A 19th century console table (€1,000-€1,500). UPDATE: THIS MADE 3,800 AT HAMMER
An 18th century marquetry inlaid longcase clock (€3,000-€5,000) is the most expensively estimated lot at the online interiors “At Home” auction now on view at Adams in Dublin. On offer are contents from the 18th century Springfield House, Celbridge and some lots from Buswell’s Hotel in Dublin.
Among the latter are a pair of 19th century Famille Rose vases (€600-€1,000) and a pair of French boulle tortoiseshell inlaid and ebonised side cabinets (€1,500-€2,000). Highlights from Springfield House include a large giltwood and gesso mirror (€2,000-€3,000), a 19th century console table with marble top (€1,000-€1,500), the Wales made longcase clock mentioned above and two 20th century recumbent bronze hounds. There is a good selection of paintings including 19th century copies of art by Caravaggio, Corregio and Rembrandt. Nearly 500 lots are to be sold and the auction gets underway at 11 am on February 25.
Alfred de Breanski snr. (1852-1928) – Burnham Beeches near Windsor (€1,000-€2,000). UPDATE: THIS MADE 500 AT HAMMER
Centuries of discrimination cannot be overturned in a blink but as the search for overlooked artists gathers pace the small steps being taken at TEFAF might herald a giant leap for womankind.
Abandon by Camille Claudel at TEFAF.
In Maastricht next month The European Fine Art Fair will highlight the work of women artists. This trend is firmly established and unstoppable. New discoveries are waiting to be made.
We know the big names like Claude Lalanne, Louise Bourgeois and Hilma af Klint. But how about Camille Claudel, Emma Soyer, Gjertrud Hals, Marie Bracquemond, Hilla von Rebay, Juliana Seraphim, Bianca Boni, Hannelore Baron and Sheila Hicks. Many of them are relatively obscure, largely by virtue of their gender. Their art is about to be brought to a wider, global audience as all of them will feature at Maastricht.
Camille Claudel (1864-1943) is a renowned sculptor but her work is little represented in major international institutions, especially when compared to that of her master, Rodin. Galerie Malaquais of Paris will highlight her work at TEFAF.
The Eye by Juliana Seraphim (1934-2005) at TEFAF.
The London gallery Richard Saltoun will show work by Juliana Seraphim, a Palestinian artist and a leading member of the Middle Eastern art scene from the 1960’s to her death in 2005. Seraphim is known for her unique Surrealist style and iconography that engaged deeply with gender struggle, the liberation of female sexuality and agency, nature and spirituality.
Masque c1928 by Hilla von Rebay at TEFAF.
The visionary artist and creator Hilla von Rebay (1890-1967) was part of the first wave of abstraction to sweep across the US. She is best known for her role in the creation of the Solomon R Guggenheim Museum in New York which she founded and directed as curator. Graphic work by the artist, developed in parallel with her curatorial role, is now being rediscovered and recognised as a major influence on the American art scene, both formally and theoretically. This art will be featured by Galerie Raphael Durazzo of Paris.
The name Emma Soyer is unfamiliar to most museum goers today but she was as well known as any of her contemporaries from the mid 1830’s to the 1840’s before her tragically early death. According to Colnaghi: Elliott Fine Art of London, who will showcase her art, very few artists have fallen as dramatically from public and art historical awareness as Soyer.
The Two Inseparables by Emma Soyer at TEFAF.
No less than nine major figures of modern and contemporary art – Ella Bergmann-Michel, Hannelore Baron, Louise Bourgeois, Pierette Bloch, Marcel Cahn, Sonia Delauney, Sheila Hicks, Vera Molnar and the American feminist artist Mira Schor – will be highlighted by Galerie Zlotowski of Paris at a booth entirely dedicated to women artists.
Galerie Pauline Pavec will unveil unseen works by Marie Bracquemond, who ranks alongside Berthe Morisot and Mary Cassatt among the greatest figures of Impressionism, at TEFAF. The selection of art by women at the fair ranges from Roman miniatures to contemporary sculpture, Modern masters and Palestinian Surrealism.
The broad ranging European Fine Art Fair at Maastricht enjoys an unrivalled appeal as a destination for collectors, curators, art market professionals and art lovers. From March 15-20 it will feature more than 270 prestigious dealers from 22 countries in a not to be missed fair with some of the finest works currently on the market spanning 7000 years from antiquity to the present day.
