An unusually long Irish wake table comes up at Sotheby’s Collectors Sale in London on May 3. The late 18th century table is ten feet long with double gateleg action and is estimated at £20,000-30,000.Wake or hunt tables are versatile and mobile. The narrow shape when the flaps are down is ideal for holding a coffin. When it came to the hunt they were carried outside to hold drink.
Sotheby’s say that many examples are still in situ in houses in Ireland such as Leixlip Castle, Bellamont Forest, Co. Cavan, Mount Stewart, Co. Down and Luggala Co. Wicklow.
Sotheby’s bi-annual Collections sale offers clients aN opportunity to acquire a wealth of fine and decorative art. With a focus on property sourced from private collections throughout Europe – often with an aristocratic or distinguished provenance – the sale will appeal to collectors and connoisseurs alike.
UPDATE: THIS MADE £23,750
A menu of the first meal ever served aboard the Titanic made £100,000 at auction in Wiltshire on April 21. It went to a British collector at the auction at Henry Aldridge and Son in Devizes. On April 2, on Titanic’s first day of sea trials, officers and crew enjoyed their first meal served in the main dining saloon before being joined by the passengers. The lunch included consommé mirrette, sweetbreads and spring lamb. The menu belonged to Second Officer Charles Lightoller, the most senior crew member to survive, who gave it to his wife as he left Southampton on 10 April 1912.
This two handled Irish silver cup was a 1940 wedding gift to David and Peggy Rockefeller from Mr. and Mrs. Henry Ford of Dearborn, Michigan. It will come up at 
A baseball bat given by Babe Ruth to the GAA comes up at 
