A vertical testing of Chateau Mouton Rothschild made a hammer price of 46,000 at the James Adam timed online sale of vintage wines and spirits which ended today. The exceptional collection ranged from 1945 to 2005 wth the exception of 1948 and two bottles from 1978. There were 61 bottles in total and the estimate was 55,000-65,000. An Ardbeg special release double barrel single malt Scotch whiskey 1974 in a leather case from Purdey and Sons with two single cast bottlings made 13,000, a mathusalem (six litres) of Cristal Louis Roederer champagne, 1990 vintage, in a presentation box made 8,500 and one bottle of Hennessy Timeless Cognac with Baccarat crystal decanter in its original box made 7,000.
A miniature dinner service commissioned in 1922, as a gift to HM Queen Mary for the worlds most famous doll’s house at Windsor Castle will highlight the Thomas Goode auction at Sotheby’s. The sale runs from December 22 to January 8. The five foot-tall house with working electricity, silver bath taps and flushing lavatories was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens in the early 1920s as a gift for Queen Mary, consort to King George V and grandparents of Queen Elizabeth II.
Over 1,500 artists, craftsmen and Royal Warrant holders were employed to create each element of the house in miniature – from real versions of 600 miniature books to 774 replica artworks, a wine cellar complete with real wine and spirits, a gramophone playing the National Anthem and a garage with a tiny Rolls-Royce.
Thomas Goode and Co. of South Audley St., London were requested to create three miniature white porcelain dinner services for the doll’s house. Comprising 76 pieces in total, the sets were required for the State Dining Room, the nursery and the kitchen. Each piece is individually stamped to the base with the Royal Doulton maker’s mark. As with every commission, Thomas Goode kept one copy of each article supplied for their own archives. Sotheby’s will offer the pairs to these three sets in this auction. The estimate is £20,000-30,000. Johnny Sandelson, Executive Chairman of Thomas Goode & Co said: “We were overwhelmed by the interest in these precious and rare miniature pieces, we’ve received interest from all around the world, funds raised will be re invested into our very precious archive.”
Miniature Dinner Set for Queen Mary’s Doll’s House. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £37,800
AN online only Christmas auction at Whyte’s runs from today until December 16. There is a selection of contemporary paintings and prints from a wide range of eminent Irish artists, artworks by Damien Hirst, Bob Dylan and David Bowie, posters, collectibles including silverware by Padraig O Mathuna (1925-2019), an early 20th century gramophone and a 19th century music box with Irish and Scottish airs. There is facsimile of the Book of Kells, a small selection of fine wines and some port. The sale is on view by appointment at Whyte’s galleries from 1 pm to 5 pm on December 12 and 13 and from 10 am to 5 pm on December 14-16.
BACKSTAGE DRESSING ROOM [DRAWN BLANK SERIES] – BOB DYLAN (B.1941) (1,000-1,500). UPDATE: THIS MADE 1,600 AT HAMMER
A first edition of Ulysses by James Joyce sold for a hammer price of 9,500 at Fonsie Mealy’s online rare books and collectibles sale in Castlecomer today. Published by Shakespeare and Co. in Paris in 1922 this was number 285 of 750 copies on handmade paper.
Joyce’s A Protest Against Plagiarism, an original printed copy of the protest and appeal issued in French by a constellation of American and European literary and cultural figures in 1927 over the unauthorised publication of sections of Ulysses by American publisher Samuel Roth in his Two Worlds Monthly magazine, without permission or royalty and in ‘un texte incomplete’ sold for 4,600. Signatories range from Albert Einstein to H.G. Wells, W.B. Yeats, Virginia Woolf, Paul Valery, Bertrand Russell, Marcel Prevost, Sean O’Casey, Liam O’Flaherty, E. Oe. Somerville, Italo Svevo, Thomas Mann, Ernest Hemingway, Alice S. Green, Andre Gide, Augusta Gregory, Benedetto Croce, John Galsworthy, Robert Bridges, Arnold Bennett, Knut Hamsun, Wyndham Lewis, Gabriel Miro, Bunin, Luigi Pirandello, T.S.Eliot. The extraordinary range and quality of the signatories testifies to Joyce’s worldwide reputation and influence, five years after publishing Ulysses.
