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A BANK HOLIDAY SUNDAY SALE AT HEGARTY’S, BANDON

Thursday, April 28th, 2016

The country house auction at Hegarty’s in Bandon, Co. Cork on Bank Holiday Sunday May 1 will feature the contents of Kilcolman Rectory in Enniskeane. Furniture from this and other estates includes a rosewood and ivory inlaid collectors cabinet (3,000-6,000), a bow front satinwood drawing room chest by Maples (2,500-3,500), a Regency rosewood Irish library table (3,000-5,000) and a pair of kingwood ormolu mounted marble topped chests (2,500-3,500). There is an Irish Regency pier mirror which was once at the Imperial Hotel in Cork as well as Irish art, garden furniture and about 30 lots of jewellery. The catalogue is online. Here is a small selection:

One of a pair of gilt framed 19th century oils UPDATE: THESE SOLD FOR 2,300

A gilt console table. UPDATE: THIS MADE 1,650

A Kazakh rug: UPDATE; THIS WAS UNSOLD

Tags: Hegarty's Bandon
Posted in ART, AUCTIONS, COLLECTIBLES, FURNITURE | 1 Comment »

TIME CAPSULE HOUSE CONTENTS AUCTION IN CORK

Wednesday, April 27th, 2016

The entrance hall at Lotabeg with its cantilevered staircase.

The house contents of Lotabeg – a time capsule of long hidden antique delights – will be auctioned by Mealy’s in Cork next month. The graceful interiors of a house designed c1800 by Abraham Hargrave – who came to Cork in 1791 to superintend the erection of St. Patrick’s Bridge in the city centre – have been more or less untouched since 1939.

This elegant family home has yielded treasures like a life size portrait of James Butler 1st Duke of Ormonde by Sir Peter Lely and Studio of Sir Peter Lely (1618-1680), a pair of valuable oils by David de Coninck (1644-1701), a rare rosewood reclining library armchair probably commissioned by Daniel Callaghan MP and a c1864 collection of 90 albumen photographs of Hindustan and Kashmir by Samuel Bourne, Charles Shepherd and Arthur Robertson. Established in 1863 Bourne and Shepherd is the world’s oldest photographic studio.

The large stone ionic arch entrance to Lotabeg, surmounted by an Irish wolfhound, is a well known city landmark on Lower Glanmire Road. This commemorates a hound said to have saved a previous owner, the MP Daniel Callaghan, from drowning in the River Lee.

The auction will include around 750 lots of paintings, furniture, a collection of Cork and Irish silver, rare books, porcelain, Oriental carpets, chandeliers, Indian and Asian art and Irish historic collectibles. Viewing will be at the house from May 21. Entrance will be by shuttle bus from the Silver Springs Clayton Hotel where the sale is to be held on May 24.

The landmark entrance to Lotabeg from the Lower Road in Cork city.

Samuel Bourne, Charles Shepherd, Arthur Robertson, an extremely rare collection of 90 albumen photographs depicting the photographers’ travels in Hindostan, Cashmere, and Tertary, c.1864, including landscape images and ethnographic studies of its peoples. UPDATE: THIS MADE 12,000

Tags: Daniel Callaghan, Lotabeg, mealy's
Posted in ART, AUCTIONS, COLLECTIBLES, FURNITURE | No Comments »

ELVIS: THE IRISH CONNECTION

Monday, April 25th, 2016

The court transcript signed by William Presley. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 2,300

The Irish connection to Elvis Presley goes back a way, but documentary evidence crops up at Whyte’s Eclectic Collector auction in Dublin on May 14. In August 1775 William Presley, a farmer, got all shook up after being attacked by a group of men in Hacketstown in Co. Carlow. Presley pursued his assailants through the courts. The result of the case is unclear but the court transcript of his statement before the magistrate is offered as lot 125 of the sale, estimated at 500-700.

Later in 1775 William Presley left Ireland and travelled with his son Andrew to New Orleans. In 1780 William and his family were living in Carolina and a son, Dunnan, was born to him. They moved to Tennessee a year later and William died there in 1802. Dunnan married twice. His third son, also Dunnan, was born in 1827. In 1863 Dunnan juniors daughter Rosella was born. She never married, but had several children, among them a son called Jesse Presley. In 1913 he married Minnie Mae and their son Vernon Elvis Presley was born in 1916. Vernon married Gladys Love Smith in 1933 and their son Elvis Presley was born in January 1935.

