A c1820 Cork Regency extending dining table at Mullen’s of Laurel Park. UPDATE: THIS MADE €4,500 AT HAMMER
THIS fine c1820 Cork Regency extending dining table with reeded rim on spiral twist legs is among the feature lots at the monthly sale by Mullen’s of Laurel Park, Bray on March 1. The estimate is €4,500-€6,500. Antique furniture, silver, art, chandeliers, porcelain, rugs and vintage pieces feature in this timed online auction which gets underway at 6 pm. Furniture lots include a 19th century camphor wood trunk, an Art Deco campaign style drinks cabinet, an Art Deco cherrywood and brass bar, a pair of 19th century giltwood mirrors and a double scroll end window seat. The auction is on view today and tomorrow and the catalogue is online.
Items from the studio of Jack B Yeats. UPDATE: THE COLLECTION, SOLD IN INDIVIDUAL LOTS, MADE MORE THAN €33,000 at hammer
A Jack B Yeats studio collection which includes a drawing in colours and a sketch, paintbrushes, opened and unopened Winsor and Newton paints, pencils, chalk, palettes, monogrammed blank sketchbooks, and a vintage studio ephemera comes up at Gormley’s auction in Dublin on March 10. The collection is expected to make in excess of €50,000. After his death in 1957 the contents of his Fitzwilliam Square home in Dublin were inherited by his niece Anne Yeats, daughter of the poet W B Yeats. Of particular note are a Cornish Wafers tin serving as a paint box with the initials JB and Paint Tubes handwritten on both the lid and box exterior, and an original paintbox with extendible tripod legs which serves as a wall mounted easel. A portrait of Yeats by Liam O’Neill also features in a collection to be auctioned as part of an Irish and international art auction by Gormleys
An Important Ensemble of Fifteen Mirrors by Claude Lalanne, from the Salon de Musique of Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé’s Apartment, Paris 1974-1985 ($10-15 million)
A landmark collection of design and modern and contemporary art anchored next April by the most valuable design sale in Sotheby’s history is due in New York in April and May. The selection from the Collection of Jean & Terry de Gunzburg, offering around 135 works with a combined estimate of $67–99 million will be led by Design Masters on April 22 estimated in the region of $30–44 million.
The collection brings together iconic works by Claude and François-Xavier Lalanne, Jean Royère, Alberto Giacometti, Jean-Michel Frank, Alexandre Noll, André Groult, Eugène Printz, Paul Dupré-Lafon, Pierre Chareau, Marc du Plantier, Jean Dunand, Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann, Armand-Albert Rateau and others. Artworks by Mark Rothko, Robert Ryman, Agnes Martin, Alexander Calder, Pablo Picasso, and Paul Klee introduce parallel investigations into abstraction and the expressive potential of line and color.
This collection reflects the vision of two titans of their respective fields. Terry de Gunzburg is widely regarded as one of the most influential creative figures in modern beauty, having spent fifteen years at Yves Saint Laurent Beauté, including a number of years as Creative Director, where she translated the couturier’s artistic vision into groundbreaking cosmetics and created the iconic Touche Éclat concealer—one of the most enduring innovations in the industry. After working in close collaboration with leading photographers including Helmut Newton and Guy Bourdin, shaping the visual language of fashion imagery, she went on to found her own brand, By Terry, in 1998.
Jean de Gunzburg, a molecular and cell biologist of international distinction, pursued a career at the forefront of scientific research, trained at the Pasteur and Whitehead Institutes, then holding a senior role at INSERM and the Institut Curie, where his work advanced understanding in molecular biology and oncology, before applying his expertise to the biotechnology sector.
A view of the New York apartment with art by Rothko and a bust by Picasso. Photograph by Annie Schlecter. UPDATE: THE ROTHKO SOLD FOR $16.5 million. THE PICASSO FOR $5.6 million.
Oscar Wilde – Two autograph manuscripts, a working draft and a fair copy of the sonnet titled “The Grave of Shelley”, [c.1881] sold for £60,090
A collection of Oscar Wilde memorabilia resulted in a white glove sale at Bonhams in London this month. The 156 lot auction of the collection of Jeremy Mason, who has been collecting Wilde memorabilia for 60 years, made £1.68 million and was 100% sold. The top lot was the last photograph of Wilde, taken on his death bed on November 30, 1900. It made £279,800 over a top estimate of £5,000.
