IRISH GEORGE III INLAID MAHOGANY SECRETAIRE BOOKCASE. UPDATE: THIS MADE 3,000 AT HAMMER
This large secretaire is lot 315 at the James Adam timed online At Home sale which runs until August 27. With broken pediment and scroll rosette terminals centred by a carved eagle the crest on the pediment is that of the Seymour family, Marquesses of Hertford and Dukes of Somerset. The base is fitted with a fall-front secretaire drawer formed as three short cockbeaded dummy drawers with inlaid decoration which opens to reveal a compartmented interior and baize lined writing surface. The estimate is €1,500-2,000. The catalogue for the auction is online.
A 19th century oil lamp at Victor Mee’s timed online sale. UPDATE: THE CLOSING BID WAS €26
With €400 or even much less it will be possible to pick up a prized piece at Victor Mee’s timed auction of ceramics, glass and collectibles which ends from 5.30 pm tomorrow on August 10. A 19th century brass and ruby glass Corinthian column oil lamp has a starting bid of just €120, a ruby glass epergne starts at €80 and a figure of Scarlett from Coalport’s Literary Heroines series at just €100.
The auction offers figures by Royal Doulton, Lladro, Royal Worcester, Coalport, Franklin, Royal Minton, Staffordshire, Capodimonte and Hummel, there is spongeware and Belleek, Galway, Cavan and Waterford Crystal, Swarovski, ruby and cherry glass, various tea and part dinner services, Oriental zodiac cups, a Chinese lidded jar, vases, ornaments and even a Japanese lacquered wall plaque. Maybe fine dining at home will make a comeback. Until then pieces like many of the lots in this sale offer huge value.
A Coalport figurine of Scarlett UPDATE: THE CLOSING BID WAS €9
A set of vintage wishbone Danish dining chairs. UPDATE: THESE WERE UNSOLD
Danish wishbone chairs, bronze boxing hares, a 19th century French oak refectory table and a Black Forest musical chair are included among nearly 1,000 lots at online evening sales by Victor Mee on July 22-23.
There is nothing in this eclectic selection to prevent the imagination of a collector from soaring to new and unexplored heights. Where to place a pair of cast iron pier caps in the form of a stag standing on a ball? Maybe not to the taste of everyone but they can be yours for an estimated €1,000-€2,000. There is a similar estimate on a fine sturdy three seater cast iron garden bench, a pair of moulded sandstone lifesize models of Great Danes and a pair of 19th century wrought iron entrance gates.
French wrought iron glasshouse. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
Hand cut granite gate posts, a 19th century sandstone trough, a wrought iron portable glasshouse, a pair of sandstone lattice urns and an early 20th century French wrought iron greenhouse are all on offer.
A 19th century brass bound campaign chest (€1,400-€1,800), a French William IV centre table with marble top (€800-€1,200), a 19th century lime washed oak chest (€600-€1,200), a walnut inlaid credenza with three glazed doors (€400-€800), a Regency rent table with leather top (€400-€800), a Victorian rosewood and satinwood inlaid side table (€350-€650), a pair of Art Deco bedside lockers (€350-€650) and a bank of four graduated drawers in the shape of drums €300-€600) are included among nearly 400 lots of furniture with estimates of from a little as €10 for an Edwardian three tier cake stand.
A set of eight vintage Danish wishbone dining chairs with woven rush seats carry an estimate of €1,000-€2,000. A 19th century Black Forest rosewood and burr walnut musical chair and table is slightly more expensive, at €1,500-€2,500. This inlaid furniture contains a hidden musical box.
Black Forest musical chair and table. UPDATE: THIS MADE 1,000 AT HAMMER
A Martian meteorite discovered in November 2023 in Niger, Africa, sold for $5,296,000 at Sotheby’s in New York. The largest piece of Mars on earth was ejected by a massive asteroid strike. It journeyed 140 million miles through space and finally the earth’s atmosphere before crashing into the Sahara Desert. Pieces of Mars are rare. Of more than 77,000 officially recognised meteorites only 400 are Martian. Weighing 24.67 kilograms this one represents approximately 6.5% of all Martian material currently known.
Piet Mondrian – Composition with Large Red Plane, Bluish Gray, Yellow, Black and Blue
Auction house Christie’s has projected auction sales of $2.1 billion in the first half of 2025. Piet Mondrian’s Composition with Large Red Plane, Bluish Gray, Yellow, Black and Blue from the Leonard & Louise Riggio Collection sold for $47.6 million to become most valuable work of art sold at auction so far. Key performance indicators, including overall sell through rate at 88% and hammer versus the low estimate index at 115%, have all showed strength and demonstrated the market leadership of Christie’s. The global auction house sold seven of the top 10 artworks and all top four works of art sold at auction in the six months. In addition, overall auction sales in the leading 20/21 category were stable to last year at $1.3 billion. Luxury sales were up 29%, which includes car sales at Gooding Christie’s (up 12% without Gooding Christie’s). In Jewels, Christie’s sold nine of the top 10 jewels at auction in the first half of the year. This has driven growth of 25%. The Old Master Group drove a 15% rise in auction sales in the first half of the year. Confidence for this continued momentum in the second half has been demonstrated by the record breaking $43.9 million sale in London of Canaletto’s masterpiece Venice, the Return of the Bucintoro on Ascension Day.
