The complete bar from Kiely’s of Mount Merrion at Aidan Foley’s sale. UPDATE: THIS MADE 2,600 AT HAMMER
The complete bar from Kiely’s of Mount Merrion or a De Sede white modular sofa first launched in 1972 – the choice is yours at upcoming auctions by Aidan Foley and James Adam this month.
The sofa would have been very much out of place in a traditional setting like Kiely’s but would make itself very much at home in any large luxurious contemporary space. Designed by Eleanoa Peduzzi-Riva, Ueli Berger, Klaus Vogt and Heinz Ulrich it is complete with 22 sections with which multiple compositions can be created. At their Mid Century Modern sale in Dublin on May 21 Adams estimate it at €10,000-€15,000.
The bar at Kiely’s is a real deal throwback, laden with memory. It is a highlight at Aidan Foley’s online auction in conjunction with Niall Mullen at Oldcastle on May 21 and 22. All sorts of pub memorabilia will come under the hammer and the catalogue is online. The estimate on the complete bar is a mere €1,000-€2,000.
DS-600 modular sofa in white leather at James Adam. UPDATE: THIS MADE 14,000 AT HAMMER
The Allnatt, a fancy vivid yellow diamond of 101.29 carats at Sotheby’s, Geneva. UPDATE: THIS WAS NOT SOLD
Kashmir sapphires, Burmese rubies, Colombian emeralds and lots and lots of diamonds – what’s not to like? Traditionally this is the month for sales which bring a global audience of very rich buyers to Geneva for eye watering jewels with all sorts of exotic provenance and stories histories.
The collections of modern and historic jewellery at sales like these are fascinating. Some lots make millions. But passion for fine jewellery is not the exclusive preserve of the super rich. There will be plenty of pickings for the rest of us at sales on May 14 at both James Adam in Dublin and Matthews in Kells and O’Reilly’s in Dublin on May 15 with no shortage of choices across all price levels.
An exceptional pigeon’s blood ruby and diamond ring at Christie’s. The 5.03 carat ruby originated in Burma (Myanmar). UPDATE: THIS MADE 1 MILLION CHF AT HAMMER (€1.02 MILLION)
On the international scene yellow diamonds are the flavour of the month this month. Christie’s will offer The Yellow Rose in Geneva on May 15, an unmounted rare fancy intense yellow pear modified and brilliant cut diamond of 202.18 carats. Like most intense yellow diamonds it is from South Africa where deposits are rich in nitrogen.
Sotheby’s claim to have one of the world’s most significant fancy vivid yellow diamonds as a highlight of their magnificent jewels sale in Geneva on May 14. The Allnatt – named for its first recorded owner Major Alfred Allnatt, renowned British racehorse owner, philanthropist and patron of the arts – weighs in at 101.29 carats and is celebrated for its richly saturated gold colour, older cutting style and elegant 1950’s mounting by Cartier. It too originates in South Africa and the estimate is 5.6 million – 6.5 million Swiss francs (€5.74 million – €6.67 million).
Both sales are distinguished by one of a kind pieces and historic and modern jewellery from houses like Harry Winston, Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Tiffany, JAR and many others.
Turquoise, lapis lazuli and diamond bracelet at Adams. UPDATE: THIS MADE 19,000 AT HAMMER
Meantime in Ireland viewing is underway both in Dublin and in Kells for the jewellery sales on May 14 at Adams and Matthews and the regular monthly jewellery and silver sale at O’Reilly’s of Francis St. in Dublin takes place on Wednesday. Top lots at Adams include a c1960 Serpenti bracelet watch and a ruby and diamond ring both by Bulgari. Each is estimated at €40,000-€60,000. A rare turquoise, lapis lazuli and diamond bracelet by Fred, Paris c1960 is estimated at €20,000-€30,000.
A Trinity bangle by Cartier is estimated at €6,000-€8,000 while a Trinity ring by the same maker (€700-€900) is one of a selection of lots available at under €1,000 in a catalogue with 268 lots in total.
A vintage diamond and enamel ring by David Morris hallmarked London 1975 is the top lot at O’Reilly’s with an estimate of €58,000-€65,000. It comes with a gold rope link and black enamel surround. A total of 234 lots will come under the hammer.
A selection of lots from Matthews
In Kells the auction at Matthews will offer silver and gold from various executor instructions, pawnbrokers unredeemed pledges and lots from private clients. The top lot is a Toi et Moi diamond ring (€12,000-€18,000). There is much to choose from in a wide selection of rings, brooches, bracelets, earrings, pendants and wristwatches. Happy hunting….