Tags: Elvis Presley, Whyte's
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CONTENTS FROM CASHEL PALACE HOTEL TO BE AUCTIONED

Saturday, April 16th, 2016

Cashel Palace

Around 1,000 lots from Cashel Palace Hotel are to be sold on the premises by Doneraile based auctioneer Aidan Foley over two days on April 26 and 27. This is to facilitate an extensive re-furbishment of the hotel which is about to get underway.

There will be some art and antique lots, bedroom and kitchen contents as well as pub signage and the entire furnishings of the basement buttery restaurant. Aidan Foley has previously auctioned contents from Ashford Castle and Adare Manor. The catalogue is scheduled to go online from April 20.

Tags: Aidan Foley, Cashel Palace Hotel
Posted in AUCTIONS, COLLECTIBLES, FURNITURE | 1 Comment »

FROM EARTH TO FIRE: EUROPEAN CERAMICS, SILVER AND OBJECTS AT SOTHEBY’S

Wednesday, April 13th, 2016

The first sale at Sotheby’s exclusively dedicated to European Ceramics, Silver and Objects of Vertu at Sotheby’s in almost a decade will take place in London on May 10. Testament to the ever-growing appetite of international collectors for unique pieces encapsulating the finest craftsmanship and materials of their time, the 265 lots in the sale are led by Dutch silver, ceramics and glass from the collection of the renowned Amsterdam antiques dealer Joseph M. Morpurgo. The focus of the “From Earth to Fire” auction is on the creation of pieces born from the earth and transformed through the kiln into exquisite works. The sale also includes sculptural Paul Storr silver, early Chelsea porcelain scent bottles and a private collection of French gold boxes. Estimates range from £2,000-70,000.

A pair of Victorian silver table centre dessert bowls
Paul Storr for Storr & Mortimer, London, 1838 (£50,000-70,000)

An agate cup and cover
Jean-Valentin Morel, Paris, circa 1836-40 (£40,000-60,000)

A selection from the auction.

An English opaque-white glass vase and a cover, circa 1760 (£7,000-10,000)

Tags: Paul Storr, sotheby's
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A 1922 LETTER OF APPEAL TO IRISH AMERICANS FROM MICHAEL COLLINS

Tuesday, April 12th, 2016

The Michael Collins letter to the editor of The Boston Globe. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD

A February 1922 letter from Michael Collins to the Editor of the Boston Globe appealing for support from Irish Americans comes up at the History sale at James Adam in Dublin on April 19. Written on the notepaper of the Provisional Government it mentions Collins’ relatives in Boston, and the liberality of friends of Ireland in Boston in supporting the Irish struggle for Independence with money. ‘Now that Freedom is on the eve of attainment I ask through the ‘Boston Globe’ on behalf of the Provisional Government, that they be equally liberal with their sympathy and patience, thus assisting us in restoring to the people of Ireland control of their own destinies” the letter goes on. It is estimated at 12,000-15,000. The catalogue is online. Here is a small selection:

PATRICK PEARSE
Collection of booklets including An Macaomh, Poems, The Spiritual Nation, The Murder Machine, The Separist Idea (150-250) UPDATE: THIS MADE 80 AT HAMMER

KEARNEY (PEADAR), THE SOLDIER’S SONG, FIRST EDITION WITH MUSIC
Four printed pages, in two parts, 31 x 24cm approx.. Written in 1909-1910 by Peadar Kearney, music by Paddy Heaney and arrangement by Cathal MacDubhgall. Later to become “Amhrán na bhFiann” (1,500-2,000) UPDATE: THIS MADE 1,500 AT HAMMER

A $10 REPUBLICAN BOND CERTIFICATE, ISSUED JANUARY 21ST 1920 BY DE VALERA, President of the Elected Government of the Republic of Ireland, to Lucille Gallagher, No. 149790 (200-400) UPDATE: THIS MADE 350 AT HAMMER.

