antiquesandartireland.com

This English School portrait of a lady, circa 1595-1605, was the top lot.

THE three day Cowdray Park sale by Christie’s in West Sussex realised £7.9 million  against pre-sale estimate of £5 million. The top lot was an English School portrait of a lady, circa 1595-1605.  The subject was traditionally identified as Queen Elizabeth I but is more probably Catherine Carey, Countess of Nottingham.  It made £325,250.

The sale was 93% sold by lot and a total of 1,122 lots found buyers. Winning bidders came from 34 countries, with 72% from the UK.  Internet bidding represented 22% of registered bidders.

Andrew Waters, Head of Private Collection and Country House Sales, London; and Gemma Sudlow, Specialist:: “ Christie’s has a long and distinguished history of important country house sales stretching back over 200 years; this week illustrated the global appeal of the traditional British country house sale in the 21st century”.

Nine works from Cowdray Park, headed by Thomas Gainsborough’s full-length portrait of Mrs William Villebois which sold for a record  £6,537,250, made a collective total of  £10,974,000 at Christie’s in London in July.

See posts on antiquesandartireland.com for September 14 and August 17.

ORPEN'S Self-Portrait.

A self-portrait by Sir William Orpen made a hammer price of £115,250 at the first day of the three day Cowdray Park sale in west Sussex on September 13.  The oil on canvas, entitled Self Portrait: Hand and Gloves Resting on Cane  had been estimated by Christie’s at £150,000-250,000.  It had been acquired  from the artist by Mrs. Gertrude Kinnell, sister of Annie, later 1st Viscountess Cowdray, as a gift in 1927.

Many of the items in the first day of the sale made way over the estimate.  Christie’s had estimated that the three day sale would realise around £5 million, but as it turned out the first day brought in £5.7 million.  One possible reason for this is the Downton Abbey effect. Most of the items in the auction were collected between 1909 and 1929, the exact period in which the hugely successful television series is set.

(See antiquesandartireland.com posts for August 6, 10 and 17)

DANIEL O'NEILL's (1920-1974) The Decision was the top lot at the James Adam sale of the Jill Cox Collection in Dublin on September 7. It made 26,000 at hammer.

This Killarney inlaid Library table was the top furniture lot at the James Adam sale of the Jill Cox Collection. It made 8,500 at hammer.

The sale of the Jill Cox Collection at James Adam in Dublin on September 7 was highly successful.  There was much competitive bidding for a large number of collectable items including Irish glass, silver, porcelain, etchings and art.

These were the two top lots at an auction where 89 per cent of the lots on offer found buyers.  The sale realised 418,000 at hammer against a lower end estimate of 350,000.

See antiquesandartireland.com posts for August 24.