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SAMUEL BECKETT’S ENDGAME, A RARE FIRST EDITION

Sunday, November 21st, 2010

A first edition of Endgame for sale in Cork. UPDATE: IT WAS UNSOLD

Samuel Beckett’s Endgame, in its first French edition from 1957, comes up at the Morgan O’Driscoll sale in Cork on Monday, November 29.

Arriving on the market at the moment when the financial game is up for Ireland, the national endgame for this indebted country involving a financial bailout from the IMF, the ECB and countries like Britain and Sweden, this particular version is Number 32 in an edition of 54 numbered copies. It is estimated at 3,500-4,500.

Endgame is a one act play with four characters by the Nobel Prize winning Irish writer. It was originally written in French and entitled Fin de partie. Beckett, as was his custom, translated it into English.

The play was first performed in a French language production at the Royal Court Theatre in London in 1957.

A first edition of L’innommable (The Unnamable) by Beckett, inscribed by the author in 1953, also features in the sale. It is estimated at 3,000-4,000.

L’innommable is the final installment of Beckett’s trilogy of novels Molloy/Malone Dies/The Unnamable. This edition was inscribed by Beckett to his Swedish translator Carl Gustaf Birger Bjurstrom.

Morgan O’Driscoll will conduct two auctions at the Radisson Hotel at Little Island in Cork on November 29, The 296 lot antique furniture, silver, Republican memorabilia and rare book
auction at 4 p.m. will be followed by a 225 lot art sale at 7 p.m.

Tags: Beckett, Endgame, Morgan O'Driscoll
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EARLY GIANT’S CAUSEWAY PHOTOGRAPHS AT BONHAMS

Wednesday, November 17th, 2010

An album of rare photographs of the Giant’s Causeway taken in 1867 by Dublin based photographer, F H Mares is a feature of Bonhams sale of Books, Maps and Historical Photographs in Oxford on November 30 next. The album is inscribed: “Emma Townsend, from her affectionate Sister Bessie on the return from Ireland, March 27th, 1879” and is estimated at £200 – 400.

The Giant's Causeway in the 19th century. (click to enlarge) taken in 1867 by Dublin based photographer, F H Mares is a feature of Bonhams sale of Books, Maps and Historical Photographs in Oxford on November 30 next. The album is inscribed: "Emma Townsend, from her affectionate Sister Bessie on the return from Ireland, March 27th, 1879" and is estimated at £200 - 400. UPDATE: IT MADE £660.

Other lots of Irish interest include the Dublin Edition of Clarendon’s History of the Civil Wars in England from the library of the 5th Earl of Drogheda (£300-500): a set of over 80 photographs of personalities of the Kildare Hunt from 1890, (£300-500): 80 books and manuscripts belonging to the Earls of Donoughmore contain a scare eighteenth century devotional work in Irish, ‘An Teagasg Criosdiadhe,’ by Bonaventure O’Hussey, (£900-1,200).

This influential Tridentine catechism was written in Antwerp in the early years of the 17th century to increase awareness of international developments in catholic practice in Gaelic Ireland.

The collection also features a group of rare librettos for eighteenth century comic operas performed at the Theatre Royal, Smock Alley, Dublin (£1,000-1,500). They include Galluppi’s ‘The Guardian Trick’d’ and the 1762 work, ‘The Fair of Malmantile,’ by Goldoni.

UPDATE: THE F.H. Mares album made £660, the Kildare Hunt photographs sold for £864, An Teagasg Criosdiadhe made £2,880 and the Theatre Royal librettos failed to sell.

Tags: bonhams, Giant's Causeway, photographs
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JADE EMPEROR’S SEAL MAKES £2,708,000 at BONHAMS

Friday, November 12th, 2010

Emperor Qianlong’s (1711-1799) seal made £2,708,000 at Bonhams in London on November 11. It was sold to a Chinese buyer from Beijing after competitive bidding from three people in the room. The perfect four centimetre square jade seal bearing the inscription `Zi Qiang Bu Xi’, (‘Self-Strengthening Never Ceases’) is closely linked to the Emperor’s 80^th birthday celebration which coincided with the 55^th year of his reign.

