antiquesandartireland.com

THE only surviving autograph manuscript for Sergei Rachmaninov’s Second Symphony in E Minor, OP.27  is to be sold at Sotheby’s in London on May 20.  Presumed lost since soon after the symphony’s premiere in St Petersburg in 1908, it was rediscovered nearly a century later in 2004 in the estate of a European private collector.  It is estimated at £1-1.5 million.

This is one of the few autograph manuscripts of a symphony, central to the international orchestral repertory, remaining in private hands. In its 320 pages, it contains a wealth of new information, revealing Rachmaninov’s compositional processes when he was at the height of his powers, in one of his greatest works. There is even new unpublished material, unknown to Rachmaninov scholars and absent in any edition of the symphony.

UPDATE: IT SOLD FOR £1,202,500

THE top lot at Adams history sale today was the Proclamation of Independence of the Irish Republic printed in Dublin on April 23 1916 by Christopher Brady, Michael Molloy and Liam O’Brien for the Provisional Government of the Irish Republic.  It made a hammer price of 90.000.  The Proclamation was read from the steps of the GPO, Dublin by Padraig Pearse on Easter Monday, thereby heralding the Easter Rising and Ireland’s advance towards self-determination.  Eoin MacNeill’s countermanding order to the Rising, source of much confusion, made  30,000 at hammer.  The gold medal won at Wimbledon by Harold Segersen Mahony in 1896, the last Irishman to win Wimbledon, sold for a hammer price of 24,000. An 1816 Dublin freedom box made 8,000 and  a tea service presented to Patrick  J. Smyth under the terms of the will of William Smith O’Brien sold for 5,700.  The sale brought in just under 310,000.

(See posts on antiquesandartireland.com for April 10 and April 5, 2014).

A George III Irish freedom box from 1816 made 8,000.

The Proclamation of Independence of the Irish Republic
Printed in Dublin, 23rd April 1916 by Christopher Brady, Michael Molloy and Liam O’Brien for the Provisional Government of the Irish Republic (100.000-150,000).

An Ulster Bank £5 note from 1906 estimated at £2,500-3,000.

A number of rarities are included in a selection of Irish banknotes at a sale of paper money by Dix Noonan Webb in London on May 24.  A 1906 Ulster Bank £5 note bearing the signature R. Patton is estimated at £2,500-3,000.  A Central Bank of Ireland £100 note dated November 11, 1959 is estimated at  £1.500-2,000 and a National Bank Ltd. £10  note dated 1931 is estimated at £1.200-1,500.  They are among a remarkable total of 67 Irish notes in the auction.

A selection of antique and collectible items will come under the hammer at Woodwards sale in Cork on April 16.  The auction features some old Irish glass and silver, Waterford chandeliers, antique furniture, garden items and collectibles.  The catalogue is online. Here is a small selection.

George II mahogany open armchair (1,000-2,000). UPDATE: THIS MADE 1,400

An Irish Regency serving table (2,500-4,500).

An antique glass Cork water jug (250-350).

Irish silver dish ring Edmond Johnson Dublin 1893 (1,200-1,500)  UPDATE: THIS MADE 1,500

Eoin MacNeill’s Easter 1916 manuscript countermanding order (30,000-50,000).  UPDATE: THIS MADE 30,000

The Proclamation of Independence of the Irish Republic
Printed in Dublin, 23rd April 1916 by Christopher Brady, Michael Molloy and Liam O’Brien for the Provisional Government of the Irish Republic (100.000-150,000). UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 90,000

A copy of Eoin MacNeill’s manuscript order countermanding the Easter Rising of 1916 is one of the most valuable historic lots at Adam’s sale of 800 Years of Irish Political, Literary and Military History in Dublin on April 15.  The single sheet of folded notepaper was despatched on the evening of Easter Saturday with the aim of forcing cancellation of plans for the Rising. It caused much confusion.  As a result there was no rising in Cork or Limerick. In Dublin the IRB group led by Pearse, Connolly and Tom Clarke made the decision to delay by 24 hours and struck on Easter Monday when much of the British garrison went to the races at Fairyhouse.  The rest is history.  The order is estimated at 30,000-50,000.

The auction of nearly 500 lots offers memorabilia of Michael Collins, Eamon de Valera, Roger Casement, Robert Emmet and a huge cast of Irish historical figures.  An original copy of the Proclamation is estimated at 100,000-150,000.  There are historic photographs, artefacts and even the 18 carat gold medal won the Harold Segerson Mahony (1867-1905) at Wimbledon in 1896.  The medal of the last Irishman to win Wimbledon is estimated at 15,000-20,000.

UPDATE:  The sale realised just under 310,000.  The Proclamation was the top lot.

The Meiyintang Chenghua sold for a world record price for Chinese porcelain.

The Clark Ding Basin

There was a world record price for a piece of Chinese porcelain today when the Meiyintang Chenghua Chicken Cup sold for US$36.05 million at Sotheby’s in Hong Kong. It was bought by the Shanghai collector Mr. Liu Yiqian.

Nicolas Chow, Deputy Chairman of Sotheby’s Asia and International Head of Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, presents the Meiyintang Chicken Cup

The Clark Ding Basin, a magnificently carved Dingyao basin, Northern Song dynasty, from the collection of legendary antique dealer Sakamoto Gor? sold for US$18.8 million, the second highest price for Song Ceramics at auction. 

(See post on antiquesandartireland.com for March 14, 2014).