19TH-CENTURY KILLARNEY ARBUTUS & MARQUETRY TABLE UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
This Killarney work table comes up on the first of four days of sales at Sheppards in Durrow on April 30 and May 1, 2 and 3. The octagonal chequered and shamrock inlaid shaped top opens to a fitted interior, above an ogee moulded and inlaid frieze. The 19th century table is raised on a baluster stem with octagonal platform base terminating on scroll feet and is estimated at €5,000-€8,000. Lot 327 is estimated to come up early in the afternoon of April 30. Viewing in Durrow gets underway on April 27 and the catalogue is online.
An 1857 work on Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa by David Livingstone – 14 years before Dr. Livingstone by found by Henry Morton Stanley near what was then Lake Tanganyika in present day Tanzania. UPDATE: THIS MADE 170 AT HAMMER
A complete set of Moore’s Dublin Edition of Encyclopaedia Britannica totalling 19 volumes illustrated with nearly 400 copper plates features at Fonsie Mealy’s timed online Spring Rare Book and Collector’s auction which runs until April 24. James Moore’s 1791-97 reprint of the third edition of Encyclopaedia Britannica was technically legal because British copyright protections did not apply in Ireland until after the Act of Union in 1800. Unlike Britannica volumes, all dated 1797, Moore’s title pages were dated the year they were printed, from 1788 to 1797. The unusual result of this is that the pirated Irish version has an earlier date than the original. The estimate on what was the largest and most expensive publication to appear in Ireland at the time is €700-€1,000.
On offer is a selection of English and Irish first editions, signed and limited copies, periodicals and books on history, travel and science along with pamphlets, maps and ephemera. Included is the residue of the library of the late Dr. Philip Murray of Sligo.
More than 700 lots will come under the hammer with everything from a signed first edition of Cities of the Plain by Cormac McCarthy complete with a two cassette audio book read by Brad Pitt (€800-€1,000) to a 1959 poster for an excursion to Youghal by train from Cork (€300-€400), a 1929 book on champion boxer Jack Dempsey signed by Rocky Marciano (€400-€600) and Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa by Dr. David Livingstone.
A poster for a 1959 excursion to Youghal. UPDATE: THIS MADE 280 AT HAMMER
A collection of programmes from Manchester United home games from 1949-69 (€300-€400), a 1912 first edition of Life in the West of Ireland with coloured illustrations by Jack B Yeats (€550-€750), a framed emigrants testimonial to ships surgeon J J Tighe from passengers of the Rangitiki after a 13 week voyage to New Zealand in 1876 (€250-€350), an 1809 printing of The Works of James Barry, Historical Painter by Edward Fryer (€200-€300) and a set of five signed first editions by Lawrence Durrell including two inscribed to Dr. Philip Murray (€250-€320) demonstrate the depth and breadth of this sale.
You could travel in 3rd class in comfort with CIE according to the poster advertising an excursion to Youghal from Cork on Sunday, September 6 1959. It announced that a non stop special train would leave Cork at 10.45 am and return at 11.55 pm. The return third class fair was seven shillings and six pence. Freighted with memories this poster is estimated at €300-€400.
Elsewhere in the online catalogue is an illuminated address to Thomas Brisbane Warren, Dean of Cork (€120-€170), a large collection of more than 1,100 postcards (€300-€400) and a bound set of six varied acts of King George III owned by John Hely Hutchinson, 2nd Earl of Donoughmore relating to matters like paving the streets of Cork and improving the butter trade,. Hely-Hutchinson represented Cork city in the Irish House of Commons and the set is estimated at €250-€350. Lot 580 is an 1815 Smith’s History of Cork and other books of local interest estimated at €200-€300.
The sale is on view in Castlecomer on April 22 and 23 and the catalogue is online.