Meantime a bidding war by Asian buyers resulted in a Qianlong vase (on right) making a record £51.6 million pounds at west London auction rooms Bainbridges on November 11. It was discovered in an attic during a routine house clearance in the London suburb of Pinner. The vase was estimated at £800,000-£1.2 million.

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Fabergé Work Box Leads Christie’s Russian Sale

Thursday, November 11th, 2010

A Fabergé work box is the highlight of the Christie’s Russian works of art sale on November 29, 2010. The jewelled enamelled Imperial presentation snuff-box with the workmaster’s mark of Henrik Wigström was presented to the Turkish diplomat, Turkhan Pasha in December 1913 on behalf of Emperor Nicholas II.

This was probably to commemorate the end of his five year ambassadorship in St. Petersburg. In 1919 the snuff-box changed hands for the last time, when it was acquired by the family of the present owner. It is estimated at £400,000-600,000.

Almost 500 lots of Russian Art, including fine paintings, works of art and unique pieces of neo-Russian furniture will be included.

UPDATE: IT sold for £937,250 in a sale that realised £14.9 million.

Tags: Christie's, Fabergé, Russian
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RENOWNED STAMP COLLECTION AT SOTHEBY’S

Monday, November 8th, 2010

ONE of the finest postage stamp collections to appear on the market in the last quarter of a century comes up at Sotheby’s in London over three days from November 24-26.

The sale of the Great Britain Philatelic Collections of Lady Mairi Bury will afford serious collectors the opportunity to acquire sought-after stamps from a renowned collection. Associated throughout her life with Mount Stewart, her ancestral home in Country Down, Northern Ireland, she was the doyenne of female collectors in the Royal Philatelic Society. Lady Mairi Bury died in 2009 aged 88. Comprising 2185 lots, the auction is estimated to bring in excess of £2.6 million.

UPDATE: THE sale brought in £3,045,924. The top lot was ‘The Balance of Lady Mairi’s collection of King Edward VII’ stamps, mounted on 91 pages to the highest exhibition standard and housed in two exhibition boxes. Comprising an exceptional comprehensive collection arranged by order of value from ½d. to £1, this lot more than tripled the pre-sale low estimate to sell for £66,000. An exceptional unused 1840 Two Pence Blue, Plate 1, sold for £43,200. A complete sheet of 120 2d. blue stamps, unique in this configuration made £30,000. The Penny Black which achieved the highest price was an Imprimatur from the Second Registration Sheet, known as the ‘VR’ Official Penny Black; it made £36,000. This stamp was prepared for Official use in April 1840 but remained unissued. A Plate 1 Two Shillings Brown, the very finest of the few known pairs, and exceptionally rare, brought £36,000.

Tags: philatelic, sotheby's, stamps
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FENIAN FLAG AT WHYTE’S

Saturday, November 6th, 2010

An 1867 Fenian flag from the Galtee Mountain area of East Limerick and North Cork is the feature lot at Whytes History, Literature and Collectibles auction in Dublin on Saturday, November 13 at 1 p.m. It is estimated to make 30,000-50,000.

Commissioned and used by Willie Condon (1840-1908) from Anglesboro near Mitchelstown it was a feature at skirmishes, raids, meetings and demonstrations from the 1860s right through the Land League campaigns of the 1880s.

The sale (see antiquesandartireland.com post for November 3) includes 571 lots of historic and literary manuscripts, documents, rare books, maps, prints, photographs, flags, medals, militaria, sporting and entertainment memorabilia, stamps, coins and banknotes. A collection of Daniel O’Connell memorabilia and documents includes resolutions from 1828, written in his own hand, estimated at 800 to 1,000. A letter from Charles Stewart Parnell urgently trying to charter a special train to Castlerea for £25 to prevent a riot at Balla is estimated at 300-500. The auction will be broadcast live around the globe, with audio and video feeds from the auction room, on www.whytes.ie.

