What is described as “a relic of GAA History” comes up at Fonsie Mealy’s sale of rare books, literature, manuscripts, limited editions, maps and sporting memorabilia online in Castlecomer on December 8 and 9. Lot 519A is a cast iron turnstile, by Ellison & Co., Manchester removed from Croke Park during renovations in the 1950’s. It would have been there during the earliest days of the GAA and during Bloody Sunday in 1920. It is estimated at 1,000-1,800. UPDATE: THIS MADE 1,300 AT HAMMER
A large collection of handwritten correspondence from Terrence MacSwiney comes up at a timed online auction at Hegarty’s, Bandon from November 26-29. The sale is centred around the Pauline Henley Archive of hand written correspondence with members of the MacSwiney family dating from the early part of the 20th Century. It includes letters, telegraphs, postcards and newspaper cuttings dating from 1916 to 1922.
Terence MacSwiney, Lord Mayor of Cork, a playwright, poet and soldier was arrested in August 1920 as British authorities imposing martial law on Cork. Once arrested and court martialled, he refused to recognise the authority of the British courts and protested by going on a hunger strike, a strike that started in Cork City, and would end in Brixton prison 74 days later on October 25th.
The Walther PP pistol used by Sean Connery as James Bond in Dr. No, the first James Bond film to come to screen in 1962, will highlight Julien’s Icons and Idols auction in Hollywood on December 3. It is estimated at $150,000-$200,000. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR $256,000
This pair of Art Deco style silver candleabra from the Painted Hall at Greenwich in London come up Hegarty’s sale in Bandon, Co. Cork on November 15. The London 1938 five light candleabrae rest on stepped bases with the crowned monogram of King George VI and are estimated at €18,000-€20,000. Managed by the Greenwich Foundation since the navy left in 1998 the baroque Painted Hall at the Old Royal Naval College has been restored and is open to the public. The online auction features jewellery, antique furniture, coins, books, collectibles and silver.
UPDATE: THE CANDLEABRA MADE 14,600 AT HAMMER
You might never be able to dance like Zizi Jeanmaire, but you can dress like her thanks to the online sale of her Yves Saint Laurent wardrobe at Christie’s from January 13-26. The sale will pay tribute to the performer of “Mon truc en plumes”, who passed away last summer at the ground old age of 96. Saint Laurent was by her side throughout her career. The clothes and accessories that make up this wardrobe reflect the image of the queen of music hall with jet-black hair: often black, a stunning silhouette, glitter, embroidery and feathers. The admirers of the one who “had eyes that could empty a monastery”, as Boris Vian described her, will find around 100 lots including tuxedos, jackets, dresses, trousers, shoes and accessories.
This 19th century horse drawn carriage, complete with leather style deep button seating and carriage lamps, is at Sean Eacrett’s timed auction of items from various tv programmes and series which runs until November 15. There are 204 lots and the catalogue is on Easy Live Auctions. The carriage is estimated at 2,500-3,500.
AN exceptionally rare 14.83 carat Fancy Vivid Purple-Pink, Internally Flawless, Type IIa diamond comes up at Sotheby’s in Geneva on November 11. Named ‘The Spirit of the Rose’ after Vaslav Nijinsky’s legendary ballet, Le Spectre de la rose, the diamond was mined, cut and polished in Russia. It is the largest Purple-Pink diamond to ever appear at auction. It was cut from the largest pink crystal ever mined in Russia. It is estimated at CHF 21-35 million or $23-38 million US. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR $26.6 MILLION
A stunning array of Irish pictures from the 18th to the 20th centuries as well as Georgian and Regency furniture and decorative arts will come under the hammer at Sotheby’s in London on November 10. If there is a certain sense of deja vu about the auction of contents from 44 Fitzwilliam Square in Dublin it is because this sale was first scheduled to take place in London last March. The first lockdown landed and it was re-scheduled to November just in time for lockdown number two to take off. Things are different this time round, the auction world has adjusted spectacularly well to the online model and there is a zoom boom.
