DIEGO GIACOMETTI (1902-1985) – CONSOLE PROMENADE DES AMIS
There was a new world record for Diego Giacometti at Christie’s in Paris today when his witty design console featuring a horse and three dogs meeting under a tree sold for €9.5 million. It was from the collection of Lady Mercia Harrison, widow of the actor Rex Harrison. Four works from her collection directly from the artist’s studio achieved €12.3 million. The top price marks an auction record for a piece of design in France in 2024 at a sale which saw solid results and totalled €19.4 million.
The first time Lady Mercia Harrison saw furniture by Diego Giacometti was at a cocktail party in Zurich. ‘They were so beautiful I started to cry,’ she says. ‘There was something so joyous about them.’ She begged her host for Giacometti’s telephone number, but was warned that he had a thick book of orders which he ignored, and was not interested in meeting collectors.
Undeterred, she phoned the artist. ‘I didn’t want to address him as “Monsieur”, so I called him “Maître”, which he thought hilarious, and I think it broke the ice.’ Even so, Giacometti rejected her invitation to lunch, so she got on a plane to Paris. ‘I rang the bell of his studio on Rue Hippolyte-Maindron and said: “I am Mercia Harrison, would you like to have lunch with me?” He was so surprised that he agreed.’ It was the start of an unlikely friendship between the furniture-maker and the wife of a world-famous British actor. The nonagenarian is still very much the art lover, with a keen grasp on the contemporary art world. She believes that her friendship with Giacometti was based on their mutual non-conformity.
Taxidermy elephant of a baby elephant. UPDATE: THIS MADE 500 AT HAMMER
Auctions regularly throw surprises but a stuffed elephant is a real rarity. The focus of Marshs in Cork on December 7 is on fine antique furniture and collectibles but a 127 centimetre high taxidermy elephant is set to be a spectacular scene stealer in the premier larceny league of the late, great actress Maggie Smith.
If you can tear your attention away from Dumbo you might be taken by a pair of marble topped gilt console tables, a Georgian Adam’s style mirror or a Georgian lowboy in the Chippendale style on paw feet. The auction features a selection of Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian furniture, art and collectibles including the elephant. The sale, with 312 lots, will be on view at Marshs auction rooms on December 4, 5 and 6 and the catalogue is online.
A pair of marble topped gilt console tables UPDATE: THESE MADE 1,000 AT HAMMER
Jack Butler Yeats RHA (1871-1957) – HORSEMEN (1947). UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD AT THE AUCTION AND CHANGED HANDS LATER FOR A HAMMER PRICE OF €400,000
Viewing gets underway at Adams in Dublin today for four upcoming sales, Fine Jewellery (December 3), Important Irish Art (December 4), Fine Watches (December 5) and Fine Wines and Spirits on December 6. The art sale includes outstanding paintings by Jack B. Yeats from the collection of Vincent and Jacqueline O’Brien, and works from the Hon. Francis D. Murnaghan Jr. Collection and is headed by Horsemen by Yeats with an estimate of €500,000-800,000.
SAPPHIRE AND DIAMOND CLUSTER RING. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
This sapphire and diamond cluster ring is at Adams fine jewellery sale in Dublin on December 3. The oval-shaped sapphire of approximately 5.14 carats is within a brilliant and tapered baguette-cut diamond surround, mounted in gold. The estimate is 10,000-15,000. The auction with 263 lots is on view in Dublin from November 29.
Josef Locke’s “Challen” Baby Grand Piano. UPDATE: THIS MADE 620 AT HAMMER
Josef Locke’s Challen baby grand piano comes up as lot 115 at the evening antique and collectibles sale by Usher Auctions in Kells on December 2. The sale will include a clearance from the estate of the late tenor as well as jewellery, antique furniture, garden furniture, art, silver and collectibles. The piano is estimated at €300-600. Josef Locke, who died in 1999, had a successful singing career in Ireland and the UK and Hear My Song Violetta is forever associated with him.
This Chinese Tibeto gilt bronze sceptre with an estimate of €3,000-€5,000 sold for a hammer price of €30,000 at the opening session of Sheppards three day auction in Durrow of contents from Grange Manor, Co. Kilkenny and other clients. It contains the six-character reign mark of the Yongle Emperor (1402 – 1424). The makara head is above flowing lotus scrolls over a faceted pierced dorje handle. The Makara is a legendary sea creature in Hindu mythology. The Currach Fishermen by Liam O’Neill made €11,000, the Great Seal of Ireland of Henry VIII made €8,500, a pair of gilt console tables made €5,500, a Mughal hand woven carpet made €5,500, a tree of life carpet made €5,500, a Donegal carpet made €5,500, a pen and ink portrait by Jack B Yeats made €5,000, a gilt, bronze and marble clock garniture made €4,800, a George III inlaid bookcase made €4,000, a portrait of Anna Stewart by Nathanial Hone made €4,000, a large two tier Irish crystal chandelier made €3,800, a pair of 19th century Black Forest bears made €3,000, a 20th century Meissen figure of King Augustus on Horseback made €3,200 and an Irish brass bound peat bucket made €2,800. The sale is ongoing.