UPDATE: The flag sold for 52,000. The handwritten letter from Charles Stewart Parnell made 650 and ten lots relating to Daniel O’Connell sold for various prices from 160 for a book of his life and speeches to 850 for his 1828 handwritten resolutions passed after he was elected to Parliament but could not take his seat because he refused to take the Oath of Supremacy.

Tags: Fenians, Flag, Whytes. collectibles
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WHYTE’S ROOSEVELT LETTER

Wednesday, November 3rd, 2010

Whyte’s history, literature and collectibles sale in Dublin on November 13 features an interesting collection of letters and ephemera relating to Frederick Wallingford Whitridge, American envoy to the wedding of King Alfonso and Princess Ena of Battenberg, a niece of King Edward VII of Great Britain, and granddaughter of Queen Victoria.

It includes an official appointment document signed by President Theodore Roosevelt and dated April 25, 1906. This nominates him as: “Ambassador Extraordinary of the United States of America on Special Mission as the representative of the United States government on the occasion of the wedding of King Alphonso XIII of Spain in June 1906″.

Other documents include a letter by Secretary of State Elihu Root, transmitting the commission to Whitridge and referring to a letter from President Roosevelt to be presented to the King of Spain by Whitridge.

There are two typed letters on White House notepaper dated April 9 and 26, 1906 respectively: a congratulatory letter and the second refers to the enclosure of two letters from Roosevelt to King Edward VII of England and the German Emperor; there is a report of the mission which includes details of an attempt to assassinate King Alfonso when a bomb was thrown as the Royal Carriage passed. This refers to the numbers killed and wounded.

The collection of 22 items is estimated at 1,000-1,500 euro.

UPDATE: IT WAS LEFT UNSOLD

Tags: collectibles, dublin, roosevelt, Whyte's
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MARSHS SALE FEATURES UNUSUAL LOTS

Monday, November 1st, 2010

A pair of cast metal Chinese lions to be sold at Marshs estimated at 1,000-2,000. (click to enlarge) UPDATE: SOLD FOR 1,000

A pair of Fereghan horses to be sold at Marshs, Cork on November 6. (click on image to enlarge) UPDATE: SOLD FOR 1,400

The Marshs antique and art auction in Cork on Saturday November 6 at 12 noon

A view of the Middle Lake, Killarney by Patrick Duffy (5,000-6,000) at Marshs on November 6. (click to enlarge) UPDATE; IT WAS UNSOLD

will feature contents from the estate of the late Denis and Hilda Cullinane of Verdon House, Summerhill, Cork. There is a rare oil on canvas of the River Lee and Carrigrohane Castle signed W.H. Brennan and dated 1900 (3,000-4,000), a 1780 Cork clock by John Montjoy (5,000-6,000), a view of the Middle Lake, Killarney by Patrick Duffy (5,000-6,000).

Among the more unusual lots on offer at this sale are a pair of five foot high Blackamoor figures, a pair of cast metal Chinese lions, a pair of painted metal figures of Renaissance style men carrying lamps, each 5’6″ tall, a pair of Chinese Fereghan horses (1,500-2,000) and a 40″ high figure of Napoleon which auctioneer Hugh McPhillips reckons will make 300-500.

These painted metal figures in the Renaissance style, each 5'6" tall, feature in the Marshs sale in Cork on November 6. UPDATE; SOLD FOR 1,000

A 40" high figure of Napoleon, estimated at 300-500. UPDATE. SOLD FOR 400

This pair of Blackamoor figures is estimated at 800-1,000. UPDATE SOLD FOR 1,000

Tags: art, auction, Cork, Fereghan, furniture, Georgian, Marshs
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RARE FIRST EDITION LITERATURE ATTRACTS WORLDWIDE BIDS

Friday, October 29th, 2010

An 1843 edition of A Christmas Carol inscribed by Charles Dickens. (click to enlarge)

Competition for rare first edition works of literature was fierce at Sotheby’s in London on October 28.

