One of the largest and most complete T Rex specimens ever discovered is set to become the most valuable dinosaur ever at auction at Sotheby’s in New York on July 14. Gus, a 67 million year old Tyrannosaurus Rex, is estimated at $20 million – $30 million (€17.48 million – €26.22 million). Excavated over field seasons in 2021, 2022, and 2023 the fossil was discovered by Thomas Heitkamp and his team on land owned by the late Gary “Gus” Licking, a cattle rancher in Harding County, South Dakota. After years of finding teeth and bone fragments on his land Licking brought in the professionals, who named discovery after him. Gus has a body length of around 38 feet and a height of twelve and a half feet. Photo credit Matthew Sherman.
Yeats Family Violin. Labelled D. Nicolas Ainé Mirecourt’ c1810-20. UPDATE: THIS MADE £5,000
Lot 479 at the sale by Dominic Winter auctioneers in Cirencester on July 16 is an early 19th-century French Mirecourt violin, from the private collection of the family of Nobel Prize-winning Irish poet W. B. Yeats. The violin was acquired by ‘Chapel Violins’ from the Yeats Family Collection auction conducted by Fonsie Mealy Auctioneers in Castlecomer in November 2017. It was from the Dalkey home of Michael Yeats (1921–2007), a former senator and the son of W. B. Yeats (1865-1939) and his wife the harpist Gráinne Yeats (1925–2013). Since its acquisition, the violin has remained on display within the ‘Chapel Violins’ workshop as part of its private collection, where it has served as an example of exceptional early French violin-making and also as an instrument connected with one of Ireland’s most celebrated literary families. The estimate is £6,000-£8,000.
An Italian 1970’s mobile cocktail trolley. UPDATE: THIS MADE 360 AT HAMMER
f you are dreaming of outdoor summer drinks in warming up Ireland then a striking mobile cocktail trolley on casters might fill the bill. The selection of vintage mid century modernist furniture at the online art and design auction at de Veres until July 15 includes a retro Italian 1970’s mobile cocktail bar which with little effort could be wheeled to a patio in the heat. The estimate is just €400-€600.
A 1960’s rosewood Italian sideboard with an estimate of €800-€1,200, a pair of Magis Bombo aluminium bar stools (€400-€600), a pair of French space age floor lamps (€400-€600), a burr walnut dining table attributed to Willy Rizzo (€600-€900) and a circular table by Arne Jacobsen (€200-€300) all feature at de Veres. There is no in person viewing thugh lots can be viewed by appointment. The auction of 242 lots features a large selection of artworks and the catalogue is online.
A 1960’s rosewood Italian sideboard. UPDATE: THIS MADE 650 AT HAMMER
A Currency Commission Royal Bank of Ireland Ploughman’s note dated May 6, 1929. UPDATE: THIS MADE £6,500 AT HAMMER
Noonan’s of Mayfair say that three extremely rare banknotes at their sale on July 8 are arguably the finest set of Irish notes ever offered at auction. The trio of extremely special notes – a set of Ploughman notes (£10, £5 and £1) issued by the Royal Bank of Ireland, all bearing serial number 000001 are expected to fetch £8,000-10,000; £6,000-7,000 and £4,000-5,000 respectively. Lots 405-407 all bear the serial number 000001. They will be among the highlights of Noonans auction of British and Irish Banknotes.
Ted Edmunds, banknote specialist at Noonans commented: “Given the rarity, condition and serial number, we believe this set of £1, £5 and £10 are arguably the finest set of Irish notes ever offered at auction.” Describing it as about uncirculated and a fantastic banknote in scarcely believable condition the catalogue description continues: …a glorious example of a £10 Ploughman with an incredible serial number 1, a joy to see one of the most iconic banknotes in the world in all its glory, magnificent!
UPDATE: The three banknotes made a combined hammer price of £34,500 (€40,482). They had been estimated in the region of £20,000 (€23,470). Noonans said they were all bought by the same overseas buyer.
Pelé’s 1962 World Cup winners medal will come under the hammer at Julien’s Auctions in Los Angeles on July 9, just ten days before the current World Cup final. The estimate is $200,000-$400,000. From Pelé, Diego Maradona, and Lionel Messi to LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Serena Williams, and Roger Maris, Sports Legends: The Pitch To The Court at Julien’s traces the evolution of athletic greatness through museum-worthy pieces connected to defining eras and unforgettable moments across soccer, basketball, tennis, football, and baseball. Nearly 350 pieces spanning generations of the greatest athletes offered in this auction form an extraordinary collection of match-worn jerseys, historic awards, signed memorabilia, tournament programmes, and personal effects tied to some of the most celebrated names in sports history.