Irish 19th Century mahogany Bureau stamped J.Kerr & Co., No. 68931. UPDATE: THIS MADE 9,500 AT HAMMER
By family tradition this bureau was a gift from Sir Winston Churchill to General Sir Bindon Blood. It comes up as lot 576 at Fonsie Mealy’s sale in Castlecomer on March 5 and 6 with an estimate of €1,000-€1,500.
Churchill served under Blood on the North West Frontier in 1897 and dedicated his first non-fiction book – The Story of the Malakand Field Force – to him. Churchill’s dedication reads: “Major-General Sir Bindon Blood, K.C.B., under whose command the operations therein recorded were carried out; by whose generalship they were brought to a successful conclusion; and to whose kindness the author is indebted for the most valuable and fascinating experience of his life”.
Born in 1842 Blood attended The Royal School, Banagher, Co. Offaly, Queen’s College, Galway and the Addiscombe Military College before being commissioned in the Royal Engineers in 1860. After service in Egypt, Afghanistan, India and South Africa he retired to London in 1907. He was made colonel commandant of the Royal Engineers in 1914 and worked to recruit soldiers for the First World War. He was aged 94 when he was made Chief Royal Engineer in 1936. He died in 1940.
Telegram requesting a list of Titanic survivors on the Olympic
Titanic memorabilia or the early days of transatlantic aviation? The choice is yours at Julien’s online and live in California on February 27. Among a collection of Titanic relics are two telegrams from rescue ships Carpathia and the Olympic. One to Captain Herbert Haddock of the Olympic from the International Mercantile Marine Co. in New York requests a list of every survivor on the Carpathia, the other is from 2nd Class passenger Lucy Ridsdale to her sister in Milwaukee saying “safe”. There are serviceware items from Titanic and an envelope signed by all four surviving ships officers.
Another lot of local interest is the Pan Am 1938 Air Trails magazine and cover artwork of the Boeing 314 Clipper Flying Boat. There are no B314’s left today and the only full scale replica in existence is at the Foynes Flying Boat and Maritime Museum in Co. Limerick. This museum re-opens on March 15 after a winter break.
Pan Am 1938 Air Trails magazine and cover artwork of the Boeing 314 Clipper Flying Boat.
The book sale by Purcell Auctioneers in Birr on February 19 features The Exodus, a sacred cantata with words by activist, poet and playwright Thomas MacDonagh of Cloughjordan, a signatory of the 1916 Proclamation and music by B Palmieri. Published in London in 1904 it was for the Feis Ceoil and is estimated at €220-€440. The auction includes a selection of Irish and world interest books, antiquarian books, maps and ten lots of sporting memorabilia. UPDATE: THIS MADE 120 AT HAMMER
First Period Belleek Maid of Erin figure. UPDATE: THIS MADE 380 AT HAMMER
At Kilcolgan in Co. Galway viewing is underway for Aidan Foley’s sale of around 1,000 lots on February 10 and 11. Belleek collectors will be taken by a first period Maid of Erin figure, though it does have a small chip. Art includes an oil on board by Tony O’Malley entitled Composition and a View of Roundstone by Ivan Sutton. The jewellery section is headed by an 18 carat gold diamond solitaire. The auction kicks off online at 6 pm on both days.
Early I9th century Irish giltwood convex mirror by Richard Jackson of Essex Bridge, Dublin. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
From an early 19th century marble specimen table, an Irish giltwood convex mirror by Richard Jackson and a pair of Italian scagliola Sienna marble columns there is much to tempt serious collectors in pursuit of hard to come by pieces at the Bishop’s House auction in Newry by Victor Mee.
These are the sort of sought after pieces you do not come across everyday. The specimen table, for example, was last at auction at the Tandragee Castle dispersal sale for the Duke of Manchester in the 1950’s. It is estimated at €4,000-€8,000. The early 19th century mirror by Richard Jackson of Essex Bridge, Dublin, surmounted by an eagle and with sconces and ivy leaf decoration, is estimated at €2,000-€4,000 and the Sienna columns, each over a metre tall, at €1,500-€3,000.
19th century specimen marble table UPDATE: THIS MADE 33,600 AT HAMMER
Among more than 1,100 lots are a pair of carved mahogany urns on pedestals in the Chippendale manner (€3,000-€5,000), a hand dyed deep leather Chesterfield sofa (€2,000-€4,000), a pair of late 18th century Italian giltwood and painted torcheres on paw feet (€1,500-€3,000) and an Irish Georgian Cork serving table with gallery back and reeded apron (€1,800-€2,800).