The Freedom of the City of Waterford. A Rare Irish gold Freedom Box, William Currie, Dublin, 1752-3. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR CHF 19,050 (€19,435)
This gold freedom box from an American family collection comes up at Sotheby’s sale of gold boxes and Faberge in Geneva which runs until May 13. It was one of three gold and one silver-gilt freedom boxes given to Lionel Cranfield Sackville, Duke of Dorset, as follows: Waterford, by William Currie, Dublin, circa 1752, (the current box); Kilkenny, also by Currie, Dublin, 1753; Trinity College, Dublin by David King, Dublin,1733, all gold, and in silver-gilt, Wexford, also by Currie, circa 1755. The arms on the cover are those of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Lionel Cranfield Sackville, 10th Earl and 1st Duke of Dorset, 1687-1765, K.G., P.C., twice Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (1730-37 and 1751-55). The estimate is 15,000-25,000 CHF (€15,350-€25,580).
A c1838 Cork cream jug with melon body by Richard Garde. UPDATE: THIS MADE 600 AT HAMMER
In Ireland we have a knack for a material that lends grace, style and permanence to all sorts of settings and occasions. So in a fickle era when fashion in antiques and everything else is fast moving it is heartening that silver has retained an enduring appeal.
Special silver sales at Woodwards in Cork, like the one coming up on May 11 are always popular. This one offers some Cork silver – always a draw for serious collectors – along with a selection of Irish flatware, Georgian and Victorian English silverware and plate and the estate of a collector of Royal Irish Silver. Prime lots include a 1970 pair of heavy entree dishes and covers with detachable handles by the Royal Irish Silver Co., Dublin (€2,000-€3,000), a c1775 sugar bowl with scalloped rim by Peter Wills, Cork (€700-€1,000), a c1838 cream jug with melon panelled body by Richard Garde, Cork (€500-€1,000), a pair of 1961 sauce boats (€600-€800) and an Irish butter pail design sugar bowl (€400-€800) both by William Egan and Sons.
A sugar bowl of butter pail design by William Egan & Sons Cork, with Gleninsheen Collar commemorative hallmark for 1973. UPDATE: THIS MADE 850 AT HAMMER
This extremely rare penny from the Reign of King Sitric comes up at Noonan’s in London on May 9. It is part of a selection of 100 Irish coins from the collection of US based Michael McKeever. The penny from the reign of Sitric imitating the English Long Cross coinage, was made by a moneyer named Aelwine and carries an English mint signature although it was struck in Dublin. It is in extremely fine condition. The estimate is £2,000-2,600. Sitric, who died in 927, was King of Dublin and King of Northumbria.
Another highlight is a rare groat (a silver coin worth four pence) from the reign of King Richard III who was on the throne for just two years. Struck at the Dublin mint is estimated at £1,200-1,500. The cover of the catalogue features a very rare example of a Crown Groat from the Dublin mint, struck during the reign of Edward IV (1461-1470). It is estimated at £1,500-2,000.
A PAIR OF GILT CIRCULAR COCKTAIL TABLES, MADE FOR THE RITZ HOTEL, PARIS. UPDATE: THESE MADE 3,800 AT HAMMER
This pair of gilt circular cocktail tables custom made for the Ritz Hotel in Paris and removed when renovated in 2018 come up as lot 23 at de Veres international Art and Design auction in Dublin on April 30. They are estimated at €1,200-€1,800. The sale features chairs from the Louvre, a Golden Egg chair designed by Arne Jacobsen and Ron Arad designed chairs. The Golden Age of stylish and functional Danish design, from the 1940’s to the 1960’s, is well represented too. It remains popular today as it works in traditional and contemporary spaces. There is art by Pierre Soulages, William Scott, Felim Egan and Barry Flanagan.
A first edition of Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass, a set of four 18th century armorial hall chairs and a portrait of Thomas Wyndham by the Dutch painter Simon Pietersz Verelst (1644-1721) from Christie’s sale at Adare Manor in 1982 come up at Hegarty’s sale in Bandon on April 30. The auction features The Durrus Collection and includes items from the estate of Major Ian Alexander Dorling Thomson who was awarded a Military Cross in 1953. The jewellery selection includes a yellow gold pink sapphire and diamond floral ring where the central petals revolve (pictured above). UPDATE: THE RING WAS UNSOLD
A woodblock print by Hiroshi Yoshida. UPDATE: THIS MADE 7,000 AT HAMMER
A west Cork collection of 18th century Irish and Oriental artefacts assembled by an investment banker is included in four days of sales with more than 1,800 lots at Sheppards in Durrow next week. Among the lots from west Cork is a set of Japanese woodblock prints from the series Seto inland sea by Hiroshi Yoshida (1876-1950), a pair of 19th century Meissen parakeets and a pair of 19th century Meissen plates.
