This pair or late 17th/early 18th century Italian portraits made €73,000 at Fonsie Mealy’s fine art and antique sale. With a provenance to the Ponsonby’s of Ballynatray, Waterford the oils on canvas depict classical female saints. A c1630 painting of an angel and the dead Christ at candlelight from the Circle of Triomphe Bigot made €19,000 and a Madonna and Child with the infant St. John the Baptist by Raffaellino del Garbo (1466-1524) made €13,000. An early 20th century Fabergé circular pill box made €15,000.
Interior of Reidy’s Wine Vault bar to be sold by Lynes and Lynes. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR €73,000 AT HAMMER
Reidy’s Wine Vaults in Cork or the Black Cat in Kilkenny? Against a background where the market for collectibles is performing strongly contents from these popular and now closed watering holes will come up at sales by Aidan Foley and Lynes and Lynes next week.
Aidan Foley will hold three days of online sales with antiques, silver, art, automobilia and pub memorabilia on May 4, 5 and 6 at 6 pm each day. Along with some contents from Kilkenny’s Black Cat bar on Black Mill St. in Kilkenny there is art by Mabel Young, Carol Ann Waldron, Ivan Sutton, Markey Robinson and Sean Keating. The auction has a good selection of vintage forecourt signs, enamel signs, modern dealership signs and paraphernalia like oil cans which are also in strong demand. The auction is on view in Doneraile over this Bank Holiday weekend.
The fine interior bar fittings from Reidy’s Wine Vault at Lancaster Quay in Cork, which has been sold and is to become a restaurant, will come under the hammer as one lot at a sale by Denis Lynes on May 9. The bar counter, which measures over 29′ in length, back bar, dividers, cabinets and light fittings is estimated at €70,000-€120,000. There will be viewing on the premises on May 6 from 10 am to 5 pm. In March the complete fittings from the West End Bar in Portadown, one of the oldest licensed premises in Co. Armagh, made a hammer price of €120,000 at an auction by Victor Mee.
Mabel Young (1889-1974) – A Cottage in a landscape at Aidan Foley’s sale. UPDATE: THIS MADE 900 AT HAMMER
MID 1960’S MAHOGANY BAR FRONT. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
This mid 1960’s mahogany bar front and back, copied from an original Victorian bar, is the top lot at Victor Mee’s April advertising and collectibles online sale on April 30. Lot 552 is complete with two matching 20th century oval Pure Pot Still Power’s advertising mirrors and a large Power’s Whiskey John’s Lane Distillery advertising mirror. It is estimated at €30,000-€60,000. The auction offers 738 lots and the catalogue is online.
A pair of important 18th Century Italian Baroque style giltwood Console Mirrors. UPDATE: THESE WERE UNSOLD
These 18th century mirrors from Bishopscourt House in Co. Kildare come up as lot 1017 at Fonsie Mealy’s three day Chatsworth Summer Fine Art sale in Castlecomer on May 1. The auction with over 1,300 lots gets underway tomorrow (April 29). The catalogue is online. The mirrors are estimated at €3,000-€4,000.
EILEEN GREY – THE TRANSAT CHAIR IN GREY LEATHER (€4,000-6,000). UPDATE: THIS MADE 4,600 AT HAMMER
Danish, Italian and French designer furniture from the 1950’s, ’60’s and ’70’s will feature at the timed online design sale at de Veres which runs until April 28. The auction offers furniture by designers and makers like Eileen Gray, Arne Jacobsen, Eero Saarinen Ico Parisi and contemporary labels including Ligne Roset, Knoll, Fritz Hansen. There is contemporary Irish art by John Shinnors, Barrie Cooke, Charles Tyrrell, Elizabeth Magill, Felim Egan and others. The sale is on view at de Veres.
FELIM EGAN – BLUE NOTES (€2,000-4,000). UPDATE: THIS MADE 2,600 AT HAMMER
A bow brooch set with 11 Colombian emeralds. UPDATE: THIS MADE 11,000 AT HAMMER
A rare gold and platinum bow design brooch set with 11 Colombian emerald cabochons of varying size, an estate cabinet from Clonmeen House in Banteer and a re-discovered Roderic O’Conor painting exhibited at the Salon des Independents in Paris in 1904 are among the delights at Fonsie Mealy’s Chatsworth summer fine art sale in Castlecomer on April 29, 30 and May 1.
More than 1,300 lots will come under the hammer, including contents from Clonbrock House, Galway, items once at Castletown and objects from other stately homes in Ireland. There is Georgian and Regency furniture from a commission by Gillows in London for Lord Clonbrock, luxury fashion and jewellery, Irish and international art and a variety of collectibles. An estate cabinet from Clonmeen with numerous pigeon holes was in the collection of Major Stephen Grehan (1895-1972). He fought at the Western Front and at Salonica during World War I and later in Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq). The sale feature more than 450 furniture lots including Gillows furniture from Clonbrock and Castletown. An early rosewood sofa table by Gillows of London and Lancaster dates to around 1801 – the time of the Clonbrock commission – and is estimated at just €1,000-€1,500.
Lot 249 is an Irish 19th century gold cased pocket watch by John Donegan, Dublin and the sale offers a collection of Irish silverware. The auction is on view in Castlecomer from 1.30 pm to 5 pm on April 26 and from 10.30 am to 5 pm on April 27 and 28. The catalogue is online.
An Irish George III estate cabinet from Clonmeen House, Banteer. UPDATE: THIS MADE 1,900 AT HAMMER
A pair of George III commodes in the manner of William Moore. UPDATE: THESE WERE UNSOLD
From old vellum manuscripts forging the politics of a decade that shaped modern Europe to William Moore style commodes, a landmark achievement in aviation and banshee shrieks that foretold the sudden death of Lord Rossmore in 1801 the breadth of Adam’s Country House Collections sale at Howth Castle next week is astonishing. Every auction tells a story. This one is more storied than most.