A Kylian Mbappé match worn 2022 Paris St Germain jersey is estimated at $3,000-$5,000, a Lionel Messi signed Argentina jersey has an estimate of $2,000-$3,000. Diego Maradona’s match worn 1978 Argentinos Junior rookies year jersey and Baldocchi’s 1970 Brazil World Cup winners medal are each estimated at $10,000-$20,000. A game worn LeBron James signed rookie year Cavaliers jersey is estimated at $300,000-$500,000.
[BRONTË, Emily (1818-1848) and Anne (1820-1849)] Wuthering Heights. A Novel. By Ellis Bell. – Agnes Grey. A Novel, by Acton Bell. London: Thomas Cautley Newby, 1847 sold for £1,206,500/ €1,399,540 setting a new world auction record for the author, as well as the highest price ever achieved for 19th-century literature and for any printed book by a woman.
A truly exceptional first edition of Wuthering Heights in the original cloth binding and of Agnes Grey by Brontë sisters Emily and Anne sold for £1.2 million at Christie’s Exceptional Sale in London today. Preserved within the same historic house library since shortly after publication in 1847, it is perhaps the finest example remaining in private hands of a masterpiece of English literature. No textually complete copy has appeared at auction in the publisher’s cloth binding since 1908.
Although both Wuthering Heights and Agnes Grey were written and accepted for publication before Charlotte had completed Jane Eyre, it was the latter work which was published first, in October 1847. The immediate and enormous success of Jane Eyre prompted Thomas Cautley Newby to bring forward the release of the present works in order to capitalise on the phenomenon. The exact number of copies printed is unknown, but it was suggested by Charlotte that the run was limited to just 250. Of these, examples preserved in any form of publisher’s binding are exceedingly scarce, with those in full cloth being the rarest of all.
The original working text for Alcoholics Anonymous is at Christie’s in New York on July 1 with an estimate of $1 million – $2 million. The Big Book – which launched the 12 steps movement – changed countless lives, became one of the most influential works of the 20th century, sold more than 30 million copies and was classified by the Library of Congress as one of the 88 “Books that Shaped America”. The document, complete with extensive handwritten notations and edits by authors Bill Wilson (1895-1971) and Hank Parkhurst (1895-1954), is from the collection of late billionaire and ceo of the Indianapolis Colts Jim Irsay. Wilson was a businessman who by 1934 had lost his career on Wall St., his reputation and his health. Parkhurst was a former Standard Oil executive and gifted organiser who met Wilson in New York in 1937 after getting sober. Proceeds from the sale of this lot will go to charitable causes supported by Jim Irsay.
A rustic timber summer house from Kilkenny Castle. UPDATE: THIS MADE €3,000 AT HAMMER
A square timber summer house purchased at the dispersal sale at Kilkenny Castle in 1935 is among the rarities at Sheppards annual Glantelwe Gardens sale in Durrow next Tuesday (June 30) and Wednesday. It was designed to revolve on an iron wheel mechanism to follow the course of the sun throughout the day. The roof is now absent, steeply pitched gable ends have survived. The estimate is €3,000-€5,000.
The top lot is an impressive architectural garden folly. The circular carved stone temple is estimated at €15,000-€25,000. The sale offers everything from weathered staddle stones and 19th century turnstiles converted to tables to bronze fountains, garden seats, gazebos, stone piers, troughs, gates and architectural salvage sourced from private collections, country houses and gardens. Sheppards say that this popular annual event is Ireland’s only auction presented in a garden setting. The live and online auction with 749 lots is on view in nearly three acres of gardens from today (June 27).
A circular stone temple or garden pavilion at Sheppards. UPDATE: THIS MADE €8,500 AT HAMMER
The Mayor Gallery, London shows Minding his own Business by Patrick O’Reilly at Treasure House.
From Old Master paintings, antiquities, sculpture and rare books to a prehistoric woolly mammoth head and Galileo’s first drawing of the moon the incredible London season now in full swing continues on its merry way.