There are club fenders and brass bound peat buckets, clocks and garnitures, gilded bronze vases, bronze Grecian lidded urns, a Killarney wood box, brass liturgical pieces, altar candle holders, 18th and 19th century artwork and an early 20th century Stations of the Cross, collectibles and garden pieces including a 19th century limestone sundial and stone troughs
Viewing for Victor Mee’s sale at the Mourne Country Hotel on the evening February 12 and 13 and online gets underway at the Bishop’s House today.
One of a pair of Italian scagliola marble columns UPDATE: THESE MADE 1,500 AT HAMMER
Birds in Flight by John Behan UPDATE: THIS MADE 8,400 AT HAMMER
A tall and significant Birds in Flight sculpture by John Behan will lead Woodwards sale in Cork on February 8. The appealing series of birds in flight by the much loved Irish sculptor who created the Swan fountain at Bishop Lucey Park in Cork city centre is enduringly popular and sought after. This one is estimated at €10,000-€15,000.
Garden lots on offer include a pair of cast iron domed benches (€2,500-€3,500) and a pair of cast iron vases (€1,200-€1,600). Antique furniture pieces like a Georgian walnut card table, an Irish Georgian display cabinet (each €300-€400), a Georgian wine cooler and an Edwardian display cabinet (each €300-€500), a William IV table and a pair of inlaid tube chairs (each €200-€300) are all modestly and realistically estimated. Art includes a pastel by Tom Walsh. The sale is on view all week and the catalogue is online.
King of the Roads by Tom Walsh. UPDATE: THIS MADE 500 AT HAMMER
Russian Imperial Glassworks goblet UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
A Russian Imperial Glassworks Goblet made to mark the Alexander Column at the Winter Palace of St. Petersburg comes up at Hegarty’s online sale in Bandon on February 5. The grand opening of the column, built to commemorate the victory of the Russian army over Napoleon, took place in 1834. The estimate for the glass is €1,800-€2,500. The online sale, which starts at 11 am, offers a collection of jewellery, Irish and continental silver, art and collectors items.
Italian marble topped console table UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
An extraordinary array of contents, secular and ecclesiastical, from the bishop’s house of the Diocese of Dromore in Newry will be sold online by Victor Mee auctions on February 12 and 13. The diocese has been hit by various sexual scandals and harboured a paedophile priest for four decades. A redress scheme in operation has already cost several million.
As the interior photographs show, the Bishop’s House at Newry is positively regal. The house has already been sold and the rare treasures within have been accumulated by the diocese over many years.
An interior of the Bishop’s House at Newry showing part of the large dining room.
The magnificent contents include real rarities like a William IV console table with an Italian marble top, a twelve foot long dining table and a second console with provenance from Tandragee Castle. Tandragee was sold by the Duke of Manchester in the 1950’s to local businessman Thomas Hutchinson who funded Tayto and the castle houses the offices for Tayto Crisps.
Decanter presented to Pope Pius IX by the town of Velletri. UPDATE: THIS MADE 345 AT HAMMER
A decanter, presented to Pope Pius IX, who reigned for nearly 32 years from 1846, on his sacerdotal jubilee by the town of Velletri, Italy is among an exceptional collection of ecclesiastical items. The provenance for the decanter is impeccable.
An assortment of brass liturgical pieces includes altar candle holders, crucifixes and an elegant lectern. An early 20th century set of the Stations of the Cross are mounted in their original frames.
Interior photograph with lots to be sold
Interior highlights include a gilt Regency mirror by Richard Jackson of Essex Bridge, Dublin. This is similar to the one on display at the Waterford Treasures Museum. A pair of scagliola marble columns, each over a metre tall, lent an air of opulence to the Bishop’s House. A selection of art with religious themes including a depiction of the martyrdom of St. Andrew. Many of the artworks are contained within spectacular gilt frames. Garden pieces include a 19th century limestone sundial and a collection of 19th century stone troughs.
Viewing for this singular sale gets underway in Newry on Saturday February 8 and will continue on February 9 and 10. The auction will be held at The Mourne Country Hotel from 6 pm on February 12 and 13. It will also be online.
