This very rare blue and white Lotus vase with Yongzheng mark is at Adams with an estimate of €60,000-€80,000. UPDATE: THIS MADE €51,000 AT HAMMER
A rare blue and white globular Lotus vase leads the sale of Fine Asian Art at Adams in Dublin on June 25. Estimated at €60,000-€80,000 it carries the Yongzheng (1723-1735) six character mark in underglaze blue. The Yongzheng emperor took an unprecedented personal involvement in ceramic production and actively participated in the design and oversight of Imperial porcelain. Precious pieces from his era hold a revered place in Qing Dynasty ceramics. The auction offers more than 400 lots with estimates from €200 up.
A GROUP OF NINE AMERICAN GOLD EAGLE TEN-DOLLARS INDIAN HEAD COINS, 1926. UPDATE: THESE MADE €10,000 AT HAMMER
This group of nine American gold eagle coins is the top lot at Adams timed online Jewellery Box sale which runs until June 24. The ten dollar Indian head coins from 1926 have a total gross weight of 150.8 g and are estimated at €10,000-15,000. Viewing for the auction gets underway in Dublin today. A total of 394 lots will come under the hammer.
A very fine pair of enormous fossilized Irish Elk Horns and Skull, the horns with 14 points and spanning 98″ made a hammer price of €40,000 at Fonsie Mealy’s Chatsworth summer fine art sale in Castlecomer today. Oscar Wilde’s desk made €29,000, a second specimen Irish elk horns made €28,000, a pair of large early 19th century terrestrial and celestial globes by John and William Newton, London, 1818 made €15,000, a French bateau bed owned by Oscar Wilde made €15,000, a Louis XV Cartel clock and barometer set made €12,000 and a bronze of The Cossacks Crossing the Balkans by Evgeny Alexandrovich Lanceray made €9,000.
(See posts on antiquesandartireland.com for June 14 and June 9, 2025)
Pair of Irish silver strawberry dishes by Joseph Walker
A pair if Queen Anne Irish silver strawberry dishes by Joseph Walker, Dublin 1709, made $32,760 over a top estimate of $6,000 at Christie’s in New York. The dishes were from the collection of investor, documentary film maker and collector Anne H Bass (1941-2020) in one of New York’s most iconic private residences. They had been acquired from S J Shrubsole in New York in 1983. A set of four George II Irish silver candlesticks by John McLaughlin Sr. Dublin c1755 made $18,900 and a similar era set of four candlesticks by Thomas Williamson, Dublin c1755 made $11,970. The online sale of 185 lots – Anne H Bass: The New York Interiors – made $4.3 million
A ROSEWOOD SIDEBOARD, ITALIAN 1960’s, BY GIANFRANCO FRATTINI. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
This 1960’s sideboard with shelf gallery back, shaped drawer handles and metal legs by the Italian design master Gianfranco Frattini is lot 62 at de Veres timed online summer auction which runs until June 23. The estimate is €800-1,400. The auction offers design pieces by Missoni, Niels Vodder, Charles and Ray Eames and more. Included in the auction are Irish artworks by Markey Robinson, Cecil Maguire, Desmond Carrick and many more across 230 lots.
Victorian Cast Iron Spiral Staircase. UPDATE: THIS MADE 320 AT HAMMER
This Victorian cast iron spiral staircase (€400-€800) is among the feature lots at Gormley’s online sale of the collection of Arthur Livingstone of Cuiltybar House, Coolaney, Co. Sligo and other clients on June 17 and 18. The top lot is a 1971 Citroen DS21 with rare right hand drive and refurbished interior (€40,000-€45,000). The sale is now on view at Coolaney. A total of 850 lots including vintage cars, pocket watches, walking sticks, clocks, scientific instruments, books, furniture and art will come under the hammer. The catalogue is online.
A 1945 All-Ireland senior football progamme is among the lots at The Collector’s Cabinet timed online auction by Mullen’s of Laurel Park, Bray, which runs until June 21. Outsiders Cork beat Cavan on a scoreline of 2-5 to 0-7. In this historic game the former Taoiseach Jack Lynch became a dual All-Ireland medallist. He had won four successive All-Ireland senior hurling medals between 1941 and 1944. The estimate for the programme is €400-€600.
