A pair of late 18th Century Delft Apothecary Jars. UPDATE: THESE MADE 200 AT HAMMER
This pair of 18th century Deflt apothecary jars feature at Fonsie Mealy’s Spring antiques and collectibles sale at Castlecomer on March 5 and 6. Viewing for the sale gets underway at Castlecomer today and continues on March 3 and 4. One of the blue and white wet drug jars and covers is for A Cucumeris, the other for O Camoemeli. Each has a short spot and the estimate is €300-400. Viewing is at the Kilkenny Road showrooms, the live auction will be at The Avalon House Hotel. The catalogue for this sale of 714 lots of paintings, ceramics, glassware, affordable antique and modern furniture and collectibles is online.
JAMINI PRAKASH GANGOOLY (INDIAN, 1876-1953) – On the beach at sunset
This oil on canvas by Jamini Prakash Gangooly made a hammer price of €15,000 at the At Home sale at James Adam in Dublin today. It had been estimated at €2,000-€3,000. The artist was a member of the Tagore family and a nephew of the poet and Nobel Prize winner Rabindranath Tagore. A master painter he was celebrated both for his luminous and beautiful landscapes and his portraits.
A Victorian porcelain vase by Christopher Dresser made €8,500 at hammer over a top estimate of €2,000. Born in Glasgow Christopher Dresser became Britain’s first professional, independent, industrial designeR. He was one of the most influential design reformers of the 19th century.
CHRISTOPHER DRESSER (1834-1904) – VICTORIAN ‘CLOISONNÉ’ PORCELAIN VASE
A large Fabergé jewelled obsidian model of a rhinoceros, St Petersburg, circa 1900 (£50,000-£70,000)
One of the last important groups of Fabergé animals in private hands will be sold by Castle Howard at Sotheby’s in May. Proceeds from the auction will benefit the restoration of the long lost tapestry drawing room at the castle. The collection of some 30 rare and beautiful carvings is similar to those owned by the British Royal Family and members of the Russian Imperial Court. With the latter disassembled by Revolution and the former still held in the Royal Collection, the sale marks an opportunity for collectors to acquire pieces that fully demonstrate why Fabergé earned a prime position in royal and noble collections throughout Europe.
The pieces range from a tiny vole carved of smoky quartz to a commanding obsidian rhinoceros, a captivating bloodstone anteater to a charming series of woodland animals. Alongside the menagerie, the collection also includes Fabergé and European desk accessories.
Part of the proceeds from the auction will contribute to the restoration of the Tapestry Drawing Room, gutted by a devastating fire in 1940. It has remained a shell ever since. As part of a major renovation of Castle Howard’s historic interiors, from April 2025, visitors will be able to see the fully restored and decorated space, with the tapestries that originally hung in the room returned to their original positions.
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