Poems inscribed by T.S. Eliot for Virginia Woolf. (click to enlarge)

It was the first of a series of sales from “The Library of an English Bibliophile”. Many of the works on offer were inscribed by the authors to people who played a major part in their lives and their oeuvre. The sale realised £3,160,257, comfortably above the top estimate of £2,185,500-2,943,500.

The top lot was Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol, 1843, inscribed to W.C. Macready. It made £181,250. An 1847 edition of Wuthering Heights made £163,250 and an 1813 edition of Pride and Prejudice sold for £139,250.

A 1922 version of Ulysses inscribed to Raymonde Linoissier made £121,250 and Poems 1920 inscribed by T.S. Eliot to Virginia Woolf made £91,250.

The quality of the works on offer drew bids from around the world. Prices include the buyer’s premium. Sotheby’s buyer’s premium is 25% of the hammer price on the first £25·000, 20% of the hammer price up to and including £500·000, and 12% thereafter on each lot.

Sotheby’s will include two offerings intimately connected with Jane Austen – Britain’s most beloved authoress – in its sale of English Literature, History and Children’s Books & Illustrations in London, on December 16: an extremely rare first edition of Emma – arguably the author’s finest work – given by Austen to her fellow novelist Maria Edgeworth, and the family’s Wedgwood dinner set, which Jane Austen helped to choose and would have used on countless occasions.

Signed by Maria Edgeworth this is the only known copy for Emma given by Jane Austen to a fellow writer. It is estimated at £70,000-£100,000. The dinner service is estimated at 50,000-70,000.

EMMA made a hammer price with buyer’s premium of £79,250. The Wedgwood dinner service failed to find a buyer.

Tags: bidding, first editions, inscribed, jane austen, literature, maria edgeworth, sotheby's
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DELFT PYRAMID VASES MAKE £132,250 AT ASHDOWN HOUSE

Thursday, October 28th, 2010

This pair of pyramid Dutch Delft vases made £132,250 at Sotheby's sale in Ashdown House. (click to enlarge)

A pair of Deflt pyramid flower vases dating from the late 17th/early 18th century made £132,250 over an estimate of 60,000-80,000 to become the top lot at a stately home contents sale in Berkshire on October 27.

A FARAGHAN CARPET, WEST PERSIA made £97,250 over a top estimate of £18,000 at the Ashdown House sale. (click to enlarge)

Sotheby’s achieved £2.7 million, far above the pre-sale estimate of £1.3-1.9 million, for the contents of Ashdown House, built by William, first Earl of Craven for King Charles I’s sister, Elizabeth, Queen of Bohemia in the early 1660s. She was born Elizabeth of Scotland, eldest daughter of James I and married Frederick V, Elector Palatine of the Rhine in 1612 at the age of 16.

They became King and Queen of Bohemia and she was known as The Winter Queen because Frederick’s reign was so short. They were forced into exile in The Hague by the end of their first winter on the throne. Frederick died in 1632 and Lord Craven acted as her representative at Charles II’s court when she returned to England in 1661.

Samuel Pepys testified that during the final six months of her life she was almost constantly accompanied by her “faithful friend”. All British monarchs from George I are descended from Elizabeth. Lord Craven survived her by 35 years and used Ashdown as a hunting lodge.

Dutch in spirit pyramid flower vases were mostly made for English clients in a brief period of fashionability following Queen Mary’s order to Daniel Marot for a series of imposing designs for large vases to be made in Delft for the Water Gallery at Hampton Court. Vases of this type survive at Chatsworth, Durham, Castle Howard and Hampton Court. Vases made for Bohemian and Moravian families in the late 17th century are now in Prague Museum.

Tags: Ashdown House, Delft, pyramid, sotheby's, vases
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Archive for the ‘COLLECTIBLES’ Category

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