antiquesandartireland.com

A large Chinese bronze censer with dragon handles sold for 8,200 at hammer.

These micro mosaics sold for 9,800.

An attractive pair of small 19th century micro mosaic estimated at 800-1,200 sold for 9,800 at Fonsie Mealy’s sale in Castlecomer on October 7.  A Hen and her chicks and A Duck with chick measuring just 6.5 cms together with a third micro mosaic A Parrot on a Perch a were each inscribed “Zechini” on copper back.  They attracted strong bidding.  At the same auction a large Chinese bronze censer from an Irish stately home, which had been estimated at 1,200-1800, sold for 8,200 at hammer.  The auction at Fonsie Mealy realised approximately 250,000 at hammer.

Almost 300 lots from the estate of Mary Soames (1922-2014) – youngest daughter of Winston and Clementine Churchill – will come up at Sotheby’s in London on December 17.  Mary Soames and the legacy of Churchill will include a group of 15 paintings by her father.  These have been described by art historian David Coombs  as “a sublime group of some of the best of Churchill’s work and his most important subjects.”   The sale of almost 300 lots will cover British paintings (Modern and Victorian), decorative arts (English furniture, ceramics, silver, objects of vertue), books and manuscripts and photographs.  Estimates range from £40 to £400,000.

Mary Soames bequeathed her personal papers to the Churchill Archives Centre at Churchill College Cambridge.  It was also Lady Soames’ wish that the important Winston Churchill paintings and other memorabilia she had loaned to Chartwell, her childhood home (now owned by the National Trust), and to other public venues, should stay in place and on public view. Consequently, this body of 38 paintings, described by David Coombs as “a national treasure of major historical and artistic importance”, will be offered to the nation in lieu of inheritance tax.

Mary Spencer-Churchil served in the Auxiliary Territorial Service during World War II, manning anti-aircraft batteries in London, Belgium and Germany. She accompanied her father on several of his most important trips, including to the 1945 Potsdam Conference, where Churchill, Stalin and US President Harry Truman discussed the future of post-war Germany and Europe. Later, as wife of Christopher Soames (prominent Conservative politician who served as minister under Anthony Eden, Harold Macmillan, Alec Douglas-Home and Margaret Thatcher) , she found herself first in Paris, lobbying hard for British membership of the EC. Soon after she was in in Rhodesia, addressing guerrillas prior to the handover of power to Mugabe and his associates in 1980. Sotheby’s sale in London in December will include many of the personal possessions that Mary Soames lived with in her home in Holland Park.

Sir Winston Spencer Churchill
The Goldfish Pool at Chartwell, 1932
Oil on canvas, 25 by 30in.
est. £400,000-600,000
Copyright © Churchill Heritage Ltd UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £1,762,500

Sir Winston Spencer Churchill,
The Weald of Kent under snow, circa 1935
Oil on canvas, 20 by 24in.
Est. £250,000-350,000
Copyright © Churchill Heritage Ltd  UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £626,500

Sir Winston Spencer Churchill,
Tapestries at Blenheim, circa 1930
Oil on canvas, 25 by 30in.
Est. £200,000-300,000
Copyright © Churchill Heritage Ltd.  UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £1,082,500

Portrait miniature of Mozart, 1777, by an anonymous artist.

One of only two authentic paintings of Mozart remaining in private hands will come up at Sotheby’s in London on November 20.  The rare portrait miniature was given by the composer to his then 18 year old cousin Maria Anna Thekla Mozart in exchange for one from her.  It is one of only a dozen or so authentic paintings and drawings of Mozart.

The miniature, which captures the twenty-one year old Mozart, has seldom been seen in colour and has never been reproduced in colour in the standard Mozart literature. An enduring token of the fleeting amorous attachment between the composer and his first love, Mozart’s present to Maria Anna – referred to several times in the series of letters he wrote to her – is being offered for sale by descendants of Maria Anna’s family. It will the highlight at an auction of Music, Contentnal and Russian Books and Manuscripts and is estimated at £200,000-300,000.