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Sinn Fein Delegates at Hans Place, London negotiating the terms of Irish freedom. An original monochrome press photograph depicting from left to right: Arthur Griffith, Edmund Duggan, Michael Collins, Robert Barton (at back), Erskine Childers, George Gavin Duffy and John Chartres at Adams history sale. This rare image with Collins looking directly at the camera is estimated at 1,000-1,500.  UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 2,600 AT HAMMER.

HAROLD SEGERSON MAHONY (1867-1905) THE LAST IRISHMAN TO WIN WIMBLEDON, 1896 His 18ct gold winner’s medal by Harry Soane, London, awarded by the All England Club to H.S. Mahony 1896   UPDATE: THIS MADE 24,000 AT HAMMER.

A fascinating cast of Irish historical figures peoples the James Adam sale of 800 Years of Irish Political, Literary and Military History in Dublin on April 15.  The auction of nearly  500 lots  offers memorabilia of Michael Collins, Eamon de Valera, Roger Casement, Robert Emmet and many more.  An original copy of the Proclamation is estimated at 100,000-140,000.  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.  The catalogue is online.  Here is a taster.

Family heirlooms from the Marquesses of Londonderry and the Barons Raglan will be sold at Christie’s in London on May 22 and 23.  The 500 lot sale features souvenirs of Wellington, Waterloo, the Crimea and works of art.   There is memorabilia from the Charge of the Light Brigade, a gift from a Tsar and a lock of hair from the Duke of Wellington.  The sale is estimated to bring in around £1.5 million.

The two most prominent members of both families were the Ist Baron Raglan, Lord FitzRoy Somerset, the commander of British troops during the Crimean War and Wellington’s right hand man and the 2nd Marquess of Londonderry, Lord Castlereagh, the early 19th century statesman who played a leading role in the defeat of Napoleon.

full length portrait of Castlereagh, after Sir Thomas Lawrence P.R.A (£5,000-8,000). Courtesy Christie’s Images Ltd., 2014.

The field marshal’s baton that Raglan was awarded after his victory at Inkerman in the Crimea (£250,000-350,000). Courtesy Christie’s Images Ltd., 2014.

A mahogany armchair by Holland and Sons, used by Wellington in his office at Horse Guards £4,000-6,000) Courtesy Christie’s Images Ltd., 2014.

THE Spring rare book sale by Fonsie Mealy Auctioneers takes place at the Club House, Hotel, Kilkenny on April 2.  There are antiquarian and rare books, print and coloured plate books, maps and bindings, Irish literature and signed edition.  The sale will feature 600 lots including 80 boxed lots.  The catalogue is online.  Here is a small selection:  UPDATE:  The sale realized 80,000 on hammer and over 80% of lots were sold.

Rare 1939 Irish Proclamation
Hayes (Stephen), Russell (Sean), & others.  UPDATE: THIS MADE 460

An Extremely Fine binding, possibly by Mullen
Genealogy: Grace (Sheffield) Memoirs of the Family of Grace, lg. thick 4to L. 1823. V. Limited Edition.  UPDATE: THIS MADE 825

Hondius (H.) Irlandia; Udrone; Ultonia, Conatia et Media; Ultonia Oriental; Hiberniae V Tabula.. c.1635.
London. UPDATE: THIS MADE 450

Cork Printing: Robertson (Wm.) The History of America, 2 vols. Cork (Thos. White) 1778  UPDATE: THIS MADE 130

Rare Dublin directory – Shaw (Henry) New Pictorial Directory 1850 UPDATE: THIS MADE 550

A family photograph with Christy Brown.

The last remaining archive of material relating to the work of Christy Brown  (1931-1981), the Irish writer and painter whose life inspired the Oscar winning film, My left Foot, was sold at Bonhams in London today for £37,500.   It had been estimated at £30,000-40,000.

It was bought by the National Library of Ireland and the National Archive.   The material purchased includes previously unseen sketches, paintings and unpublished poems as well as a large cache of correspondence and writings.  At its core are his private letters, in particular, his life- long correspondence with Katriona Maguire who started visiting Christy in his adolescence and nurtured his love of writing and painting. The 43 letters – five written with his left foot before he was advised to stop doing this in order to develop more control over this other limbs – run from 1945-1976, five years before his death. They include his most personal thoughts and observations amounting in the words of Brown’s biographer, Georgina Hambleton, ‘almost to a spiritual diary’.

Christy Brown became an international celebrity with the publication of his best selling autobiography, My Left Foot, in 1954. His work gained new recognition when a film of the book was released in 1989.  Daniel Day Lewis won the first of his three Academy Awards for Best Actor for his portrayal of the writer.

The Meiyintang Chenghua “Chicken Cup”
UPDATE: SOLD FOR US$36.05 MILLION, A WORLD RECORD PRICE FOR A PIECE OF CHINESE PORCELAIN.

Sotheby’s will offer a “Chicken Cup”  –  the most expensive, most sought-after and most reproduced Chinese objects since the Ming dynasty –  at their Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art spring sales in Hong Kong on April 8.  The Meiyintang Chicken Cup – estimated at $25.6-38.5 million US – is one of only four preserved in private hands. The Meiyintang Collection is Europe’s grandest collection of Imperial Chinese porcelain.

First created in the Chenghua reign (1465 – 87), “Chicken cups” have been praised, desired and reproduced by Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) emperors and other discerning literati collectors.  With a legendary aura that goes well beyond their immediate art-historical importance,“chicken cups” have in modern days set record prices for Chinese art in 1980 and 1999.

Chenghua “Chicken cups” were produced in extremely small quantities. Apart from the present example, only three others are preserved in private hands and no more than a few of the world’s most prestigious museums can boast an example among their collections, including The National Palace Museum, Taipei; the British Museum, London; the Victoria & Albert Museum, London; the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge; the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; and the Collections Baur, Geneva.  The present example was sold at Sotheby’s in Hong Kong in 1999 for $3.7 million US.

UPDATE:  It sold for a world record price of US$36.05 million to Shanghai collector Mr. Liu Yiqian.