The Rescue by Arthur Wardle (1864-1949) was among the top lots on the opening day at Sheppard’s Legacy of the Big House sale in Durrow today. It made a hammer price of 11,000. A pair of 19th century ebony pier cabinets made 9,000 at hammer; a pair of 19th century walnut and marquetry plinths sold for 7,500; a pair of 18th century Gainsborough chairs made 5,600; a 19th century Sevres urn made 5,000 and a pair of 19th century Vienna porcelain ewers made 4,400. The auction continues tomorrow.
What is described as The Legacy of the Big House, Sheppards two day sale in Durrow on September 24 and 25 is packed to the brim with objects that might readily fit into any home, big or small.On offer is an across the board selection of more than 1,300 lots of furniture, jewellery, Chinese and Japanese art and collectibles, sculpture, rugs and militaria. The auction kicks off at 10.30 am on September 24 with some French bronzes and militaria, including ceremonial swords and antique percussion pistols. Continuing the theme of decorating the walls there are some beautiful old mirrors, wall lights, sconces and art to suit all tastes. Then there is the furniture and the selection is interesting. There are all sorts of chairs, singly, in pairs, dining chairs, couches, settees, library chairs, window seats, stools and even a set of eight Provincial ladder back chairs with rush panelled seats. There are desks, occasional tables, centre tables, side tables, silver tables, wine tables, serving tables, games tables, console tables, a Chinese hardwood table, chests of drawers, side cabinets, peat buckets, log barrels, a Chinese lacquered cabinet and bookcases. There are rugs, silver and plate, lots of Oriental ceramics, African ceremonial masks, a couple of chimney pieces, glass and collectibles.Estimates vary widely which makes this a sale for all pockets. The auction will be over four sessions at 10.30 am and 2 pm each day and it will be live online.
This rare Ming vase turned up at a charity antique valuation dayat Blarney Castle. It is believed by auctioneers Sheppards to most likely be a Ming blue and white flask dating from the Yongle Period,1402 – 1424. The flask is extremely rare and has a preliminary minimum estimated value of €40,000 – 60,000. It goes under the hammer at a specialist Masterworks sale at Sheppard’s Irish Auction House in Durrow, Co. Laois next November 7. It was brought in by a county Cork family.
A 300-year-old Qing dynasty vase made of glass is set to shatter records at Sotheby’s in Hong Kong on October 8 with an estimate in excess of £20 million. Created inside the Forbidden City in Beijing it measures 18.2cm. It is a masterpiece in terms of shape, design, execution and size. Its rarity and preciousness is inextricable from the difficulty of its production: to create a vessel which evokes a bottle wrapped in a cloth pouch tied with a ribbon, with a brilliantly enamelled design of phoenixes soaring amid clouds and peonies, would have required the cooperation of different palace workshops, and demanded the highest level of skill from both the imperial artisans in the Glass House and the imperial painters in the Enamelling Workshops.
A colour trial specimen 1978 £50 Bank of ireland note comes up at the British and Irish banknotes sale at Dix Noonan Webb next Thursday in London. It is estimated at £4,000-5,000. The Irish section includes three Ploughman notes and two £10 notes from the National Bank and the Ulster Bank. Dix Noonan Webb are planning a special Irish sale for next March in conjunction with the coin department.
UPDATE: THIS sold for £11,780 including buyers premium.
THE first Sunday interior sale of the new season at Dublin auctioneers James Adam takes place on September 8. It will feature antique furniture and collectibles in porcelain, silver, glass and art. The most expensively estimated lot is a Dutch landscape by Nicolaas Johannes Roosenboom (1805-1880) (2,500-3,500). These Sunday sales offer something for both new and established collectors. The catalogue, which is online, shows 454 lots.
The sale of 350 lots at Woodwards in Cork on September 7 offers a wide selection with everything from a Cork longcase clock and a set of 11-bar dining chairs to an old Irish cut glass ewer and some Irish silver. The furniture selection features a Georgian walnut chest on stand (1,200-2,000), a Sheraton inlaid sofa table (1,500-2,000), a Sheraton display cabinet (1,000-1,500), a set of Cork 11-bar chairs (2,000-3,000), a Sheraton style credenza (1,000-1,500), a Georgian cellarette (600-1,000), a Cork longcase clock by Sam’l Hayles (1,000-2,000) and a pair of demi-lune side tables (600-1,000). A pair of cast iron vases on stands is estimated at 800-1,500 and a cast iron five piece patio set has an estimate of 1,200-2,000.The selection of porcelain has global reach and includes a pair of Imari vases (600-800), a large Cantonese bowl (300-500), a pair of Meissen bottle vases (400-800), a Dresden vase (300-500) and a 76 piece Royal Crown Derby dinner service (600-800).
Visions of Collecting: Royal and Aristocratic, An Important Private Collection at Christie’s in London on September 19 will feature 350 lots and reflects a fascination with Royal provenance. It features furniture, paintings, ceramics, sculpture, tapestries, silver, objects and works of art, lighting and soft furnishings from British and other European Royal families and Britain’s great country houses. Leading the sale is Corso auf dem Monte Pincio, 1911 by Max Liebermann, which was owned by Paul Cassirer, the influential modern art dealer and publisher (£200,000-300,000). The collection is expected to realise in excess of £2 million.
Gems in the Attic is the title of the sale at Sheppards in Durrow on September 3. The affordable sale, ideal for new collectors, consists of items from the attics, stables and storerooms of clients from around Ireland. The 753 lot catalogue is online. Here is a small selection:
There is more than a whiff of nostalgia in Aidan Foley’s auction at Sixmilebridge Co. Clare on August 27. The sale goes back to the days when pubs were individual rather than generic, snug refuges with open turf, log or coal fires dotted with the occasional utterly genuine conversation piece – pastiche was unheard of – and sawdust on the floor. Original contents from a number of such establishments offer rich pickings to collectors at Sixmilebridge. There is a big selection of pub memorabilia from the Murray family of Limerick. They owned nightclubs and pubs and when they added the highly traditional Scott’s Bar in Kilkee to their portfolio they retained many original contents.Some of these are included in this 1,200 auction which is, Aidan Foley promises, “original stuff”, the kind of thing that collectors go for. A fine framed advertisement for Michael Egan’s finest Irish whiskey, Limerick, Ireland is redolent of an earlier age. Aidan Foley will include some original Cunard Line luggage label stickers from a long gone travel agency, a nostalgia tinged memory of the days when people left Ireland on ocean liners never to return. An early U2 Tick Tock Tour poster will attract a different sort of collector.
