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This French Art Nouveau mantle clock garniture in red Griotte marble comes up as lot 223 at Fonsie Mealy’s Making Room sale in Castlecomer on February 21. The clock has typical Art Nouveau gilt brass mounts around a painted enamel dial with Arabic numerals and striking on a gong and the estimate is €500-€700. A total of 432 lots will come under the hammer, the catalogue is online and viewing gets underway in Castlecomer on February 19.
An Irish oversized silver tankard made in Dublin in 1783 by Thomas Johnson is among the prime lots at Hegarty’s Valentine’s Day online auction next February 14 at 5 pm. It is among an important collection of Irish silver in a sale that will include antique furniture, collectibles, art and jewellery. The tankard features double c scroll handles, a bulbous body with design in relief, clear hallmarks and a circular platform base and is estimated at €8,000-€10,000.
Another piece certain to generate interest is a Cork silver coffee pot made by John Nicholson c1760 when silver making flourished in the southern capital. The George III piece features a finial cover, cartouches, a decorative spout and a circular platform base. The estimate is €1,000-€3,000. The catalogue is online.
Can romance be mined from unredeemed pledges? It might be just possible to come up with the answer to this teasing question in time for Valentine’s Day at Matthews jewellery, gold and silver auction on February 11 The sale will feature executor’s lots, pieces from private clients and unredeemed pawnbrokers pledges with plenty to choose from among 593 lots. A ruby diamond set cluster on a platinum ring or an 18 carat white gold diamond set sapphire and ruby brooch, each estimated at €2,500-€3,500, are laden with sparkling romantic potential. Or if you are not superstitious how about a pear cut sapphire and 13 diamond set pendant (€2,000-€3,000). There are bracelets, rings, diamond solitaires, necklaces, earrings, chokers, watches and objects of all sorts with which to express your love, so it is over to you.
Undoubtedly the best value to be had at auctions these days is in everyday antique furniture. There is no shortage of choice at upcoming sales. A classic and contemporary interiors timed online sale by Mullen’s of Laurel Park in Bray kicks off at 6 pm on February 11 with a 19th century cast iron hawthorn pattern garden seat with an estimate of just €200-€300. A Georgian inlaid side table is estimated at just €600-€800, a pair of 19th century butlers trays on stands come with an estimate of €400-€600 and a vintage satin birch chest is estimated at just €80-€150.
There are lots of other examples of good value furniture here including a Georgian demi lune side table (€100-€200), a brass bound secretaire chest (€200-€300), a 19th century three tier dumb waiter (€80-€120), a Georgian drop leaf table (€100-€200) and a Chippendale style mahogany desk (€200-€300). Meanwhile at Newcastlewest in Co. Limerick the sale by O’Donovan’s on February 18 will offer over 300 lots mostly to be sold without reserve. Among them is an oriental dinner gong with brass hanging drum (€125-€150), a Victorian oak hall stand with bevelled mirror (€40-€60), a New York made mantle clock with pendulum (€40-€60), a Georgian sideboard (€175-€250) and a Georgian tea caddy (€200-€300). The sale is led by a Peter Curling watercolour titled At the end of the Plough (€1,600-€1,900).
Art by Mabel Young (1889-1974), Paul Henry’s second wife, do not crop up very often and Fonsie Mealy’s Making Room sale in Castlecomer on February 21 features an oil on board of a cottage in the Maam Valley signed by her. It is estimated at €800-€1,200. The top lot in the sale is a large Irish Georgian serving table in the Chinese Chippendale style estimated at €2,000-€3,000. The catalogues for all these sales are online.
An Indian Mutiny Victoria Cross awarded to Edmond Jennings of Ballinrobe will come up at Noonan’s in London on February 14. It is estimated at £20,000-£30,000 (€23,400-€35,100). It was awarded for rescuing a wounded officer while under attack and taking him to safety on his own horse. After the event 42 year old Jennings was nominated by his fellow non-commissioned officers. Jennings enlisted in the East India Company’s service in Tullamore in 1836.
Two Victoria Crosses are known to this recipient, the one offered for sale here, and a second one which is held by the “F” (Sphinx) Battery, 7th Parachute Regiment, Royal Horse Artillery (the successor unit to Jennings’ original unit), together with his campaign medals. Whilst the exact reason for two Victoria Crosses named to this man is a matter of some conjecture, the most likely reason is that the first-named V.C. was sent out to India for presentation to him there (as were the other Bengal Artillery Victoria Crosses), but that once it was known that he was returning home to the U.K. Queen Victoria herself expressed a wish to personally decorate him with the V.C. at an Investiture at Windsor on 9 October 1860, and a second Cross was consequently named up (in the event Jennings’ ship had been delayed in departing India, and he did not arrive in time, thereby missing the Windsor investiture).
La Gavroche, an online auction with the exceptional wine collection from the two-Michelin starred French restaurant, together with works of art and selected objects, will run at Christie’s from April 10-24. More than 100 lots from the renowned London establishment will include wine, pictures, drawings, prints, decorative objects, porcelain and silver. The restaurant closed in January, 57 years after being founded in 1967 by the Roux Brothers,Albert and Michel. The restaurant proudly boasts a prestigious roster of internationally renowned chefs who were trained within its kitchens, including Gordon Ramsay, Marco Pierre White, Marcus Wareing and Pierre Koffmann.
