An interesting sale of 500 lots of furniture and garden items from the Old Rectory at Monasterevin in Co. Kildare will be held by Ashgrove Auctioneers on May 10. The on the premises auction offers everything from a Wylie and Lockhead couch to a half tester bed. The catalogue is online and the auction will be live on the saleroom.com Here is a small selection:
A Wylie and Lockhead couch (600-800). UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 600
A granite mill stone (200-400) UPDATE: THIS MADE 260
A French 19th century brass chandelier (1,000-2,000) UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 1,000
An Irish golf pocket watch (800-1,200) UPDATE: THIS MADE 850
The collection of 12 Gaelic Football medals. UPDATE: THESE MADE 5,400
What have Mick Jagger, Maria Callas and an historic collection of 12 GAA medals got in common? They all feature at Whyte’s Eclectic Collector sale in Dublin on May 14.
A collection of 12 Co. Cork Gaelic Football medals including an 1890 All Ireland Championship medal is estimated at 3,500-4,500. It includes the medals won by William Buckley at the Cork County Football Championship in 1889 and the Football Championship of Ireland in 1890.
There is a limited edition colour lithograph print of a portrait of Mick Jagger by Ronnie Wood. Number 179 out of an edition of 295 of a print entitled “Paint it Black – Out of Control” is estimated at 1,500-2,000. A signed photograph of Maria Callas dated 1971 has an estimated of 300-500. The Capital Records photographic studio image is inscribed “To Michael Comber – Sincerely – Maria Callas”. There is much for collectors to pour over in this sale of 470 lots. The catalogue is online.
A photograph signed by Maria Callas UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
Ronnie Wood – “Paint it Black – Out of Control”. UPDATE: THIS MADE 1,500
The largest rough diamond discovered in over a century – the 1109 carat Lesedi la Rona – will be offered in a stand alone sale at Sotheby’s in London on June 29. The largest rough diamond in existence today is estimated to make more than $70 million. Lesedi la Rona (“Our Light” in the Tswana language spoken in Botswana) was uncovered by Lucara Diamond Corp. in November 2015, at their Karowe mine in Botswana. Around the size of a tennis ball (measuring approximately 66.4 x 55 x 42 mm), this colossal rough diamond of exceptional transparency and quality is around 2.5 to over 3 billion years old.
Diamonds have been mined continuously for centuries in multiple locations around the world and yet nothing of the size and quality of Lesedi La Rona has been found in over 100 years. In terms of its size, the rough is exceeded only by the legendary Cullinan Diamond, mined in South Africa in 1905. The 3016.75-carat Cullinan Diamond produced nine major diamonds that are part of the historic Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom, including the Great Star of Africa – currently the largest top-quality polished diamond in existence, weighing 530.20 carats.
According to a study by the Gemological Institute of America, the Lesedi La Rona’s “top colour and transparency exemplify the “limpid” appearance commonly associated with type IIa diamonds” – a rare and coveted subgroup which comprises less than 2% of all gem diamonds. Stones in this group are “the most chemically pure and often show extraordinary optical transparency”.
David Bennett, Worldwide Chairman of Sotheby’s Jewellery Division, commented: “The Lesedi la Rona is simply outstanding and its discovery is the find of a lifetime. It is a huge honour for Sotheby’s to have been entrusted with its sale. Every aspect of this auction is unprecedented. Not only is the rough superlative in size and quality, but no rough even remotely of this scale has ever been offered before at public auction”. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
A life size portrait of James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde by Sir Peter Lely and Studio of Sir Peter Lely (1618-1680) is among the highlights at Mealy’s sale of contents from Lotabeg at Tivoli in Cork on May 24. A pair of artworks by Dave de Coninck (1644-1680) – Garden Friends and Guarding the Day’s Catch – is estimated at around 50,000. Last year a pair of works by the same artist sold for 120,000. The auction will include paintings, furniture, a collection of Cork and Irish silver, rare books, porcelain, Oriental carpets, chandeliers, Indian and Asian art and Irish historic collectibles.
(See post on antiquesandartireland.com for April 27, 2016)
Sir Peter Lely and Studio of Sir Peter Lely (1618-1680), James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 120,000
This large blue and white lotus bouquet dish at Sotheby’s sale of Important Chinese Art in London on May 11 embodies the creativity of Qing craftsmen.
They combined contemporary elements with antiquity. The fine porcelain body and smooth glaze is typical of the Qianlong period. The lotus bouquet motif is inspired by the wares of the early Ming Dynasty.
Dishes painted with a lotus bouquet were first revived under the Yongzheng Emperor who was keen to see historical pieces replicated as a reminder of the nations glorious past. By the Qianlong reign the style of painting of this motif was slightly altered and applied on dishes of various shapes and sizes of which this is the largest known type. It is estimated at £60,000-80,000.
The auction will feature jades, early ceramics and Chinese furniture.
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
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
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.
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.
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)