A 19th century French gold brocade royal blue carriage bag owned by Queen Maria Amelia, the last Queen of France. UPDATE: THIS MADE 1,200 AT HAMMER
With a range that spans everything from fossilised Irish elk horns to Oscar Wilde’s desk, a landscape attributed to John Butts and a handbag owned by the last Queen of France heritage, history, beauty and rarity are not in short supply at Fonsie Mealy’s summer fine art and antique sale in Castlecomer on June 18 and 19.
Among many highlights are a pair of 19th century terrestrial and celestial globes on stands by John and William Newton, London 1818 (€15,000-€20,000), a Louis XV clock and matching barometer by Julian Le Roy, Paris (1686-1759) (€10,000-€15,000), a bronze of The Cossacks Crossing the Balkans by Evgeny Alexandrovich Lanceray (1848-1886) (€10,000-€15,000), a collection of 19th and early 20th century erotic Indian miniatures (€7,000-€10,000) and a four fold screen The Star of Bethlehem after Edward Burne-Jones (€4,000-€6,000).
Lots like these do not come cheap but this sale of fine art, antique furniture, silver, miniatures, decorative objects and religious artefacts sourced from private estates and collectors across Ireland offers a diverse collection to suit every taste and budget. Estimates are from €30 and €40 up for lots including a figure of Buddha and carved ebony elephants (€60-€80), a pair of Birmingham silver pillar candlesticks (€100-€150) and an Edwardian dinner gong with horn supports (€80-€120). More than 1,000 lots will come under the hammer.
The Irish giltwood side table and mirror by Arthur Jones, featured here last Saturday, is at €15,000-€20,000 among the most expensively estimated items.
The oversized slope front desk used by Oscar Wilde with, inset, a photo of the author, poet and playwright. UPDATE: THIS MADE 29,000 AT HAMMER
Fishermen by a River at Sunset attributed to John Butts (c1728-1765). UPDATE: THIS MADE 4,000 AT HAMMER
There will be literary interest in a large William IV slope top davenport attributed to Gillows with provenance to Oscar Wilde (€6,000-€8,000). Like many items at Wilde’s house at Tite St. in Chelsea it was quietly removed by friends who offered financial support and safeguarding of personal items before the court ordered auction of his possessions after his trial and imprisonment in 1895. The artist Mortimer Menpes, godfather to Wilde’s son Vyvyan, took this desk and a French bateau bed exhibited at the Paris World Fair in 1878. The bed, also in this sale, is estimated at €3,000-€4,000.
A c1740 oil on canvas of Fishermen on a River at Sunset is attributed to John Butts (€4,000-€6,000), the artist who started his career in Cork and was influenced by Claude Lorrain and Salvator Rosa. In a catalogue note Dr. Peter Murray explains that the attribution of this Claudean landscape to Butts is based both on the subject matter and the style of painting.
A 19th century French royal blue gold brocade carriage bag with coronet and trestle design was owned by the French Queen, Maria Amalia of Naples and Sicily (1782-1866) who was married to Louis Philippe I. Maria Amalia, niece of Marie-Antoinette, was the last Queen of France. Gifted to the Ursuline sisters it comes to the auction by direct descent and is estimated at €800-€1,000.
A fine specimen of the elk horns and skull of the Gigantic Irish Deer with 14 points and spanning 98 inches is reputed to have been found in the Bog of Allen. It is estimated at €10,000-€15,000. Viewing for this brimful of interest and treasure filled sale gets underway in Castlecomer tomorrow at 1.30 pm and the catalogue is online.
An 18th century Louis XV Cartel clock and matching barometer by Julian Le Roy. UPDATE: THESE MADE 12,000 AT HAMMER
Manuscript copy of the Thirteenth Amendment, signed by Abraham Lincoln, abolishing slavery in the United States.
One of the finest and most complete Lincoln signed copies of the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery in the US comes up at Sotheby’s in New York on June 26 with an estimate of $8-12 million. Section 1 states: ‘Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States or any place subject to their jurisdiction’. It is one of just 15 recorded Lincoln signed copies. A printed broadside document of the Emancipation Proclamation is estimated at $3-5 million.
A 1928 BIANCHI ( ITALY) VINTAGE CAR. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
This 1928 Bianchi with timber spokes is lot 5 at R.J. Keighery’s sale of classic cars, traps, carriages and transport memorabilia in Waterford on June 16. The body of the model S5 is leather covered and the estimate is €20,000-40,000. There are eight vintage cars in the sale as well as traps, horse equipment, vintage signs and collectibles in a total of 185 lots. The catalogue is online.
