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Justin de Villeneuve Portrait of Marsha Hunt. (Click on image to enlarge).

Letter from Jagger in Australia.

A collection of 10 articulate love letters written by Mick Jagger to the beautiful black American singer and inspiration for Brown Sugar Marsha Hunt made £187,250 at Sotheby’s in London today. They had been estimated at up to £100,000 and were purchased by a private collector bidding by telephone.

Mick Jagger’s signature.

They were written in the summer of 1969 while Jagger was in Australia filming Ned Kelly and their relationship was a closely-guarded secret. Hunt was the face of the London musical Hair. After the sale Marsha Hunt commented: “The passage of time has given these letters a place in our cultural history. 1969 saw the ebbing of a crucial, revolutionary era, highly influenced by such artists as The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, James Brown and Bob Dylan. Their inner thoughts should not be the property of only their families, but the public at large, to reveal who these influential artists were – not as commercial images, but their private selves.”

Jewellery, ceramics, art, collectibles, vintage cars and furniture all feature at Mealy’s two day winter fine and decorative art sale in Castlecomer, Co. Kilkenny scheduled for December 11 and 12. The auction, at 10.30 a.m. sharp on each day, will also include Oriental and Tribal art, silver, gold, light fittings, glass, whiskey, wine, militaria, carpets, clocks and scientific instruments. The catalogue is on line. Here is a small selection (you can click on any image to enlarge it):

A pair of carved and jewelled ivory figures attributed to Georg Roth of Hanau, Germany c1900. (4,000-6,000). UPDATE: THE PAIR MADE 6,500.

“Gun dogs protecting the day’s bag” by John Emms (1843-1912) (2,500-3,500).  UPDATE: THIS MADE 5,000

A percussion box lock pocket pistol by G. Wallis (300-500).  UPDATE: THIS MADE 420

A set of antlers from the Great Irish Deer (6,000-9,000).  UPDATE: THESE SOLD FOR 17,000.

Five gold Kruggerrands, 1975 (4,500-6,000).  UPDATE: THESE MADE 5,500

Midleton very rare Irish whiskey, the complete set 1984-2011, 28 bottles each in original presentation case (10,000-15,000).  UPDATE: THIS WAS SOLD PRIVATELY AFTER THE AUCTION WITH THE PRE-SALE ESTIMATES.

A heart shaped sapphire and diamond cluster ring (600-900).  UPDATE: THIS MADE 650

An internally flawless diamond ring, a 1930’s Patek Phillipe timepiece and an unusual gold bangle will feature at O’Reilly’s last sale of 2012.  It takes place at Francis St., Dublin on Wednesday, December 12 at 1 p.m.  Here is a small selection. The catalogue is on-line.

A 4.02 carat diamond ring, internally flawless, is estimated at 110,000-120,000.  UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD.

A vintage Patek Philippe man’s wristwatch is estimated at 5,000-6,000.  UPDATE: THIS MADE 5,000

This Victorian garnet set necklace is estimated at 900-1,200.  UPDATE: THIS MADE 1,350

An Eastern gold bangle is estimated at 1,300-1,500.  UPDATE: THIS MADE 1,420

A Chinese Ming-style blue and white yuhuchunping vase made 180,000 at Sheppards in Durrow today.

This white jade Qing seal made 630,000 at Sheppards in Durrow. (Click on image to enlarge).

The base stamp with Sheppards seal of approval. (Click on image to enlarge).

A Chinese Qing period white jade seal made 630,000 at Sheppards in Durrow today. The top lot came at the culmination of a highly successful three day Dublin and Provincial auction.  From the Marie Louise Beauvoir collection the jade seal, just three centimeters high, was a classic sleeper lot. It had been estimated at a mere 4,000-6,000.  The highest price ever paid for an antique lot at auction in Ireland came after a 20 minute bidding battle between a buyer on the telephone from Beijing and another on the internet from the Chinese city of Jingdezhen.

The second most expensive lot in the sale, a Chinese Ming blue and white yuhuchunping vase estimated at 150,000-200,000 sold for 180,000.

A telegram from General Eisenhower on the eve of VE Day in 1945 and one from General Foch on Armistice Day in 1918 are among the lots at Mealy’s  Christmas sale of rare books, manuscripts and collectibles at the Clyde Court Hotel in Dublin on December 4 and 5 next. Among more than 1,400 items in the auction are rare manuscripts, original stained glass windows by Harry Clarke, watercolours, drawings and a collection of wine.
The Eisenower telegram orders all offensive operations by Allied Expeditionary Force to cease and troops to remain in present positions effective immediately. It was sent from the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force on May 7 and a public announcement was not made until the following day, designated VE Day. The telegram from Marshal Foch sent on Armistice Day 1918 orders a cessation of hostilities later that day. It is addressed to Commander in Chief and was received at 6.10 a.m. at Dublin Wireless. Foch replaced John D.P. French, 1st Earl of Ypres, as Commander of the Allied Forces in the closing stages of the Great War. Effectively dismissed, French was recalled and “promoted” to Commander in Chief Home Forces and, in May 1918, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. It was sent to French, then in Dublin. Each of the telegrams is in a conservation frame and each one is estimated at 3,000-4,000.
There is a Yeats hand coloured poster announcing a 1918 meeting to recover the Lane pictures for Ireland, probably made at the orders of Lady Gregory, who organised the meeting. It is estimated at 5,000-7,000. An original stained glass window, The Visitation, from the Harry Clarke Studio has an estimate of 3,000-4,000. A newly discovered mainly 18th century Irish manuscript with dictionaries of place names and genealogies of Irish families – a rare surviving example of the native Irish Manuscript Book – is estimated at 10,000-15,000 and a signed first edition of Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With the Wind from 1936 is estimated at 1,000-1,500. (Click on any image to enlarge it).

Telegram from General Eisenhower on the eve of V.E. Day 1945.  UPDATE: THIS MADE 2,800

Telegram from Marshal Foch on Armistice Day 1918.  UPDATE: THIS MADE 2,400

First Edition of Gone With the Wind signed by Margaret Mitchell. UPDATE: THIS MADE 900

Original stained glass window, Harry Clarke Studios: “The Visitation. UPDATE: THIS MADE 2,800

A hand coloured Yeats poster from 1918 about a meeting to recover the Lane pictures for Ireland.  UPDATE: THIS MADE 5,000

An 18th century Gaelic manuscript at Mealy’s sale in Dublin. (Click to enlarge). UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD

The piano from the film Casablanca.  UPDATE: IT SOLD FOR  $602,500

One of the world’s favourite film props, the piano from the 1942 film Casablanca comes up at Sotheby’s  in New York on December 14.  The romance between Rick (Humphrey Bogart) and Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman) is movingly established during the famous flashback scene in Paris at La Belle Aurore. The Paris piano on which Sam plays “As Time Goes By” – the key prop in the scene – is estimated at $800,000/1.2 million.

The American Film Institute has ranked Casablanca the most romantic movie of all time and the most quotable. Casablanca won three Oscars in 1943 for Best Picture, Best Writing (Screenplay) and Best Director, with Oscar nominations in five other categories, including Best Score.

UPDATE: IT SOLD FOR  $602,500. It was last auctioned in 1988 when a Japanese collector bought it for $154,000.  Other notable film memorabilia prices include James Bond’s Aston Martin which sold for $4.6 million, Marilyn Monroe’s White Dress which made $5.6 million and Dorothy’s red slippers from The Wizard of Oz which made $612,000.