A rare Paddy Whiskey enamel sign UPDATE: THIS MADE 1,360 AT HAMMER
The estimate of €1,400-€1,500 for a 1937 enamel sign for Paddy Whiskey at O’Donovan’s two day sale in Newcastle West on February 24 and 25 is a mark of the strength of the current market for old Irish collectibles. A total of 546 lots of pub contents, memorabilia, enamel signs and vintage advertising will come under the hammer over two online evening auctions. Here you will find everything from a Power’s Whiskey mirror and a fireside bellows by Lucey and O”Connell, Cork to a two sided road sign for Beal na Blath with an Irish harp and a hallmarked Irish silver coffee pot with Celtic knotwork by Bee Moynihan, Limerick, 1970.
Mucha portrait with Sarah Bernhardt at Adams. UPDATE: THIS MADE 750 AT HAMMER
Memo to the slow food movement. Nothing complements fine dining so much as silver and crystal. The At Home sale by Adam’s in Dublin and R.J. Keighery’s biggest ever single day auction in Waterford offers bags of both. Both auctions are on Tuesday February 24. Pride of place at Adams is a 24 place Sheffield silver thread pattern canteen from around 1947. It weighs over 446 try ounces in total, excluding the stainless steel blades and sits in its own walnut lowboy chest on cabriole legs. The estimate is €10,000-€15,000.
There is an extensive selection of 150 lots of silver at Adam’s, over half from a single Irish vendor, along with antique furniture, mirrors, porcelain and art. A lithograph poster by Alphonse Mucha with Sarah Bernhardt playing Photina in La Samaritaine by Edmond Rostand is among a number of collectible in a sale with more than 500 lots.
At Keigherys a Waterford Crystal Dublin Castle chandelier (€2,500-€3,500) and an Arts and Crafts silver porringer (€1,200-€1,800) are among the leading lots. More than 750 lots will come under the hammer in an auction that offers jewellery, watches, period furniture, Oriental rugs, mirrors and two large pitch pine refectory tables. Both auctions are now on view and the catalogues are online.
An Arts and Crafts silver porringer with green glass liner at Keighery’s. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
The concept of a vampire being long in the tooth is a seductive one but 145 year old Louis de Pointe du Lac is not just any old vampire. The fans of this successful tv icon can hardly contain themselves over an Irish auction which draws to a close from 6 pm tomorrow on February 15.
Gothic Horror, vampire chic, a Louisiana setting and no less than 14 coffins from a fiver up feature in the timed online sale by Sean Eacrett at Ballybrittas, Co. Laois.
A boxed and cased pair of Versace sunglasses.
His latest auction of film paraphernalia is for AMC, the American cable channel. It is described as a prop auction from film and tv shows. Mr Eacrett is precluded from even mentioning Interview with the Vampire, the show that propelled the aforementioned Louis, his vampire lover Lestat de Lioncourt and Lestat’s daughter Claudia to stardom.
But there is no disguising it. The tiniest bit of laptop sleuthing reveals all. Available lots feature the Versace sunglasses worn by Louis, Lestat’s coffin, Claudia’s diary, Lestat’s business cards, Louisiana number plates, copies of The Times-Picayune and all sorts of props used by the characters in the series. The cybersphere is agog. “I need these like oxygen” wrote one breathless fan on Reddit.
Interview with the Vampire is based on the life story of Louis, an affluent black man and brothel owner in New Orleans in the 1910’s as told to veteran journalist Daniel Molloy in Dubai in 2022. He had previously given Molloy an unpublished interview in 1973. It explores New Orleans and surrounding plantation life in the 18th and 19th centuries. The story, based on The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice, premiered in October 2022 with two seasons. There was a third in 2024 and there will be a fourth season later this year.
A Times-Picayune dated July 30, 1919
One of the most expensively estimated lots, at €200-€400, is a very large black lacquered high gloss dining table from a Netflix series. A very large oil on canvas of the Dubai skyline is estimated at just €100-€200, as is an L shaped corner sofa, a faux fireplace from Lestat’s house in New Orleans and a silvered six branch chandelier. Most estimates are lower than this. A group of haberdashery hat boxes is among a number of items with estimates of €20-€40. A quantity of water canisters is estimated at €10-€20, as is a group of four heavy timber theatre prop eyes and plenty of other items.