A 17th century Flemish tapestry, a pair of Chippendale elbow chairs from Malahide Castle, a 17th century silver chalice from the Tim O’Mahony Collection, Kilkenny, an Irish 18th century wake table, four 18th century Chippendale chairs from the estate of Yehudi Menuhin and a long Donegal runner supplied by Robert Kime to Clarence House, home of King Charles and Queen Camilla add considerable interest to this auction.
The Great Irish Interiors sale takes place on April 30 and May 1. Curated jewellery will come under the hammer at Sheppards on May 2 with top brands like Cartier, Boucheron and Dior and the Irish Vernacular sale on May 3 offers a c1880 three wheeled bike, dug out chairs, hedge chairs and a Penal Cross. Viewing for all these sales gets underway in Durrow today and the catalogue is online.
This blue ground with trellis panel Donegal runner at Sheppards was supplied by Robert Kime to Clarence House. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
Étretat, 1939 by Tristram Hillier (1905-1983). UPDATE: THIS MADE 75,000 AT HAMMER
Quality and diversity are the hallmarks of the Library Collection sale at James Adam in Dublin on May 1. With everything from an historic American collection, fine paintings, and lots collected during a Grand Tour to silver, bookcases, desks and collectibles this auction of 347 lots will richly reward a long curious look.
The collection of 80 lots of furniture, clocks, porcelain, glass and decorative effects from ‘Dawesfield’, a c1728 Pennsylvania farmhouse built by Abraham Dawes, is fascinating. The farmhouse served as George Washington’s headquarters during the battle of Germantown in 1777 and is on the National Register of Historic Places. The connections between émigré Irish cabinet makers working in Philadelphia, such as Joseph Barry and Henry Connelly, is particularly apparent in a Federal mahogany sofa (€3,000-€5,000) with typically Irish rope twist legs. A Chippendale corner cabinet (€2,000-€3,000), a Federal dining table (€700-€1,000), a set of eight dining chairs (€1,500-€2,000) and a c1775 four poster bed (€3,000-€5,000) are all from this collection. A c1775 oak schrank or South German style wardrobe might have been used by Washington during his stay and is estimated at €6,000-€10,000. By descent through the female line these pieces have been in Ireland for three decades and have never been on the market before.
Carved Siena marble architectural models of the Temple of Castor and Pollux and the Temple of Vespasian. UPDATE: THESE MADE 10,000 AT HAMMER
Siena marble carved models of the Roman ruins of the Temple of Castor and Pollux and the Temple of Vespasian are typical of the prized objects collected during a Grand Tour. The architectural models date to the 19th century and are estimated at €10,000-€15,000.
The most expensively estimated lot is a 1939 Surrealist oil on canvas by Tristram Hillier of Étretat in Normandy (€40,000-€60,000). An 18th century capriccio landscape of Dunmoe Castle, Co. Meath by Robert Carver is estimated at €30,000-€50,000 and an 18th century view of the Grand Canal in Venice from the School of Canaletto is estimated at €10,000-€15,000. There is a similar estimate on a pair of George II candleabrae and on the most expensively estimated furniture lot, a Louis XV satinwood, kingwood, tulipwood, parquetry and ormolu mounted writing table by Claude-Charles Saunier (1735-1807).
A set of 23 c1700 etchings of the Invalides in Paris last came to auction in 1925 at the Carton House sale. Estimated at €1,000-€1,500 they are from the library at Carton, for 700 years home to the Dukes of Leinster and Earls of Kildare. The estate was lost to the Fitzgeralds when the third son of the sixth duke sold his birthright to Lord Brockett to pay off immense gambling debts. Viewing gets underway this afternoon and the catalogue is online.
A Louis XV writing table by Claude-Charles Saunier at Adams. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
Collection of 10 Midleton Very Rare Irish Whiskeys. UPDATE; THIS MADE 5,600 at hammer
This appetising whiskey collection ranging from 2016-2024 comes up as lot 1 at Dolan’s. current timed online auction. The sale of Irish paintings and rare Irish whiskies is now live and continues until the evening of April 29. All ten bottles pictured here are accompanied by their certificates and the lot is estimated at €7,000-€9,000. Almost 100 bottles in total will come under the hammer along with art by Letitia Hamilton, Flora Mitchell, Mildred Anne Butler, James le Jeune, Charles Harper, Susan Cronin, Arthur Armstrong, Peter Curling and many other Irish artists.