London’s flagship Treasure House Fair continues at the Royal Hospital in Chelsea this weekend, it is Classic Week at Christie’s and Sotheby’s offerings next week include Scene in Braemar by Sir Edwin Landseer, a little known sister painting to The Monarch of the Glen.
In Ireland summer online sales of much more affordable art will be held at Whyte’s on Monday June 29 and Morgan O’Driscoll on Tuesday June 30. It all adds up to a very healthy market for art and collectibles.
The trove of masterpieces at Treasure House includes a 25,000 year old woolly mammoth head, drawings by Gallileo, a luxurious dog house made for Marie Antoinette’s favourite pet, a pair of commodes owned by Madame du Pompadour, jewels from the era of Henry VIII and Shakespeare, an exhibition of contemporary British women artists, a show of British Surrealism and a sculpture walk with monumental artworks by Eduardo Paolozzi, Elizabeth Frink, Ron Arad, Nicola Anthony and Patrick O’Reilly.
Sir Thomas Lawrence – Portrait of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, at Christie’s. UPDATE: THIS MADE £9,670,000 A NEW WORLD AUCTION RECORD FOR THE ARTIST
Christie’s has an estimate of £8 million – £12 million (€9.22 million – €13.83 million) on Sir Thomas Lawrence’s portrait of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington. In this portrait painted after Wellington’s defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo the artist succeeded in penetrating Wellington’s aura of heroism to capture the essence of the man. The Old Master’s sale takes place next Tuesday evening (June 30). Sales during Classic Week feature art from antiquity to the 21st century.
Sir Edwin Landseer – Scene in Braemar at Sotheby’s. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £5,946,000 A NEW AUCTION RECORD FOR THE ARTIST
The estimate for Landseer’s Scene at Braemar at Sotheby’s on the following evening (July 1) is £3 million – £4 million (€3.46 million – €4.61 million). Painted in 1857 the nearly nine foot canvas is a darker sister painting to the iconic and renowned Monarch of the Glen.
Rosaleen Brigid Ganly (1909-2002) – Stargazer Lily at Whyte’s. UPDATE: THIS MADE 150 AT HAMMER
There is a good selection of affordable art at Whyte’s summer online art auction which gets underway at 6 pm next Monday (June 29). The catalogue features 241 lots and includes work by Jack Butler Yeats, Walter Osborne, Estella Solomons, Eva Hamilton, Harry Kernoff, Dan O’Neill, Henry Moore, James Brohan, Liam Treacy, Banksy, Nelson Mandela, Brigid Ganly and many more artists. The most expensively estimated lots are Fishing Boats by James Brohan an d Self Portrait by Eva Hamilton, each estimated at €2,500-€3,500. The Tennis Court, a signed lithograph by Nelson Mandela from his Robben Island series, is estimated at €2,000-€3,000.
Majella O’Neill Collins (b.1964) – Returning home to Sherkin Island at Morgan O’Driscoll. UPDATE: THIS MADE €2,000 AT HAMMER
Morgan O’Driscoll’s off the wall online sale of affordable art is on view in Skibbereen next Monday and Tuesday. It gets underway at 6.30 pm on Tuesday (June 30) and the catalogue is online. An oil on board of Montpellier by Arthur Maderson carries the highest estimate of €4,000-€6,000. There is art by a wide variety of artists including William Crozier, Paul Henry, Damien Hirst, Robert Ballagh, Shepard Fairey, Andy Warhol, Jack B Yeats, Jim Sheehy, George Campbell and John Behan.
The 1823 2nd edition of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
The Moore St. flag of Truce from the Easter Rising was the top lot at Fonsie Mealy’s rare book and collectors sale. It made a hammer price of €62,000. Other leading hammer prices were: A rare edition of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (€24,000), Kevin Barry’s personal crucifix and scapular (€19,000), a first edition of Adam Smith’s Inquiry into the wealth of nations (€15,000), an archive from the Gaiety Theatre, Dublin (€15,000), a programme for the 1914 All Ireland Football Final (€14,000), a 2nd edition of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice (€9,500), a 1795 general atlas by Thomas Kitchin and others (€9,000), a rare 1918 Irish Proclamation (€8,500) and the Carton House music collection (€8,000).
(See posts on antiquesandartireland.com for June 20 and June 13, 2026)
