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A Georgian carved fireplace centre panel. (Click on image to enlarge).

One of a pair of early Irish Regency corbel heads from a fire surround.

A collection of 14 Irish Georgian and Regency marble panels by the Dublin based Courtenay family of stone carvers comes up at Matthews auction in Oldcastle, Co. Meath on November 13. They come from the collection of a family who came to Ireland in 1610 from the village of Courtenay, north of Paris, to work on the rebuilding of the vault of Christchurch Cathedral in Dubin, which had collapsed.

For the next 400 years the family lived as an uninterrupted line of stone carvers within walking distance of the cathedral. The collection of panels being sold were originally centrepieces for fireplaces they worked on or reclaimed from fire surrounds broken up in the Victorian era. They contain Grecian style head carvings, urns and depictions of Diana and Neptune. The panels are estimated at 200-300 each.

This Egyptian greywacke Isis made £3,681,250, the highest price ever paid for a work of art at Christie’s, South Kensington.

The Egyptian section yielded particularly strong prices at the Antiquities sale at Christie’s, South Kensington, on October 25.  The top lot was an Egyptian greywacke Isis dating from c664-525 B.C.  Greywacke is a type of dark sandstone. Illustrated on the catalogue cover it made £3,681,250 after a heated battle between bidders in the room, via telephones and online. It had been estimated at £400,000-600,000 and was sold to Daniel Katz Ltd.  This was the highest price ever paid for a work of art at Christie’s, South Kensington.

The sale brought in  £8,080,563, concluding a record breaking year for the London department.  Annual sales exceeded £13.8 million in 2012.  Laetitia Delaloye of Christie’s said:  “The strength of the market is evident by the variety of areas represented in the top lots – Egyptian, Greek and Roman. Interestingly, over a quarter of the sale was sold or directly underbid online”.

This Victorian Sheffield claret jug bears the arms of Cork.  UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD

The silver claret jug inscribed with the Cork Coat of Arms illustrated on the right is at Woodwards sale of silver, art and collectibles in Cork on October 24. The 1856 Sheffield jug was presented to Augustine Roche, Mayor of Cork in 1893-94. He became Lord Mayor of the city in 1905 and is the only person to have held both titles. The estimate for the piece is 3,000-5,000.
The auction of 223 lots features Cork, Limerick, Dublin and English silver. Here are some highlights. You can click on any image to enlarge it:

A Queen Anne Irish silver tazza by David King, Dublin c.1708 (4,000 – 5,000).  UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD

A George III silver sugar bowl by Daniel McCarthy, Cork 1777-82. (1,600 – 2,000).  UPDATE: THIS MADE 1,400

A George III Irish silver sauce boat by Joseph Jackson, Dublin 1788. (630 – 700).  UPDATE: THIS MADE 580

Pair of rare Limerick tablespoons with Old Irish pattern plain handles by Maurice Fitzgerald c.1770. (2,500 – 3,000). UPDATE: THESE MADE 2,000.

A James II silver tazza by John Jackson, London 1685-86 (6,500 – 8,000).  UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD

Jonathan Swift, Charles Dickens, Jane Austen and a Dublin printing of The Necromancer by Peter Teuthold feature at Whyte’s book sale next weekend. The sale of the collection of late Dublin bookseller James O’Donoghue Fenning  will take place over two sessions on October 19 and 20. The first 500 lots, to be sold at 6 p.m. on Friday, is restricted to absentee and internet bidding and comprises pieces mainly valued at 100 or less. Nearly 1,000 lots will be offered on October 20 at The Freemason’s Hall, Molesworth St., Dublin.
The Necromancer or  Tale of the Black Forest is a forerunner to popular Gothic stories of the 21st century and is estimated at 5,000-7,000. James O’D Fenning, who died in September, was the third and last generation of a family of Dublin booksellers. His grandfather established the business at Wood Quay in the 1890’s. The auction offers early printed works from the 1590’s and good ranges of 17th and 18th century  political, theological and literary interest, as well as travel books of the 19th century.  Click on any image to enlarge.

UPDATE:  THE auction realised 230,000, with 64 per cent of 1,400 lots sold.

A first edition of Charles Dickens Oliver Twist, 1838, is estimated at 4,000-6,000.

The benefit of farting explain’d by Jonathan Swift is estimated at 600-800.

Conch pearl, enamel and diamond bracelet, Cartier, late 1920’s. ($800,000-1,400,000) Click on image to enlarge.

A conch pearl Cartier bracelet which once belonged to Queen Victoria Eugenia of Spain (1887-1969) will come under the hammer at Sotheby’s  in Geneva on November 14.  David Bennett, chairman of Sotheby’s jewellery department in Europe, commented that this is: “unquestionably one of the greatest jewels designed by Cartier during the 1920’s”.  It is estimated at $800,000-1.4 million US dollars.  Grandmother of King Juan Carlos, Victoria Eugenia was grand-daughter of Queen Victoria.  She was born at Balmoral and married King Alfonso XIII of Spain in 1906.  The bracelet comes for sale from a member of the Spanish Royal Family, where it has remained since it was commissioned.

Pair of ruby and diamond pendent ear clips weighing 11.46 and 11.63 carats, 1921. ($1,500,000-2,500,000). (Click on image to enlarge).

Also illustrated from this sale of over 590 lots is an exceptional pair of ruby and diamond pendant earrings with perfectly matched Burmese diamonds of 11 carats each. Dating from 1921 they were formerly in the collection of Princess Max Egon zu Hohenlohe-Langenburg (1892-1990).  They are estimated at $1.5-2.5 million.

The inscribed liquid brass pint measure.  UPDATE: IT MADE 500

An antique brass liquid Statute pint measure is one of the more unusual lots at the sale at Marshs in Cork on October 6.  According to an inscription it was made in Cork in 1751 by D. Noster.  The Corporation of Cork bought it in 1780 when John Harding was mayor.

The nine inch high measure is believed to have changed hands at auction in New York in the 1890’s.  It was bought by an Irish collector and brought back to this country.