Irish art has fared very well in times of pandemic and this sale offers an exceptional William Scott and five works by Yeats. The paintings by Yeats include The Showground Revisited, painted in 1950 (£150,000-250,000 / €170,000-282,000) and Young Men, painted in 1929 (£150,000-250,000 / €170,000-282,000). The Scott, entitled Deep Blues, has an estimate of £300,000-500,000 / €339,000-565,000.There is art by Daniel Maclise, George Barret, Paul Henry, Roderic O’Conor, George Mullins, James Arthur O’Connor, John Butts, james Humbert Craig, Jeremiah Hoad, Louis le Brocquy, Erskine Nichol, William Sadler, William Ashford, Douglas Alexander, Nathaniel Hone, Harry Kernoff and others including a set of 25 Views of Dublin by James Malton.
These were all shown in Dublin a year ago as a curtain raiser to the November 2019 Irish art sale at Sotheby’s. Serious punters who viewed them then will have no trouble vividly remembering them now.
The elegant Dublin townhouse, home to the late property developer Paddy Kelly, was a wonderful setting for these paintings and antique furniture pieces like a pair of Irish mirrors and a pair of demi lune side cabinets in the manner of the Dublin maker William Moore. On offer too is a c1820 Irish Regency serving table, a set of four Irish hall chairs c1815 and a matched pair of table globes by Cary. A Victorian silver gilt replica of the Ardagh Chalice has an estimate of £3,000-£5,000. An avid collector, Patrick Kelly (1942-2011) recognised the tradition of Irish painting from the eighteenth century through to the twentieth, complemented with fine Georgian and Regency furniture, silver and decorative arts, amassed from auctions and dealers over three decades.
Michael Flatley’s clearout of Castlehyde near Fermoy to prepare for a refurbishment offers something for collectors across the board – even those who might be into a spot of cannibalism. Pride of place in the sale, to be held online at Sheppards in Durrow on November 26-27, is the mask worn by Anthony Hopkins when he played Hannibal Lecter, the fictional forensic psychiatrist who liked to eat his victims. Signed by Hopkins and co-star Julianne Moore it is estimated at €80,000-€120,000.
UPDATE: THE HANNIBAL LECTER MASK MADE 85,000 AT HAMMER
Not the usual stuff of country house sales, but the Lord of the Dance, who has poured millions into the restoration of the Palladian mansion on the banks of the River Blackwater, is in the realm of collectors who are more extraordinary than ordinary. He is planning a major overhaul of the interior so these pieces are surplus to requirements.More than 700 items collected during the past 20 years will come under the hammer. Period pieces include a pair of 19th century French marble console tables (€8,000-€12,000), a pair of large gilt bronze figures of nymphs each holding a torch (€5,000-€8,000), a Victorian console table and mirror (€5,000-€8,000) and a pair of Edwardian satinwood wing armchair (€1,400-€1,800). There are medieval style suits of armour (€500-€800 each) which are reproduction. So are the Graeco Roman busts displayed in the dining room (from €500-€1,200). There is a Louis XVI desk (€4,000-€6,000), a full size billiard table (€3,000-€5,000), a hide covered Chesterfield (€1,000-€1,500) and some French Rococo style sofas.When he retired from dancing Michael Flatley took to art. One of his pieces, entitled Finishing Line, is at €40,000-€60,000, the second most expensively estimated item in the auction. UPDATE: THE FINISHING LINE ARTWORK MADE 37,000 AT HAMMER
Andy Warhol’s Mao comes up at Christie’s in New York on December 3. It is from the collection of Barbara Allen de Kwiatkowski, which will be offered across eight sales, beginning in New York this December with Post-War & Contemporary Art (December 3), Impressionist and Modern Art (December 4), Magnificent Jewels (December 8), Jewels Online (November 18 to December 1), Design (December 11), Old Master Paintings Online (November 13 to December 4) followed by the April 2021 sales of The Collector (April 8) and Prints & Multiples (April 21).
Muse and close friend to Andy Warhol, she was part owner, cover star, and contributor to his Interview magazine. She and Warhol were famous at Studio 54 and shared a deep friendship. Highlights among more than 60 lots at Christie’s comprise works by Warhol including a silkscreen of Mao executed in 1973 ($1,000,000-1,500,000), an extremely rare portrait sketch of Barbara Allen drawn circa 1976 ($30,000-40,000), and a silkscreen titled VIP Ticket – Studio 54 executed in 1978 ($120,000-180,000). These will be offered alongside photographs by Peter Beard, another close friend. Also featured are important pieces of 20th century design including furniture by Diego Giacometti and vases by Jean Dunand and iconic jewels spanning designs by Belperron, Harry Winston, JAR, and Verdura.