A narrative on Jack Dempsey signed by Rocky Marciano UPDATE: THIS MADE 400 AT HAMMER
A Federal mahogany sofa with typically Irish rope twist legs. UPDATE: THIS MADE 2,600 AT HAMMER
The Irish furniture connections between émigré cabinet makers working in Philadelphia, such as Joseph Barry and Henry Connelly, is particularly apparent in this Federal mahogany sofa which comes up as lot 100 at the James Adam Library Collection sale in Dublin on May 1. It is estimated at €3,000-€5,000. Amongst the highlights of the sale is the collection of over 80 lots of furniture, clocks, porcelain, glass and decorative effects from ‘Dawesfield’, an iconic Pennsylvania farmhouse built by Abraham Dawes c1728. The property is on the US National Register of Historic Places because the house served as General George Washington’s headquarters after the Battle of Germantown from October 20 to November 2, 1777 during the revolutionary wars. This collection, never previously on the market, has come down by descent through the generations of the female line, and has been in Ireland for the last three decades or so.
It includes a Chippendale corner cabinet, lot 106 (€2,000/3,000), a Federal dining table, lot 126 (€700/1,000), a set of eight dining chairs,lot 125 (€1,500/2,500) and a Chippendale four poster bed c1775, lot 130 (€3,000/5,000). An unusual oak Schrank (a wardrobe of traditional southern German design), lot 129 (€6,000/10,000) is likely to have been used by George Washington during his stay in Dawesfield in 1777. Also from Dawesfield is a collection of books from the library of Dr Thomas James who was married to Hannah Morris, a descendant of Abraham Dawes.
A Federal dining table from Dawesfield. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
William John Huggins (British 1781-1845) – Madagascar. UPDATE: THIS MADE 3,700 AT HAMMER
This c1837 portrat of the Madagascar with the white cliffs of Dover in the background recalls a sea mystery. Built in 1837 it disappeared on a voyage from Melbourne in Australia and was one of the great maritime mysteries of the 19th century. The 1837 oil on canvas is estimated at €4,000-€6,000 when it comes up at the Lynes and Lynes sale in Carrigtwohill, Co. Cork on April 20. After leaving Melbourne on August 12, 1853 with around 110 passengers, a crew of 40 and a cargo of wool, rice and two tonnes of Gold Rush gold the Blackwall Frigate Madagascar was never seen again. The sale of 478 lots will include lots from the estate of Roma Peare (nee Knox) of Kinsale and Tipperary as well as residual lots from Cuskinny House, Cobh and from individual clients of this auction house. There is a good selection of furniture, silver, paintings and collectibles including an old dolls house with farmhouse and accessories (€40-€60).
A dolls house, farmhouse and accessories UPDATE: THIS MADE 100 AT HAMMER
A 19th century French oak pantry cupboard. UPDATE: THIS MADE 1,600 AT HAMMER
For those hell bent on upscaling an interior and adding a touch of real individuality the sort of lots that can set the imagination soaring can be found in plenty at Victor Mee’s decorative interiors sale on April 24 and 25.
Among an eclectic selection of items are an early 19th century French oak pantry cupboard (€1,500-€3,000), a pair of Ralph Lauren brass wall sconces (€600-€1,200), a 19th century French copper bath (€600-€1,200), a life sized stuffed brown bear (€4,000-€8,000) and a Grecian urn (€450-€850).
Or how about a now rare early 20th century bronze luggage and coat rack complete with mirror (€200-€400). These were a familiar sight on all trains once so this one should jog memories.
The Grand Tour plaster cast Grecian urn on pedestal might stimulate an irresistible urge to try to compose like the Romantic poet John Keats. His famous Ode to a Grecian Urn concludes with the words:
“Beauty is truth, truth beauty, – that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know”.
A 19th century life size taxidermy brown bear UPDATE: THIS MADE 3,000 AT HAMMER
A 19th century painted pine settle bed. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
There is scope for a unique and special Irish look at the Vernacular auction James Adam on April 16 at 11 am. On offer is a selection of settle beds, pine dressers, kitchen and farmhouse tables, cauldrons, deer antlers, dowry chests, rush lights, a folk model diorama of a three masted barque, hedge and sugan chairs, food cupboards, meal bins, chests and turf buckets, all more than reminiscent of the way we lived in Ireland long ago.
The term vernacular covers a multitude and this auction of 254 lots offers an interesting and collectible selection of art with work by, among others, James Dixon, Frank McKelvey, Markey Robinson, Ellen Connolly, Maurice Wilks and Charles Henry Cook. A c1800 Kilkenny black marble fireplace (€5,000-€8,000), silver dish or potatoe rings, Celtic Revival silver bowls and even a replica of the Ardagh Chalice enhance the Irish feel of this specialist sale. Among a selection of settle beds is a 19th century painted pine version with a moulded top (€800-€1,200) and a 19th century settle used as a prop in the film The Banshees of Inisherin.
