19TH CENTURY DINING ROOM SUITE UPDATE: THE CLOSING BID WAS 1,000
Even if there is not much interest nowadays in fine dining at home this 19th century dining suite at Mullen’s evening timed online interiors and modern art auction at Laurel Park in Bray on September 13 must represent spectacular value. With 12 Chippendale style dining chairs including two elbow chairs and a rectangular dining table with seven loose leaves the estimate for lot 602 is just €1,000-€1,500. There is a similar estimate on an Irish Georgian longcase clock. The catalogue, with 858 lots, is online.
18CT WHITE GOLD DIAMOND BANGLE. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
This diamond and gold bangle is lot 10 at a sale of jewellery and watches by Adams Blackrock which runs until September 9. It is composed of a row of channel set round brilliant cut diamonds with an approximate weight of 2.20 carats. The estimate is €3,000-€4,000. There are 704 lots on offer in this timed online sale, running concurrently with auctions of antiques and furniture and Irish paintings. The starting time for all three sales is 7 pm.
A continental walnut and veneered cylinder desk UPDATE: THIS MADE 280 AT HAMMER
If the idea of a real bargain in antique furniture floats your boat then a sale by Sean Eacrett on September 7 should be of interest. The entire contents of Templetuohy Antiques in Co. Tipperary will come under the hammer. The auction of 893 lots offers 542 furniture pieces headed by a large pitch pine and oak kitchen table, a Regency rosewood brass inlaid foldover card table and a William IV mahogany console table, all estimated at €800-€1,200.
These are estimates only. At many auctions lots fail to reach the low estimate and sell anyway. Demand for antique furniture is not strong and there are bargains to be found in an appetising selection that includes everything from a 19th century circular rent table with blind tooled green leather top, a pair of wingback chairs with deep button backs and a continental two door vitrine with painted panel doors.
A continental walnut and veneered cylinder writing desk with ivorine panels on inlaid cabriole supports and a Regency Irish supper table with hairy paw supports are each estimated at just €300-€500. A 19th century two door elm armoire (€150-€250), a Regency sofa table (€150-€250), a 19th century ebonised single door side cabinet (€100-€200) and an antique oak dresser (€80-€120) give a good idea of the value to be found.
The selection includes mirrors, rugs, torcheres, various chairs, work tables, desks, blanket boxes, trunks, teapoys and even some cast iron Guinness weather vanes at €60-€100. The auction is on view in Templetuohy today and tomorrow and the live and online sale will take place in Ballybrittas, Co. Laois from 10 am next Monday.
Regency rosewood and brass inlaid card table. UPDATE: THIS MADE 600 AT HAMMER
Original Mazawattee Tea enamel sign. UPDATE: THIS MADE 200 AT HAMMER
This original Mazawattee Tea enamel sign is from Aidan Foley’s online sale of contents from the Groody Bar, Castletroy, Limerick on September 7. The auctioneer has not put an estimate on it but collectibles like this are popular and the entire pub contents are for sale. The name Mazawattee is a derivative of the Hindi word Maza meaning pleasure or fun and the Sinhalese word Wattee meaning a garden. There are 499 lots in the auction.
A desk from the early 18th century attributed to André Charles Boulle. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR €486,400
More than 300 years old this remarkable desk dates to the end of the reign of the Sun King, Louis XIV and is attributed to André-Charles Boulle (1642-1732). It bears all the hallmarks of his work. The projecting frieze drawer and emblematic masks resemble a famous series of drawings attributed to Boulle at the Musée des Art Décoratifs in Paris. The desk is one of a very small number of known examples to retain its original cartonnier, a small ornamental box for documents. Estimated by Christie’s at €400,000-€600,000 it is from the fabulous collection of Graziella Patino de Ortiz Linares (1900-1980) to be auctioned in Paris on September 23.
Masterpieces by Watteau and Fragonard stand alongside classical furniture and a magnificent collection of silver in an auction of 60 lots with an overall estimate of €23 million – €33 million. Among numerous highlights is Jean-Honoré Fragonard’s The Longed for Moment, or Happy Lovers, a composition characteristic of his lively and spontaneous style painted with great freedom. The estimate is around €2.5 million. A glittering figure in Paris in the 1920’s Graziella was daughter of the Bolivian business magnate Don Simon Iturri Patino (1860-1947) known as the Tin King. With refined taste and great erudition she built a collection over four decades in one of the most beautiful private mansions on the widest and one of the most expensive streets in Paris, Avenue Foch.