This is a fun sale of 684 lots from an auctioneer who has previously sold props for TV series like Badlands, The Vikings, Game of Thrones. For this auction an undead and decidedly cheerful Sean Eacrett has made a must see 27 second long Tik Tok video of himself emerging from a coffin and donning a pair of sunglasses. Every vampire hates the light. There will be fees of course, but based on low enough hammer prices. Since when are vampires supposed to be nice….
A Dublin made bombe marquetry bureau at Woodwards. UPDATE: THIS MADE €1,600 AT HAMMER
One of the more distinctive lots of furniture at Woodwards auction in Cork on February 7 is a bombe marquetry bureau. The word bombe in furniture describes a curved front and or sides and this bureau was made in Dublin around 1870 by PJ Walsh & Sons. Woodwards estimate it at €2,000-€2,500.
The sale, with contents from a Cork convent and residences in Rochestown and Bishopstown, offers antique furniture including a Georgian walnut chest on chest and a Georgian longcase clock by Houghtons of Handsworth each estimated at €600-€1,000. A Victorian library or serving table (€400-€600), a William IV teapoy (€600-€1,000), a crossbanded rosewood card table (€400-€600), an Art Deco conservatory table (€600-€1,000) and a Victorian three tier dumb waiter (€400-€600) feature in a selection that includes art, glassware, a cast iron garden bench and a large portrait of a lady carrying a mask. The catalogue is online.
A large portrait of a lady with mask at Woodwards. Therein lies a story. UPDATE: THIS MADE €140 AT HAMMER
Classic Ford sign among the automobilia collectibles. UPDATE: THIS MADE €840 AT HAMMER
Collectibles are a major up a coming category in Ireland and there will be plenty to choose from at three days of sales by Aidan Foley in Doneraile on the evenings of February 2, 3 and 4. The online sale on Tuesday evening features two lifetime collections of automobilia with 277 lots in total including dealership signs, enamel signs, oil cans, banners and petrol globes. An oval Esso forecourt sign and a Munster Simms Oil cabinet are of particular interest. Mondays sale offers antique furniture, jewellery and art by Ivan Sutton, Graham Knuttel, Marie Carroll and others. There will be 150 lots pub memorabilia on offer on Wednesday. The catalogue is online.
Irish Georgian mahogany serving table, possibly Cork. UPDATE: THIS MADE €360 AT HAMMER
With everything from a 1963 Morris Minor and a 19th century decorated hand painted Sicilian cart to a 19th century inlaid boulle credenza and a Irish Georgian mahogany serving table possibly made in Cork Fonsie Mealy’s Making Room sale in Castlecomer on February 4 and 5 has lots to interest collectors of every hue.
More than 840 lots of antique furniture, paintings, decorative arts and collectibles will come under the hammer. Estimates are reasonable and all lots are to be sold.
There will be Cork interest in a retro wooden mantel clock presented to solicitor John Rearden in September 1950. A small plaque on the Edwardian mahogany clock records that it was presented by the Cork Employers Federation Ltd. “In token of their appreciation of his 42 years service as Secretary”. The lot, complete with a photograph of the presentation, is estimated at €180-€220. An inlaid wall clock by Hilsers of the Grand Parade has an estimate of €120-€180.
Given that it is reckoned that you could travel around central London in a horse drawn carriage in the old days more quickly than by fast car nowadays the contrasting options of a 19th century pony trap (€800-€1,200) and the four cylinder Morris Minor (€3,000-€4,000) are of interest. The car was owned by the Odlum family of Portarlington. The Sicilian cart, with spoked and iron clad wheels, has an estimate of €400-€600.
Tables, chairs, chests, Oriental screens, display cabinets, paintings, rugs and a converted 18th century spinet, an early 20th century carved wooden hobby horse, a Cork Mansion House service plate, a pair of Dresden bowls and three pieces of Copeland to be sold as one lot and all sorts collectibles vie for attention in an auction where the offerings are comprehensive. Ebony string inlay marks an Irish Georgian serving table as a possible Cork piece. The estimate is a mere €400-€500. The catalogue is online and the sale is on view in Castlecomer on February 3.
A pair of Dresden floral bowls, a Copeland dish and two matching plates. UPDATE: THIS LOT MADE €140 AT HAMMER