Adam’s md Stuart Cole is usually drawn to a fine piece of Georgian furniture or a compelling portrait. This time he was stopped in his tracks by three vellum books. Lot 522 (€7,000-€10,000) comprises the working field books of two successive English envoys of King William III. Operating in northern Germany and the Baltic – one of the most consequential diplomatic postings in late 17th century Europe – they are extraordinary for the density of historic material. According to Cole every name – Nottingham, Marlborough, Rooke, Fagen – is a thread that pulls you deeper into the politics of a decade that shaped modern Europe. “That they have survived at all is remarkable. That they have surfaced here at Howth Castle makes this for me one of the most quietly thrilling lots in the entire auction” he said.
17th/18th century vellum record books from an era that forged modern Europe. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
No documented furniture by William Moore survives but a small group is attributed to the famous Dublin maker on the basis of a commode made in 1782 for the third Duke of Portland, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. There is an irovy plaque with Moore’s name. Similar pieces are held in museums like the Victoria and Albert in London and the Metropolitan in New York. Lot 463 at Howth is a pair of shaped hardwood and inlaid commodes in the manner of William Moore by descent from the collection of Colonel Edge of Marlay Grange, Rathfarnham and estimated at €15,000-€20,000.
Henry Robert Westenra, third Baron Rossmore, was a notable patron of Dublin artist William Brocas.He commissioned Brocas to paint a series of the Rossmore estate on the outskirts of Monaghan along with family portraits. A portrait by Brocas of Henry’s first wife Anne Douglas-Hamilton, illegitimate daughter of Douglas Hamilton, 8th Duke of Hamilton, was described by Anne Crookeshank and the Knight of Glin as the most distinguished example of his work in this genre. Lot 542 is estimated at €10,000-€15,000. The title of Baron Rosssmore of Monaghan was created in 1796 for General Robert Cuninghame who had fought at the Battle of Culloden in 1746. His passing in 1801 is renowned in Irish folklore as guests including Sir Jonah Barrington heard banshee shrieks shouting Rossmore, Rossmore just before his sudden death.
William Brocas RHA (c1794-1868) – Portrait of Anne Douglas-Hamilton. UPDATE: THIS MADE 8,000 AT HAMMER
The first non stop east west crossing of the Atlantic was completed in April 1928 aboard the Junkers W33 Bremen by an Irish German crew. It left from Baldonnel and battled strong headwinds in a 3,200 mile flight that lasted 36 hours. The crew was celebrated worldwide. They received a ticker tape parade in New York and became the first non Americans to receive the Distinguished Flying Cross, presented by President Calvin Coolidge. Lot 664 is an inscribed Irish brass hilted officers sword presented to co-pilot Major James Fitzmaurice who became commanding officer of the Irish Air Corps at Baldonnel. The estimate is €3,000-€5,000.
Adam’s auction will be online only on May 27 and live and online at Adam’s St. Stephen’s Green on May 28. It is on view at Howth Castle from 11 am to 5 pm on today, tomorrow and Monday. The catalogue is online.
The sword presented to Major James Fitzmaurice, co-pilot of the Junkers W33 Bremen which made the first east-west trans Atlantic Crossing in 1928. UPDATE: THIS MADE 3,800 AT HAMMER
The Ocean Dream, a triangular cut fancy vivid blue-green diamond of 5.50 carats. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR CHF 13,567,500 | US$ 17,366,400 to become the most expensive fancy vivid blue-green diamond ever sold at auction
The Ocean Dream, the largest fancy vivid blue-green diamond known to exist, will come up at Christie’s magnificent jewels sale in Geneva on May 13. Weighing 5.50 carats it is fashioned in a striking triangular shape extracted from a rough found in Central Africa in the 1990’s that weighed 11.70 carats. A stone of this colour and size is extremely scarce. The diamond is type Ia, amongst the purest of natural gems. The estimate is CHF7,000,000 to 10,000,000.
A RUGBY BALL FROM THE 1981 APARTHEID TOUR SIGNED BY THE IRISH AND SOUTH AFRICAN SQUADS UPDATE: THIS MADE 920 AT HAMMER
Lot 358 at Mullen’s timed online Collector’s Cabinet sale which runs to the evening of April 27 recalls memories of the highly controversial Ireland rugby tour to South Africa in 1981. The IRFU defied a worldwide sporting boycott on South Africa and sanctioned the tour, despite condemnation from the anti-apartheid movement and across the political spectrum in Ireland and Britain. The apartheid tour was condemned by the Irish public and is seen as a low point in Irish rugby. The Irish team played seven matches and won three. Donal Spring, Hugo MacNeill, Tony Ward and Moss Keane refused to travel. In the first test the South African player Erroll George Tobias became the first coloured player to appear in an international for the Republic of South Africa. The rugby ball is estimated at €400-€600.
HERMES KELLY II RETOURNE 25. UPDATE: THIS MADE €22,000 at hammer
This Hermes Kelly handbag, in the Retourne style, in Black Cheri calfskin leather with gold hardware is lot 20 at Morgan O’Driscoll’s auction of fine jewellery and watches, which runs until the evening of April 22. From the 2025 collection it is new and unworn and estimated at €10,000-€15,000. There are 157 lots on the catalogue for this online auction. The most expensively estimated – at €40,000-€60,000 – is a pair of Art Deco ruby and diamond ear pendants set with six cabochon rubies weighing approximately 17 carats.
RUBY AND DIAMOND EAR PENDANTS. UPDATE: THESE MADE €38,000 at hammer