UPDATE: THE AUCTION REALISED €38,736,120
Jean-Honoré Fragonard (1732-1806) – The Longed for Moment or Happy Lovers. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR €10.6 MILLION
A Killarney davenport UPDATE: THIS MADE 12,000 AT HAMMER
Some spectacular though not strictly speaking vernacular Killarney furniture has crept on to the catalogue for a sale now on at Adam’s. Headed by a profusely inlaid davenport the four top lots at the timed online Irish Vernacular auction which runs until Monday September 7 are fine Killarney wood pieces.
Highly decorated pieces like this were crafted for the commercial tourist trade. Vernacular furniture like dressers, sugán chairs, larders and blanket boxes locally made throughout Ireland was designed and built for utilitarian purposes in rural homes and farmhouses. Some of it is very fine and collectible.
The exceptional davenport, complete with carved bog oak pillars includes marquetry vignettes and trailing foliate motifs of shamrock, dog rose, oak leaf and ivy and would grace any sale. The estimate is €12,000-€16,000. A Killarney centre table has an estimate of €8,000-€10,000. There is as well a chess and draughts table and a circular centre table each estimated at €6,000-€8,000.
An 18th century painted larder. UPDATE: THIS MADE 1,400 AT HAMMER
Among an interesting selection of vernacular furniture on offer is a cerise painted shelved larder with panel doors, a green painted pine cupboard, a stained pine kitchen dresser, a green painted plate rack stand, a buttermilk painted kitchen table, a red and white painted three seater settle bed, an open spit rack, an unusual set of sugán ladder back chairs, a railback chair with a stained elmwood seat, various farmhouse kitchen tables, a sage green painted Irish folk chiffonier with an ornate carved gallery back,a green painted marriage chest and a bog oak book slide.
A red and white painted three seater settle bench. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
There is a decorative wrought iron harnen stand, used near open fires to dry and crisp oatcakes, a beechwood butter table, a 19th century wooden rocking cradle, a milking stool, a coopered churn and paddle, a domestic butter churn, a wrought iron rush light, willow baskets, a stained oak hedge chair, toleware cannisters and a carved bog oak quaintly named fisherman’s priest. This object was used to humanely and quickly kill a catch. The name derives from the idea that it administers the last rites to the fish.
There is no doubt about it. Vernacular furniture is attractive, evocative and suits many contemporary settings. In this auction it is matched with early 19th century Irish glass decanters, pedestal bowls, jugs and dishes, there is a selection of spongeware and a glazed ceramic mether cup, a stoneware flask, contemporary ceramics, art, Irish harps, duck decoys, Claddagh rings, banknotes and a number of smaller Killarney wood pieces. The catalogue is online.
John Crampton Walker (1890-1942) – A cottage by the dunes. UPDATE: THIS MADE 700 AT HAMMER
Framed photographic portraits of the Showa Emperor and the Empress Nagako of Japan. UPDATE: THE CLOSING BID WAS €1,120
One of the more unusual lots at the timed online sale by South Dublin Auctions on August 30 is a pair of signed photographic portraits of the Showa Emperor Hirohito and the Empress Nagako of Japan. Each is hand signed by the emperor and empress in beautiful blue Imperial presentation leather frames. Handsigned items from Japanese monarchs are exceptionally rare as they were only gifted to heads of states or very senior diplomats. These are from the Dublin residence of David Neligan, former Irish ambassador to Japan and head of the Anglo-Irish section of the Department of Foreign Affairs for five years at the height of the Northern Troubles. Mr. Neligan died aged 90 in 2025. The portraits are estimated at €6,000-€12,000. UPDATE: THIS CLOSING BID WAS 2,400
SAPPHIRE AND DIAMOND CLUSTER RING. UPDATE: THIS MADE €4,600 AT HAMMER
This sapphire and diamond cluster ring is lot 402 at O’Reilly’s sale in Francis St., Dublin on August 26. The sapphire, of Sri Lankan origin, is 2.67 carats and the estimated weight of the diamond surround and shoulders is 0.84 carat. The estimate is €4,600-€5,200. The auction offers 586 lots of jewellery, silver, watches and coins. The catalogue is online.