18TH-CENTURY SINO-TIBETAN GILT BRONZE FIGURE OF A MANJUSHRI
This finely cast 18th century Sino-Tibetan gilt bronze made a hammer price of €9,500 over an estimate of €800-€1,200 at Sheppards two day sale of the collection of Philip and Constance Murphy in Durrow today. The figure of a Manjushri, the bodhisattva of transcendent wisdom, is seated in the meditation position atop a double-lotus throne with beaded rims. It is richly adorned with beaded jewellery and a five-pointed crown, with detailed facial expression and blue pigment remaining in the hair and crown crevices. A folder of 24 Chinese Qing watercolours made €14,000, a Chinese Qing period Hu shaped vase made €7,650 at hammer, a 19th century oil painting of a volcanic eruption by moonlight made €7,500, a 19th century marine chronometer made €5,400, a Chinese Qing Period blue dragon plate made €5,000, an Arts and Crafts carpet made €4,300, a 19th century automaton bird clock under a glass dome made €4,000 at hammer, a Persian Tabriz carpet made €4,200, an 18th century Dublin bracket clock made €3,600, a trio of Chinese gold commemorative coins made €2,800 and a Chinese lime glazed bowl made €2,800.
19th century French polished steel and brass centre table. UPDATE: THE CLOSING BID WAS 3,000
This white veined marble topped table is the leading lot at Mullen’s of Laurel Park timed online Classic and Contemporary Interiors auction which runs in Bray until July 20. The marble rests on a pierced foliate cast frieze on scroll supports. The estimate is €3,000-€4,000. The catalogue lists over 650 lots and is online.
NEVILLE BATH – The County of Cork surveyed. UPDATE: THIS MADE €1,600 AT HAMMER
A linen backed map of The County of Cork in 1811 by the land surveyor Neville Bath leads the timed online books and works on paper auction by James Adam in Dublin. The sale runs until July 17. The survey, carried out by order of The Grand Jury of the County, is estimated at €2,000-€3,000.
Sheppards will auction contents from this room at Royal Terrace West in Dun Laoghaire
Take a close look at this photograph of one of the reception rooms at 6 Royal Terrace West, Dun Laoghaire and you will undoubtedly agree that it is elegant, comfortable, lived in and loved. This was home to the late collectors Philip and Constance Murphy and Sheppards will auction their contents on July 15-16.
Because this room might not appear to be particularly fashionable in the current sense this auction offers a real opportunity for collectors. Take another look at the furniture in the room. The view from left to the middle of the picture reveals a Georgian sofa table, a Regency teapoy on tripod base in the window, a 19th century upholstered mahogany footstool, a mahogany open bookcase with fluted uprights and a three seater sofa.
At 2025 prices these five pieces are respectively estimated at €500-€800, €250-€350, €150-€250, €200-€300 and €300-€500. The lower estimates add up to just €1,400, the upper ones to €2,200. Even with the addition of fees of around 25%-30% including VAT prices like this represent startling value. Wonderful for buyers, not such good news for sellers.
Donegal runner designed by CFA Voysey UPDATE: THIS MADE €3,400 at hammer
At the very least the Murphys, as real collectors, will have experienced the joys of putting that room together over many years, of adding, subtracting and replacing pieces and greatly enjoying their home.
Continuing on our visual journey around this room we come across two Victorian armchairs, one with scroll arms, a Victorian Canterbury, a Victorian circular mahogany table, an Edwardian inlaid mahogany cabinet on stand, two upholstered wingback armchairs and a pair of Chinese red lacquer blanket chests doing duty as side tables.
The Victorian button back armchairs are each estimated at €200-€300, the Canterbury at €200-€300, the circular table at €400-€600, the cabinet on stand at €400-€600, the upholstered wingback armchairs at €150-€250 each and the pair of Chinese lacquered chests at €400-€600.
The front of a Georgian bureau bookcase can be glimpsed to the far right of the picture and this is estimated at just €500-€800.
A white Jambala Thangka or traditional Tibetan Buddhist painting on fabric. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 301
The auction is on view at the classic Victorian terraced house at Royal Terrace West on today, tomorrow and Monday from 10 am to 5 pm on each day. The sale of just over 1,000 lots will take place in Durrow and online.
19th century French gilt mantle clock with Daniel in the Lion’s Den. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
A c1770 Cork silver coffee pot by John Nicholson. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
Silver, jewellery, art, rugs, furniture and collectibles will come under the hammer at Hegarty’s live online auction on July 16. Top lots include a George III Cork silver coffee pot by John Nicholson. The highly collectible c1770 piece is of baluster form, raised on a circular foot, with a cartouche, a family coat of arms and a hardwood handle. The estimate is €10,000-€12,000. At Hegarty’s last sale on June 26 a rare Irish silver cream ewer by Joseph Johns of Limerick from the same collection made €4,600 at hammer.
In a sale with a rich selection of rings a round, brilliant cut diamond solitaire of 2.02 carats and earrings is estimated at €10,000-€12,000. A Cartier cluster ring has an estimate of €7,500-€8,500, an Irish made gold, emerald and diamond ring is estimated at €2,000-€3,000 and a pair of Tiffany silver hoop earrings is estimated at €180-€220. An early panoramic oil on board of the Irish countryside by Norman McCaig is estimated at €800-€1,200 and Isabella, a sketch by John Butler Yeats, has an estimate of €700-€900. The catalogue is online.
Panoramic oil on board by Norman McCaig. UPDATE: THIS LOT WAS WITHDRAWN