An Atlas Folio of monuments in Egypt and Nubia by Ippolito Rosellini published in Pisa in three volumes from 1832-34 with 134 plates sold for 25,000 at hammer. It had been estimated at 5,000-7,000. This was the top lot in a sale which realised just over 440,000 on the hammer.
There is a wide selection of jewellery across all price ranges at a 48 hour timed online auction by O’Reilly’s of Francis St. Dublin which is now underway. Among them is this antique diamond and triple cluster ring which is estimated at 600-800. The sale of 680 lots will begin to close at 1 pm on December 11. The catalogue is online.
Antique diamond and sapphire triple cluster ring. UPDATE: THIS MADE 720 AT HAMMER
A rare and complete set of Irish Georgian Society records sold for a hammer price of €2,300 at Fonsie Mealy’s Christmas Rare Books and Collectibles sale online in Castlecomer today. It comprises the Georgian Society records of 18th century domestic architecture in Dublin in five volumes (1909-1913) and a first (1915) edition of Georgian Mansions in Ireland by Sadlier and Dickinson. The sale continues on December 10.
THIS gem set and diamond pendant brooch comes up at the James Adam sale of fine jewellery and watches in Dublin today with an estimate of 7,000-9,000. It is by Fred Paris and dates to c1975-80. The central ruby cabochon is surrounded by brilliant cut diamonds of approximately six carats in total and it is decorated with alternating sapphire, emerald and ruby cabochons. There is 221 lots on offer in the online sale. UPDATE: THIS MADE 8,500 AT HAMMER
More than 1,300 lots will come under the hammer at Fonsie Mealy’s Christmas rare books and collectors sale online in Castlecomer on December 9 and 10. Among them is a highly collectible admission ticket to the infamous Bloody Sunday football match at Croke Park on November 21, 1920. This is estimated at €2,000-€3,000. Along with sporting memorabilia there is rare books, manuscripts, signed limited editions, maps, medals and folio society publications. The catalogue is online.
A George III marble and scagliola fire surround, possibly Dublin, in the manner of Pietro Bossi comes up at Dreweatts fine furniture, sculpture and ceramics sale online in Berkshire on December 10. Dating to thelast quarter of the 18th century the fireplace showcases refined inlay of scagliola, also known as ‘Bossi work’. The Italian plaster worker Pietro Bossi was active in Ireland during the late 18th century. Though few chimney pieces securely attributed to Bossi survive, he was renowned for the depth and graduation of colour he achieved and his innovative Neoclassical designs. ‘Scagliola’ (Italian for ‘chips’) is a technique that involves manipulating pigmented plaster, modified with animal glue, to resemble pietra dura inlays. This piece is estimated at £600-800 but it is safe to assume it will go higher.
UPDATE: This sold for £14,000 on the hammer, £17,500 with buyers premium.
A first edition of Ulysses is among a range of rarities at Fonsie Mealy‘s rare books and collectors sale online at Castlecomer on December 9 and 10. More than 1,300 lots will come under the hammer at the two day sale. Ulysses is estimated at €7,000-€9,000. An admission ticket to the infamous Bloody Sunday football match at Croke Park on November 21, 1920 has an estimate of €2,000-€3,000 and there is an estimate of €4,000-€6,000 on a rare gold medal from the first anniversary of Bloody Sunday tournament. It is engraved with an Irish sportsman standing in front of a goalpost holding a rifle, with two hurleys, a sliotar and a football in the foreground. Among other highly collectible lots is Kevin Barry’s personal crucifix and scapular and a 1955 match programme for an Ireland v Yugoslavia game. Catholics were banned from attending this Dalymount Park match by Archbishop John Charles McQuaid due to the persecution of a catholic bishop in communist Yugoslavia. The army band did not play and the match was not broadcast on Radio Eireann.
A rare gold medal with a player holding a rifle from the Bloody Sunday first anniversary tournament UPDATE: THIS MADE 18,000 AT HAMMER