An advertising print for the Dingle Peninsula by Paul Henry. UPDATE: THIS MADE 180 AT HAMMER
Over 500 lots will come under the hammer at O’Donovan’s in Newcastle West on August 29. The online only sale includes an advertising poster for the Dingle Peninsula with artwork by Paul Henry, a signed Pelé Brazil CBD jersey, a signed poster of The Pogues and a Versace exhibition poster for the V & A Museum featuring Linda Evangelista along with a selection of antiques, collectibles, vintage tools, fishing gear and collectibles. The catalogue is online.
The pistol lanyard worn by Michael Collins on the day he was shot at Beal na mBlath. UPDATE: THIS WAS PASSED
Hitler, the Titanic, de Valera, Collins – if celebrity sells then two auctions in Cork on August 29 have it in spades. The choice between Lynes and Lynes in Carrigtwohill and Marshs in Ballinhassig is entirely yours. If this poses a logistical challenge the good news is that both sales are online and they can be easily viewed separately next week.
Regular readers already know that a heart shaped pendant cherished by a Titianic survivor who lost her husband and the Mercedes used by Hitler’s Ambassador to Ireland during World War II on whom the then Taoiseach Eamon de Valera called with condolences on the death of the Fuhrer are to be sold at Lynes and Lynes and Marshs respectively.
With 472 lots in Carrigtwohill and 333 in Ballinhassig each sale offers much more than such singular collectibles.
Lynes and Lynes has Michael Collins’s pistol lanyard, given by his older sister Mary Collins Powell to Comdt. Frank O’Friel at Shanakiel Hospital exactly 104 years ago. Commandant O’Friel was part of the escort of the remains, brought to Shanakiel following the shooting of Michael Collins at Beal na Blath on August 22, 1922. The coffin was moved from Shanakiel to Penrose Quay under military escort which included Comdt. O’Friel and General Tom Ennis. The estimate on this unique piece of Collins memorabilia is €10,000-€15,000. Comdt. O’Friel’s gold medal for the Eastern Command Football Championship in 1927 is estimated at €200-€300.
A large dolls house and contents at Lynes and Lynes. UPDATE: THIS MADE 400 AT HAMMER
The sale includes lots from the estate of the well known and greatly liked Cork businessman Ted Crosbie including some Cork and Scottish silver, seascape paintings, yachting books and period furniture. Viewing for an auction which includes a wide variety of items ranging from Waterford Crystal to toys, trains, postcards and a selection of framed posters relating to Youghal in days of yore starts today.
The auction by Marshs next Saturday will jog even more memories of those bygone days. On offer here is the collection of Alan and Mary Barry of the Ramble Inn, Ballinhassig.
There are vintage tractors and lorries, original cast iron famine pots, tractor seats, horse drawn potato diggers, ploughs and thistle toppers, a 1947 flat bed truck, old railway signs, enamel advertising signs, an antique brass cash register and all sorts of agricultural memorabilia.
A Victorian antique cash register at Marshs. UPDATE: THIS MADE 200 AT HAMMER
This is an auction that will excite considerable interest, particularly at a time when the market for collectible memorabilia is so strong. The same cannot be said for the furniture market, but two lots in this auction will excite the interest of serious collectors of contemporary furniture. They are two early furniture pieces by the Riverstick based maker Joseph Walsh whose stellar reputation is now global. A Canadian cherrywood three part wall cabinet stamped December 1999 and a hand crafted cherrywood TV cabinet will be sold separately. Viewing gets underway in Ballinhassig on August 26 at 10.30 am.
The German Ambassador’s 1937 Mercedes 170V Cabriolet B Saloon, restored in 1988/99, will not be the only scene stealer at Marshs. Titanic survivor Florence Angle’s c1900 tourmaline and half pearl brooch and the sandstone heart shaped pendant she cherished will bring international attention to the sale at Lynes and Lynes there is much here to excite the attention of avid auction watchers.
A horse drawn potato digger at Marshs. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 100