A full sized Irish silver replica of the Ardagh Chalice is among the highlights at Matthews two day auction of jewellery and antiques in Kells on November 26 and 27. The Ardagh Chalice is one of the greatest treasures of the early Irish church and represents a high point in early medieval craftsmanship. It was found in Co. Limerick in the 19th century and is on display at the National Museum. This replica by Weir and Sons is hallmarked Dublin 1909 and the estimate is €5,000-€8,000. The Sam Maguire Cup is modelled on the Ardagh Chalice.
19th century Killarney wood breakfast table at Aidan Foley’s sale UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD AND IS UNDER OFFER
With big sales by Aidan Foley in Killarney, Shepperds in Durrow and Lynes and Lynes in Carrigtwohill next week collectors will be spoiled by an array of astonishing and rare choices as the winter selling season reaches it maximum point.
There is much to see and appreciate, from the finest of Irish furniture to a complete apothecary cabinet, a bronze stag, Patek Philippe and Rolex watches and even a Great Seal of Ireland of Henry VIII on vellum dated 1544.
The Killarney furniture including a museum quality davenport at Aidan Foley’s three day sale has aroused international interest. The retirement auction on behalf of Pat O’Connor of Killarney Antiques is now on view at the shop on the Cork road. The in-room and online auction with 1388 lots takes place at the Killarney Heights Hotel next Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at 2.30 pm on each day.
A Killarney breakfast table, two davenports and a sewing table range in estimate from €3,000 to €50,000. There is a selection of Killarney trinket boxes, games boards, trays and travelling writing boxes on offer as well as antique furniture, a range of artists from Marshall Hutson to Maurice Wilks, Ann Tallentire and Sean O’Connor, mirrors, porcelain and collectibles including a 19th century estate bronze bell and an original Cork Examiner enamel advertising sign.
A pair of Meissen figural candelabras a Sheppards. UPDATE: THESE WERE UNSOLD
At Sheppards a pair of Irish 19th century marquetry side cabinets once in the Long Room at Kilkenny Castle will highlight a three day sale of contents from Grange Manor in Co. Kilkenny and other clients next Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. The estimate for this historically important pair of cabinets sold separately at the dispersal auction at the castle in 1935 is €100,000-€150,000.
The seal of Henry VIII grants various properties around Inistioge including fishing rights on the River Nore to Milo Barron Bishop of Ossory and his brother David. The estimate is €7,000-€9,000. More than 1600 lots will come under the hammer. Viewing gets underway today at Grange Manor, the auction is in Durrow and online.
A Patek Philippe man’s watch with an estimate of €50,000-€80,000 will lead the Lynes and Lynes sale in Carrigtwohill next Saturday (November 30). There are contents from Gurrane House near Fermoy which has been in the Blackley, Grant and Deane families since it was built in 1850. A collection of circus clowns in the auction (€2,500-€3,500) was amassed by a clown at Duffy’s. Circus and is being sold by his nephew. A set of fine Georgian Cork 11-bar chairs (€4,000-€5,000) and a Georgian dining table (€3,000-€4,000) should generate interest.
A going away outfit dating to c1850 at Lynes and Lynes. UPDATE: THIS MADE 460 AT HAMMER
Large old family houses contain hidden treasures. Among the signature pieces from Gurrane is a complete 19th century mahogany apothecary cabinet (€600-€1,000) owned by Dr. Travers Robert Blackley (1801-1876) and an 1850 going away outfit.. This was worn by Mrs Charles Deane (nee Grant), who married Colonel Charles Deane of Gurrane circa 1850. A Spanish School painting of The Virgin and Child distributing the Rosary to Saints and the Royal Family is estimated at €1,000-€1,500. There is a similar estimate on a Plan of the City and Suburbs of Cork drawn in 1832 by Thomas Holt. There will be local interest too in a Robert Stopford engraving of Cork Harbour and a large view of the Cork International Exhibition from 1903. Viewing gets underway in Carrigtwohill today.
The bronze stag is at Aidan Foley’s auction and there is garden furniture on offer at all three sales.
A close up of some of the clown collection at Lynes and Lynes. UPDATE: THE CLOWN COLLECTION MADE 3,100 AT HAMMER
Set of 10 Midleton Very Rare Irish Whiskeys, 2016 to 2024. UPDATE: THIS MADE 5,400 AT HAMMER
This set of ten Midleton Very Rare Irish Whiskeys, all in their original boxes from 2016 to 2024, leads Dolan’s live online auction of Irish paintings, rare whiskeys and antiques which runs until November 25. The estimate is €6,000-8,000. Among the artworks is Horseman and Hound, The Warrior a gouache by Evie Hone with an estimate of €4,800-6,000. There is a sketch by Sir William Orpen and art by Cecil Maguire, Mark O’Neill, Flora Mitchell, Charles Harper, Brian Ballard, Susan Cronin and many more. The catalogue is online.
Evie Hone – Horseman and Hound, The Warrior. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
A 19th century Vietnamese Imperial ceremonial sword UPDATE: THIS MADE 370,000 AT HAMMER
An exceptional Imperial ceremonial sword leads the auction of Fine Asian Art at James Adam in Dublin on November 18. Inlaid with rubies and mounted in gold the Vietnamese sword dates to 1840 and is from the reign of Emperor Minh Mang of the Nguyen Dynasty. The estimate is €100,000-€150,000. There are 473 lots on the catalogue including prints, Oriental porcelain, jades, furniture, collectibles. The catalogue is online.