The market for collectibles is strong so there are high expectations around an etched framed Sir John Power and Son Dublin Whiskey advertising mirror at Victor Mee’s sale in Belturbet, Co. Cavan and online. This is a rarity in a sale on February 6 and 7 which will include the pub memorabilia collection of Cannons of Castlebar. The gilded lettering is by William Cleland of Belfast and there is an original paper label attached. Such is the demand for lots of this calibre that the estimate is a cool €8,000-€12,000. The mirror is lot 100 in an auction with over 1200 lots due to get underway each day at 5.30 pm.
Not everything is as expensive as this. But there should be local interest down south in lot 164, an Allman’s of Bandon Fine Old Irish Whisky reverse painted glass advertising sign with an estimate of just €200-€300. Allman’s produced whisky, Powers adds an “e” to make it whiskey, which is more generally the spelling used in Ireland. Either way it is good stuff. Lot 625 is a framed political print of the capture of Thomas Kent in Fermoy and it is estimated at just €50-€80. He was the only person outside of Dublin apart from Roger Casement to be executed for his role in the Easter Rising and the railway station in Cork, formerly Glanmire Road Station, was renamed Kent Station in his honour in 1966 on the 50th anniversary of the Rising.
A sale of memorabilia like this underlines the fast pace of change in the world we live in. Take pub ashtrays. Once ubiquitous they seemed to be doled out by sales reps for breweries and distilleries and cigarette manufacturers like snuff at a wake. They could be found on every bar counter and table until the smoking ban came into effect in Ireland 20 years ago. Now they turn up at auctions like this and if you are so inclined you can pick one up for €20 to €40. Lot 295 is a 1930’s sign for Hoey’s Court, Dublin the birthplace of Jonathan Swift, which has since been demolished. The estimate is €150-€250. The catalogue is online.
This painting – made and signed by all four Beatles – sold for $1,744,000 at Christie’s Exceptional Sale in New York. This is one of the highest sums ever paid for a piece of Beatles memorabilia. The sale of the best in decorative and applied arts, works of historic importance and iconic objects of pop culture brought in $6.7 million with bidding from around the globe. A 1965 Gretsch Chet Atkins country gentleman hollow body electric guitar once owned by Elvis Presley sold for $302,400.
The Mark Knopfler guitar collection brought in £8,840,160 at Christie’s in London last night. Bidders registered from 61 countries, new auction records were set and the top lot was his vintage 1959 Les Paul Standard which realised £693,000 setting a new world auction record for the model. The collection of the celebrated singer-songwriter, guitar hero and frontman of the iconic British band, Dire Straits aroused phenomenal competition and the 122 lot auction lasted over six hours and was 100% sold. A total of 25% of the total hammer price will be divided equally and donated to charities that Mark Knopfler has supported for many years: The British Red Cross, Tusk and Brave Hearts of the North East. 100% of the funds raised from the final lot are being donated to Teenage Cancer Trust. In addition, Christie’s is contributing a further £50,000 to each of the four charities.
The antiques season in Ireland is lifting off and those who get their kicks from an auction fix will find plenty of action now that January is almost done.Immediate upcoming choices at Sheppards in Durrow on January 30 and 31and at Woodwards in Cork on February 3 include elegant Georgian and Regency furniture, marble chimney pieces, garden sculpture and furniture, longcase clocks and even an old carved stone statue of St. Peter. If brightening up the home was one of your new year resolutions then these eclectic auctions, on view in Durrow and Cork respectively, offer as good a place as any to begin.
Top lots at Sheppards include a Neo-Classical marble chimneypiece (€4,000-€6,000) and an attractive George III satinwood cylinder bookcase (€3,00-€5,000). More than 700 lots will come under the hammer in this two day sale. Feature lots include a George III sideboard, a pair of Regency tea tables, a Georgian inlaid side table, a classical contemporary Italian Smania display case with figural veneered drawers and open glass shelves, a designer chrome and walnut console table, a 19th century wine cooler and an Indian marriage chest. Among the Chinese selection at Sheppards are pairs of vases, painted panels, censers, jardinieres, chargers and porcelain vases converted to lamps. A 19th century French ormolu clock is estimated at €500-€800 and an 18th century giltwood pier mirror has an estimate of €1,400-€1,800. The catalogue is online and sales get underway each day at 10 am.
Woodwards will begin their 2024 season with a selection of house contents from residences in Blackrock, Rochestown and Belgooly. Among the more unusual lots is a very old carved statue of St. Peter (€500-€1,000). There is an estimate of €800-€1,200 on a longcase clock by Harvey of Clonmel and furniture lots include a William IV teapoy (€250-€400), a Georgian walnut chest on chest (€500-€800), a Georgian work table (€300-€400), a Queen Anne inlaid desk (€400-€600) and a small Edwardian walnut bureau (€200-€300).Value in antique furniture continues to be a feature in 2024 and estimates are low on a range of items as diverse as a William IV sewing table, an Edwardian chest of drawers, a quartetto nest of tables, a Victorian card table, a demi lune side table and an Edwardian credenza. there will be more than 300 lots, including a selection of artworks and the Cook St. auctions rooms are open for viewing from this afternoon.
Art by Graham Knuttel, George Gillespie, Markey Robinson, John Kingerlee, Michael Hales and a Picasso lithograph titled Dove with Yellow Sun are feature lots at Aidan Foley’s two day sale at Kilcolgan, Co. Galway on January 29 and 30. The selection among over 1,000 lots will include a pair of Georgian side tables, a Regency pedestal sideboard, a pair of French marble topped bedside lockers, a large pair of porcelain and gilt metal jardinieres, a pair of metal and stained glass Moroccan style lights and a bottle of Jameson Dublin Whiskey bottled by Scotts of Kilkee. The catalogue is online.