ALL IRELAND GAA FOOTBALL MEDAL – LOUTH 1910 (2,000-3,000) UPDATE: THIS MADE 4,000 AT HAMMER

A 1919-21 WAR OF INDEPENDENCE MEDAL, with Comrac Bar, black and tan ribbon and clasp bar (300-500) UPDATE: THIS MADE 300 AT HAMMER

IRISH WAR NEWS. THE IRISH REPUBLIC. VOL. 1 NO. 1 DUBLIN, TUESDAY, APRIL 25, 1916 (600-800) UPDATE: THIS MADE 420 AT HAMMER

Tags: james adam, Michael Collins, Patrick Pearse, Peader Kearney
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A BOTTLE OF VERY RARE POT STILL IRISH WHISKEY

Sunday, April 10th, 2016

The Irish pot still whiskey UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 6,600 AT HAMMER

A bottle of pot still 1916 whiskey from the long vanished Allman’s Distillery in Bandon, Co Cork comes up at the James Adam history sale in Dublin on April 19. Founded in 1826 Allman’s had a huge reputation. It survived the famine and Fr. Matthew’s total abstinence campaign to become one of the most celebrated Irish whiskey producers. When the influential English journalist Alfred Barnard came to visit in 1886 he described it as the most successful rural distillery in Ireland. Barley was plentifully supplied by local farmers and the distillery had an internal village of around 200 employees including coopers, carpenters, coppersmiths and maltmen. The distillery imported specially sherry-seasoned casks from Cadiz. This is now common practice but Allman claimed to have been one of the first distillers in Ireland to do so. The malting facility was second only to Guinness in Dublin. At a time when Irish whiskey was outselling Scotch by three cases to one Allman’s whiskey earned a popular following in Scotland and was a key brand there during the 1860’s.

According to Adams this particular example, bottled by the Nun’s Island Distillery in Galway, may be the oldest unopened expression of Irish single pot still whiskey. The style called “Irish pot still” or “single pot still” whiskey is a uniquely Hibernian variety. It is defined by the grain ingredients, a mixture of malt with a fine grist of “green” unmalted barley for texture and spice. Whiskey made in a pot still without the green barley is not, by this definition, “Irish pot still whiskey”. Originally introduced as a means of dodging the Malt Tax, the use of raw barley has been a feature of Irish whiskey since the 18th century, became ingrained in the taste and was retained even after the tax was repealed in 1880. Barnard describes how the distillery separated its barley into raw gristing and malting facilities and ran them through two distinct runs in order to make “both Old Pot Still Whisky, designated Irish, and Pure Malt Whisky, both of a superior quality”.

War, prohibition and competition from cheaper and more rapidly produced blended whiskeys meant Allman closed in 1925. Trading as “Allman, Dowden and Co.”, its agents continued selling off stocks until 1939. In Bandon the Old Still Bar (converted from the distillery offices) proudly retained a bottle until 1971. Most of the contents boiled away in a tragic fire that struck the pub that year. This bottle is estimated at 6,000-10,000.

Tags: Allman Distillery Bandon, Irish pot still whiskey, james adam
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DEMAND FOR PICASSO CERAMICS GROWS

Wednesday, April 6th, 2016

Pablo Picasso – Tripode and Gros Oiseau.

Demand for Picasso ceramics continues apace. At Sotheby’s in London buyers drove the total for ‘Important Picasso Ceramics’ to almost double pre-sale expectations. The auction raised £2,201,250 with 98% of the lots sold and around a third of buyers new to Sotheby’s. The total had been estimated at £1.14-1.65 million. The top lot was Tripode, a large terre de faïence vase (1951, numbered 47/75), which sold to a private collector for £191,000. Gros oiseau Picasso, a large terre de faïence vase (1953, numbered 35/75), made £106,250.

Lucy Rosenburgh, Sotheby’s Picasso ceramics specialist, commented afterwards: “These results demonstrate the enormous appeal of Picasso’s ceramics. Collectors can envisage easily fitting these pieces in their homes and living with them – something Picasso would have delighted in when he decided to produce his editions. Over the past five years, London has proved to be the focal point of this market. This growth has coincided with a renewed academic interest in this extraordinarily innovative body of work, created by Picasso with the same passion as his paintings, sculptures and prints.”

