction of the first 317 lots will begin to close from 2 pm on October 13. The live and online sale of lots 400-825 will get underway at Adams saleroom in Dublin on October 14.
A pair of c1760 Limerick silver salvers by Joseph Johns. UPDATE: THESE WERE UNSOLD
(See post on antiquesandartireland.com for October 4, 2025)