A FINE IRISH SILVER REPLICA OF THE ARDAGH CHALICE. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
This Irish silver replica of the Ardagh Chalice comes up as lot 40 at the Irish Vernacular sale by James Adam in Dublin on April 16. Viewing for the auction gets underway today. The replica – of traditional design with applied Celtic decoration – was made in Dublin around 1915 by Sharman D Neill and is estimated at €6,000-€8,000. The Ardagh Chalice dates to the 8th century and is one of the greatest treasures of the early Irish church. In the collection of the National Museum it is part of a hoard found in the 19th century by a young man digging for potatoes near Ardagh, Co. Limerick. The catalogue for the sale is online.
CORMAC MCCARTHY – CITIES OF THE PLAIN UPDATE: THIS MADE 700 AT HAMMER
A signed first edition of Cities of the Plain by Cormac McCarthy is one of the leading lots at Fonsie Mealy’s Spring Rare Book and Collectors sale. The timed online auction gets underway today and will run until April 24 with over 700 lots of offer. Cities of the Plain is lot 477 and comes complete with an uncorrected proof and uncorrected advance reading copies, both signed by the author, and an audio book with two cassettes, read by Brad Pitt. The estimate is €800-€1,000.
THE NEW ORLEANS ARMCHAIR (1999), Pigmented polyester, gel coat and fiberglass UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
Ron Arad first constructed the Big Easy chair in 1988. “I was thinking about an overstuffed club chair”. he said. It was among the first pieces of contemporary design added to NOMA’s decorative arts collection.” Arad later released this moulded-polyester version called NEW ORLEANS where he daubs colour inside a mould before pouring in the polyester, imprinting the chair with the element of painting, the effect combining art and sculpture to create something unique. This version comes up as lot 30 at de Veres International Art and Design Auction in Dublin on April 30. The chair is a powerful statement on volume and illusion and fully blurs the distinction between furniture and sculpture.
An assemblage portrait of Tony Bennett by David Hockey. UPDATE: THIS MADE $22,750
He might have left his heart in San Francisco but millions of people everywhere took singer Tony Bennett to their own hearts. His extraordinary life and career will be celebrated at a live and online sale by Julien’s Auctions in New York at Ertegun Jazz Hall of Fame in Jazz at Lincoln Center on April 18 and 19. With everything from a 1965 letter of appreciation from Martin Luther King (for his performance at the 1965 Selma march) to acclaimed original sketches and signed sheet music duets the sale tracks how his life mirrored American cultural, social and political history over many decades.
There is an assemblage portrait of Bennett by David Hockney, art by Willem de Kooning and LeRoy Neiman, a sketch by Tony Bennett of Princess Grace signed by her and letters from Presidents Ford, Carter, Clinton and Bush, Martin Scorsese, Madonna, Elton John, Quincy Jones, Barbra Streisand, Al Pacino are testament to how much he was loved.
In 2007 he was inducted into the International Civil Rights Walk of Fame for his lifelong activism and work in social justice. He won 20 Grammys, recorded more than 70 albums and sold 50 million records. He recorded with K.D. Lang, Stevie Wonder and Billy Joel and next generation superstars like Christina Aguilera, Amy Winehouse and Lady Gaga. He scored three Guinness Book of Records entries, for the oldest performer to reach No. I, the longest time between the release of a recording and the re-recording of the same single by the same artist and for being the oldest person to release a new album. Tony Bennett died aged 96 last July.
UPDATE: The white glove sale made a total of over $2.1 million, four times the pre-sale estimate. Collectors came together from countries all over the world including the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Spain, Singapore, Switzerland, Australia and more, garnering nearly 14,000 bids. The “75th Birthday Book of Extraordinary Letters,” which contains over 100 Pieces written by Martin Scorsese, Presidents Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, George Bush, Madonna, Elton John, and more, sold for $19,500, two times its estimate of $8000. The letter from Martin Luther King about the Selma march sold for $78,000.
A sketch by Tony Bennett of Princess Grace signed by Grace UPDATE: THIS MADE $2,275
