A pair of Cork lithographs by Robert L Stopford (1813-1898) UPDATE: THE PAIR MADE 460 AT HAMMER
A set of rare Cork 8-bar dining chairs, a pair of lithographs by Robert Stopford of The Cork River from Fota Park and Cork Harbour from Spy Hill, an early lithograph of Cork Opera House and a collection of drawings including one of St. Multose Church in Kinsale from the estate of late architect Bill Murphy of Coolim, Castle Road, Blackrock, Cork will feature at Lynes and Lynes sale in Carrigtwohill on September 28.
A landscape by William Sadler II leads a large collection of pictures from this house. A c1690 English walnut and marquetry longcase clock by John Bates, Atherstone, an Irish rosewood duet music stand by Williams and Gibton, an Omega De Ville gold wristwatch made for the American market, an antique brass fire grate, terracotta garden pots and a collection of Dinky toys are included. Among lots from other estates in the sale are an antique oak filing cabinet and a Churchill 22 carat gold commemorative medal along with a selection of jewellery, coins, glassware, books and collectibles. UPDATE: THE CHURCHILL COMMEMORATIVE MEDAL MADE €6,800 AT HAMMER
An English c1690 walnut and marquetry inlaid longcase clock UPDATE: THIS MADE 1,400 AT HAMMER
A framed linen handkerchief on Michael Collins at the time of his death at Hegarty’s. UPDATE: THIS LOT WAS WITHDRAWN AND SOLD PRIOR TO THE AUCTION
As the autumn season moves into high gear an impressive selection of highly collectible lots is available to collectors up and down the country next week. The range on offer right now includes everything from a rediscovered painting by Frank O’Meara at Adams, a Rolls Royce Silver Spirit at Sheppards and a linen handkerchief which Michael Collins had in his pocket when he died at Hegarty’s in Bandon.
When the autumn art selling season kicks off at Adams in Dublin on the evening of September 25 there will be much interest in A Knitting Shepherdess painted in 1880 by Frank O’Meara. This small scale transitional work by a short lived though renowned Irish artist, unknown to researchers, has been in an Irish private collection for decades. It is estimated at €10,000-€15,000.
Frank O’Meara (1853-1888) – A Knitting Shepherdess at Adams. UPDATE: THIS MADE 24,000 AT HAMMER
The Bog Pool by Paul Henry is at €120,000-€160,000, the most expensively estimated lot in this auction of 150 lots which features work by Jack B Yeats, Paul Henry, Colin Middleton, Louis le Brocquy, Sean Keating, Frank McKelvey, Gerard Dillon and Lilian Davidson. On the contemporary side there is a large work painted in 2008 by Hughie O’Donoghue – No. 37, Stuttgart 7 Hours 20 Minutes 24.7.44 – of a Lancaster bomber during the Second World War setting the night sky ablaze (€30,000-€50,000). Painting and sculpture by Neil Shawcross, Colin Harrison, Edward Delaney, Melanie le Brocquy, John Behan and many others add enormous interest to this sale.
The petrol driven 1984 Rolls Royce at Sheppards Legacy of the Big House auction of more than 1600 lots on September 24, 25 and 26 in Durrow is estimated at €20,000-€30,000. A west Cork collection assembled in Ireland, Europe and America has a strong emphasis on 17th and 18th century furniture. An Irish 17th century leather bound marriage trunk with metal and stud decoration and domed lid, inscribed 1693, is certain to create interest. The estimate is €4,000-€6,000.
An Irish 17th century leather bound marriage trunk at Sheppards. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
An Italian 18th century carved gilt console table with marble top is estimated at €3,000-€5,000. There are Regency tables, an Irish oak rent table, a Grand Tour marble specimen table, a 17th century walnut and crossbanded chest, a Cork Regency carved giltwood mirror and a pair of early 19th century Viennese salon chairs among an appetising selection.
Curiosities include a 19th century Cork ebony and ivory octant and a bronze model of a Venetian Lion of St Mark. There is a collection of fountain pens, jewellery from Atelier Jacobi, Stuttgart and art by James Arthur O’Connor, Guido Reni, Norah McGuinness, James Humbert Craig and others. Viewing starts in Durrow today.
A framed white linen handkerchief which Michael Collins had with him on the evening of his death on August 22, 1922 comes up at Hegarty’s sale in Bandon on the evening of September 25. It is accompanied by a manuscript letter in pencil signed by Collins’ brother Sean O Coileain dated August 31 to General Sean MacMahon asking him to: ‘accept enclosed as a souvenir of Michael – in his pocket at time of death’ . The estimate is €10,000-€20,000. The provenance of the handkerchief is General Sean MacMahon and thence by descent.