(See post on antiquesandartireland.com for March 25, 2016)

Tags: Picasso ceramics, sotheby's
Posted in ART, AUCTIONS, COLLECTIBLES | No Comments »

A SILVER DISH RING GIVEN TO TERENCE MACSWINEY AS A WEDDING PRESENT

Monday, April 4th, 2016

The silver dish ring by Egans of Cork given to Terence MacSwiney as a wedding present in 1917. UPDATE: THIS MADE 3,200 AT HAMMER

An inscribed silver dish ring given as a wedding present to Terence MacSwiney – the Republican Lord Mayor of Cork who died on hunger strike in Brixton Prison in 1920 – comes up at Fonsie Mealy’s Centenary Sale at the Gresham Hotel in Dublin on April 23. The pierced dish ring was a gift from the girls of St. Ita’s, the independent school in Cork founded by his sisters Maire and Aine MacSwiney after Maire was dismissed from her teaching post following her arrest during the Easter Rising.

Terence MacSwiney was a founder member of the Irish Volunteers in Cork. Though the planned Rising in Cork did not take place he and other Volunteers were arrested and detained in England and Wales. In June 1917 he married Muriel (Muirgheal) Murphy of the Cork brewing family. They had one daughter. In 1920 after the assassination of Lord Mayor Tomas Mac Curtain, Terence MacSwiney became Lord Mayor of Cork. On August 12 he was arrested at Cork City Hall and sentenced to two years imprisonment for possession of a military cipher. He died on hunger strike in Brixton Prison 74 days later. His funeral was enormous. His death was a turning point in public support for the Republican struggle.

The dish ring by Egans of Cork, with Dublin hallmarks for 1916, is inscribed: “M .. / Agus / T. Mac S. / La a bposta / 9 / 6 / 17”. The lower rim is inscribed “O Chailinibh Sgoil Ite Naomhta” (from the girls of St. Ita’s). It is estimated at 2,000-3,000. In 1916 Easter Sunday fell on April 23.

UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 3,200 IN A SALE WHICH MADE JUST UNDER 500,000

Tags: Fonsie Mealy, Irish Rising, Terence MacSwiney
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THE YEAR OF THE FRENCH RECALLED AT JAMES ADAM

Sunday, April 3rd, 2016

The Battle of Collooney on September 5, 1798 – in which the French under General Humbert and the United Irishmen were defeated by the Limerick City Militia under the command of Colonel Charles Vereker – is recalled in two significant lots at the James Adam history sale in Dublin on April 19.

In August 1798, sometimes remembered as The Year of the French, General Joseph Humbert led an invasion of Ireland where he joined forces with Irish rebels in an attempt to overthrow the British. With an army of about 3,000 the French and the United Irishmen defeated the British at Castlebar. As they advanced on Sligo their front line was turned by the 300 strong Limerick City Militia. With his advance to Colloney and by various ruses Vereker tricked Humbert into thinking he was the vanguard of a superior force.

Though criticised for being foolhardy and leaving Sligo defenceless Vereker and the militia were held in high esteem for what was seen as a great victory of the French. The Battle of Collooney extinguished a serious threat felt by the British in Ireland. Their bravery was rewarded by gold and silver medals inscribed “To the Heroes of Colooney 5th sept 1798”. Vereker later opposed the Union saying: “I have defended my country with my blood and there is nothing in the gift of the Crown that would tempt me to betray her by my vote”. He inherited the title 2nd Viscount Gort. The family later built Lough Cutra Castle to the designs of John Nash.

Adams sale will include two items listed as the property of the 9th Viscount Gort. The Collooney Presentation Cup made by James Scott in Dublin in 1802, inscribed to the heroes of Colloony with the arms of the City of Limerick is estimated at 20,000-25,000. A sabre, the sword of honour presented to Vereker in gratitude by the city of Limerick with the makers mark of Richard Teed is estimated at 30,000-40,000. UPDATE: THE CUP MADE 20,000 AT AHMMER, THE SABRE 29,000.

The Collooney Presentation Cup (20,000-25,000)

The Collooney Presentation Cup UPDATE: THIS MADE 20,000 AT HAMMER (20,000-25,000)

The Collooney Presentation Sabre (30,000-40,000) UPDATE: THIS MADE 29,000 AT HAMMER

Tags: Charles Vereker, General Humbert, james adam, Viscount Gort
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