The online sale features antique furniture, art, silver and jewellery including a Victorian emerald and diamond shamrock bar brooch.
A Cork Regency carved giltwood mirror at Sheppards. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
Midleton Very Rare Whiskey – 1988. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
This bottle of 1988 Midleton Very Rare Whiskey will lead the James Adam timed online sale of wines and spirits on September 25. The estimate is €10,000-€20,000. This is the most elusive release of the series with only 16 bottles known at auction since 2009. At Sotheby’s in New York last week a bottle of Knappogue Castle whiskey distilled in 1951 and bottled in 1987 made a hammer price of $1,500 (€1,353) over a top estimate of $900 (€811).
Only two Master Distillers have had the privilege of preserving the legacy of the world’s most sought-after Irish Whiskey – Barry Crockett and Brian Nation. Created in 1984 by Master Distiller Emeritus Barry Crockett, Midleton Very Rare is the ultimate expression of his art and expertise. Once a year, Master Distiller Brian Nation honours Barry’s vision by handpicking only the finest and rarest whiskeys from the Midleton Distillery warehouses and carefully blends them to create each annual vintage of Midleton Very Rare. Each bottle is individually numbered and signed by the Master Distiller, the mark of a true whiskey masterpiece. Midleton Very Rare is consistently awarded the highest honours at the world’s most respected whisky awards. The individual nature of the selection process means that each year’s vintage provides its own unique character. Viewing for this sale gets underway today.
EXTREMELY RARE KINSALE TABLESPOON by John Wall c1720. UPDATE: THIS MADE 4,200 AT HAMMER
Kinsale silver is desperately hard to come by so there is some excitement around this extremely rare c1720 tablespoon by John Wall. It comes up as lot 119 at a sale of four collections by de Veres in association with Aidan Foley in Dublin on September 24. The estimate is €1,000-€2,000. The auction is on view at Kildare St. from today and the catalogue is online. The 216 lots comprise four different collections of silver, stamps and coins, art and books. Among more than 120 lots of silver is this rare tablespoon and a 1701 Dublin tankard by Thomas Bolton. Coins and sovereigns include a 1943 Florin, there is a collection of stamps from 1949 to 2023 and a complete set of The Tain lithographs by Louis le Brocquy. UPDATE: An Irish William III silver tankard by Thomas Bolton made 6,000 at hammer and an Irish George I silver tankard by Joseph Walker made 8,000 at hammer. The Tain lithographs were unsold.
A model of the Irish Hazel. UPDATE: THIS MADE 800 AT HAMMER
Viewing us underway in Doneraile, Co. Cork for Aidan Foley’s two day onllne sale of antique furniture, art, interiors and outdoor furnishings on September 16 and 17. Art on offer includes a mixed media print work by Banksy of The Walled Off Hotel Bethlehem (€1,400-€1,600, a pencil sketch of A Day at the Races by Jack B Yeats (€800-€1,200), and art by John Butler Yeats, George Gillespie, Marie Carroll, Martin Finnin, Elizabeth Cope, Graham Knuttel and many more.
The top lot is a Killarney wood sewing table (€4,000-€6,000), there is also a Killarney wood box and a Killarney book slide and the sale offers Persian rugs, Tiffany style lamps, tractor seat high stools, vintage model ships, a pair of fern decorated cast iron garden seats and a 19th century marble and gilt consul table. The catalogue is online.
A pair of tractor seat high stools UPDATE: THESE MADE 220 AT HAMMER
This Irish George IV gold freedom box presented in New Ross sold for £15,000 over a top estimate of £8,000 at Tennants in Yorkshire on September 13. The hinged cover with applied foliage and flower border is engraved with the arms of New Ross. It is inscribed underneath: ‘The Freedom of the Corporation of New Ross Presented to the Rev’d Ja’s Thomas O’Brien F.T., C.D. As a Testimonium of their high regard for his character as Scholar and a Gentleman 1827‘. It was almost certainly given to his daughter Dora Letitia O’Brien who married Lieutenant-Colonel Yarburgh George Lloyd-Greame (1840-1928) and by descent. The makers mark HF is possibly that of Henry Flavelle, Dublin 1826.
A silver-gilt snuff-box of very similar profile and with nearly identical borders by the same maker, set with a micromosaic depicting the Colosseum, is in the Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert collection, on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. There is a circular freedom box engraved with the New Ross coat of arms at the San Antonio Museum of Art in Texas.
Shell petrol pump. UPDATE: THIS MADE 3,000 AT HAMMER
In an era when the market for collectibles is expanding Cavan based Victor Mee Auctions has led the charge on pub memorabilia. Nostalgia is sure to reign supreme during three days of sales with over 1,400 lots on September 17, 18 and 19 from 6.30 pm on each day.
UPDATE: THE DATES FOR THIS SALE HAVE BEEN CHANGED TO SEPTEMBER 24, 25 AND 26.
The lots on offer in this sale are freighted with memory. The way we lived then is making good business for auctioneers in Ireland. How about a rare 19th century Cadbury’s Chocolate mahogany and glass floor display cabinet from some long vanished sweetshop of yore? Or an early 20th century chrome National till of a sort that graced so many retail establishments, or even a Michelin Man.
19th century Cadbury’s floor display cabinet. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
A yellow Shell petrol pump complete with white scallop shell light and vivid red writing recalled filling stations up and down the country and Edward Hopper’s famous 1940 painting Gas. This too represents a vanished era but the petrol pumps Hopper depicts are selling Mobil.
The good news is that 21st century collectors like the sort of lot that was once to be found everywhere. “We’ve been doing the advertising and memorabilia for a long time now,” said Victor Mee. “It’s a very, very interesting area of antiques because there’s so much history, and in that there existed such competition. The variety of merchandise and advertising made over the eras makes hunting for rarities an exciting game”.
Mirrors advertising whiskey are always sought after and there is a share of them of offer in this auction. One off items like the 20th century Guinness mahogany bar back from The O’Conor Don pub in Marylebone, with a central mirror flanked by Guinness Harps, are unlikely to come our way again. This establishment claimed to be the oldest Irish pub in London. The estimate is €600-€1,200.
There are signs of damp on an old framed Allman’s Irish Whisky pure pot still framed advertising showcard. This memento of the rare old times in Bandon and beyond is estimated at just €400-€600.
Craven A cork tipped Virginia cigarettes advertising print: Will not affect your throat. UPDATE: THIS MADE 80 AT HAMMER
If you thought social media misinformation was something new then lot 636 might inspire a rethink. A framed advertising card for Craven A Cork tipped Virginia cigarettes claims they will not affect your throat. The estimate here is €120-€220. The petrol pump is estimated at €3,700-€4,700, the Cadbury’s display cabinet at €3,000-€5,000, the chrome till at €800-€1,200 and the most expensively estimated lot is a 19th century McConnell’s Old Irish Whisky Cromac Distillery, Belfast mirror at €3,000-€6,000. What this sale has in spades is variety.
Allman’s Irish Whiskey Pure Pot Still framed advertising showcard. UPDATE: THIS MADE 380 AT HAMMER
A Handmade Donegal Carpet After a Design by Gavin Morton, G.K Robertson. UPDATE: THIS MADE 2,500 AT HAMMER
This Lily of the Valley pattern handmade Donegal carpet comes up as lot 285 at Reilly’s auction in Prosperous, Co. Kildare on September 14. The sale of 500 lots – on behalf of renowned jockey Michael J Kinane of Eadling House, Punchestown – features a number of Donegal and Persian carpets and runners as well as fine furniture, art and collectibles. This one is estimated at €3,800-€4,000, the most expensively estimated at €8.000-€9,000 is a blue ground design by Gavin Morton and G K Robertson, who began their collaboration in the 19th century.
This bottle of Knappogue Castle Whiskey comes up at Sotheby’s sale of exceptional Scotch and epic rye in New York on September 12. The 70 cl bottle is estimated at $600-$900 and is lot 55 in a sale headed by a number of bottles from The Macallan in Lalique Six Pillars Collection with estimates from $35,000-$70,000. The Irish whiskey is described as from Cask #9, distilled 1951, bottled in 1987, bottle #170. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR $1,500
A tall cloisonne garlic head vase or a Killarney wood sewing table? The choice is yours at upcoming sales by Hegartys in Bandon on September 11 and at Aidan Foleys in Doneraile on September 16 and 17. Decorated with flowers and birds in inlaid enamel the vase is estimated by Hegartys at €180-€250. The Killarney wood sewing table, last sold at Woodwards in 2010 for a hammer price of €5,200, is estimated by Aidan Foley at €4,000-€6,000.
Hegartys will offer garden furniture, antique furniture, silver, art and collectibles in an auction where feature lots include pink topaz diamond studded pendant, a late Qing Dynasty garden stool, a west of Ireland oil on canvas by Mabel Young and an etched glass jar. Aidan Foley’s sale features a country house contents from Co. Limerick and lots from a town house in Thurles.
Killarney wood sewing table at Aidan Foley’s sale. UPDATE: THIS MADE 4,400 AT HAMMER
