18th Century chinoiserie lacquered two door Cabinet on Stand. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
This exceptional 18th century chinoiserie lacquered two door cabinet on stand will come up at Fonsie Mealy’s Borleagh Manor Country House Contents Sale on Tuesday, April 18. The sale is being conducted on the instructions of the executors of the estate of the late Malachy McDaniel Stone and other important clients. It will take place at the Amber Springs Hotel, Gorey, Co. Wexford, with viewing on the premises at Borleagh Manor on the two previous days.
The cabinet interior is fitted with an arrangement of eleven long and short drawers, decorated with landscape and river scenes with figures attending daily chores. The interior doors are decorated with birds, insects and flowers, the exterior with painted oval panels with figures under willow trees. The giltwood stand is profusely carved with scrolling foliage, flowers, cherubs and a central classical female figure. The estimate is €15,000-20,000.
HARRY WINSTON ‘THE BRIOLETTE OF INDIA’ DIAMOND AND DIAMOND NECKLACE Briolette cut diamond of 90.38 carats, marquise and pear shaped diamonds, platinum, two portions of the chain are detachable and may be worn as bracelets, pendant detachable, unsigned, one bracelet with maker’s mark (Jacques Timey). UPDATE: THIS MADE €6,514,119
With a pre-sale estimate of more than $150 million the exquisite jewellery collection of the late Mrs. Heidi Horten (1941-2022) is the largest and most valuable ever to come to auction. It is poised to join and eclipse the previous record sales at Christie’s for The Elizabeth Taylor Collection (2011) and the Maharajas & Mughal Magnificence auction (2019), which are the only two jewellery collections to date to achieve more than $100 million.
Consigned by the Heidi Horten Estate and coming up in Geneva on May 12 the collection will be devoted to philanthropy, per Mrs. Horten’s wishes. All proceeds will benefit The Heidi Horten Foundation, established in 2020 to support the museum of modern and contemporary art she founded in Vienna, Austria — The Heidi Horten Collection as well as medical research and other philanthropic activities, which have been supported by her for many decades.
HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:
The stunning 90 carat Briolette of India Diamond Necklace by Harry Winston, originally sold by Cartier in 1909
A Three Strand Natural Pearl Necklace also by Harry Winston, highlighted by a cushion shaped pink diamond clasp of 11 carats
The Sunrise Ruby and Diamond ring of 25 carats by Cartier, pigeon blood in colour and of exceptional purity
A very important selection of Bulgari creations from the 1970s to present day, retracing more than five decades of the firm’s signature Italian craftsmanship
An exceptional Diamond Bracelet by Harry Winston
The Great Mughal Emerald Pendant Necklace by Harry Winston
Heidi Horten wearing her important pearl necklace
Heidi Horten (née Jelinek) was born and raised in Vienna, Austria. She attended the Hospitality Management School of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry and went on to work as a secretary in a Viennese law firm. From an early age, Heidi Horten was exposed to objects of great beauty, first through her father, who was an engraver, and later during her first marriage (to Helmut Horten), when she began to refine her eye for jewellery and works of art. After Mr. Horten’s death, Mrs. Horten was passionately involved in areas as diverse as social welfare, sports and medical research, which had been supported by her for decades. As of the 1990s, Mrs. Horten began building her private collection of modern and contemporary art. Her first significant independent art purchases were works by Moise Kiesling and Emmanuel Mané-Katz, acquired at auction in Tel Aviv in 1994. Her collection grew steadily over the following two decades, and, in 2018, was first unveiled to the public when a selection of 175 works was presented at the Leopold Museum under the title WOW! Moved by the tremendous success of the exhibition, Mrs. Horten began to plan for the future of her artworks, establishing a permanent home for them at The Heidi Horten Collection, modern art museum in Vienna. The grand opening took place on June 2, 2022, which Mrs. Horten proudly attended online, just ten days before she passed away.
UPDATE: THE SALE REALISED A TOTAL OF US$201,520,895
A 17th/18th century birthing chair at Sheppards. UPDATE: THIS MADE 4,800 AT HAMMER
The growing market for collectibles and memorabilia is reflected in an increasing number of sales by auctioneers across the board. A 17th/18th century Irish yew wood birthing stool will lead Sheppards Irish Vernacular Part II sale in Durrow on March 28. This rarity has an estimate of €5,000-€8,000. An 18th century Irish Penal Cross has a well carved figure with a skull and crossbones at the base and is estimated at €2,000-€3,000, as is an 18th century Irish mether, the sort of four handled Celtic friendship drinking vessel on which the design of the Liam McCarthy Cup is based. At Sheppards you can take your pick between an Irish jaunting side car or a classic Honda 50 cc motorcycle. Among the earlier examples of Irish life are an 18th century sycamore hedge chair, a cock fighting dugout stool and a dugout chair. All are conversation pieces.
There are flour bins, griddle pans, copper measures, a one legged milking stool, a metal bound milk churn, pine dressers and tables, bookshelves, plate racks and even an early Irish dugout food cupboard. More and more collectors are opting for objects like these, laden with memory and redolent of a vanished lifestyle or homeplace. Sheppards will offer 368 lots online from Durrow.
A home bar styled as a VW camper van front at Aidan Foley’s sale. UPDATE: THIS MADE 480 AT HAMMER
Further up the country, at Blacklion, Co. Cavan there is viewing today and tomorrow for a retirement sale at McNean antique and salvage which Aidan Foley will conduct online only on March 27 and 28 The catalogue, with 1,232 lots, is online and features lots of enamel signs, road signs, street signs, vintage car parts, pub signs, garden furniture and Victorian mahogany furniture. With everything from a home bar styled like the front of a VW camper van to a decorative dug out canoe to a larger than life unique sculptural carved teak figure of a bull this sale will be a draw. Part one of the auction at McNeans last year drew enormous interest from right around Ireland.
The top lot this time round is a 1970 Rover 3.5 litre V8 (€8,000-€10,000). There are enamel signs advertising Player’s Please and Will”s Capstan cigarettes, once ubiquitous in Ireland. A London Underground Boston Manor sign might do it for all the Irish who once lived in west London and managed to make it home, an antique cast iron clothes wringer might still function and save money for someone energetic and if you feel so inclined you could light up a dark corner with an Esso petrol pump globe. The selection on offer is memory jogging for all sorts of reasons and the market likes it.
In Dublin James Adam plan to hold their first Irish Vernacular sale on April 12. This is a new auction category for Adams and the sale will feature original furniture featured on the set of The Banshees of Inisherin.
William IV chest of drawers. UPDATE: THIS MADE 500 AT HAMMER
This William IV bow fronted chest of drawers with patinated flame mahogany to the front comes up at Hegarty’s evening sale in Bandon on March 29. The estimate is €500-800. There is a selection of jewellery, furniture and silver on offer and the catalogue is online.
Set of six Cork inlaid mahogany 11-bar dining chairs. UPDATE: THIS MADE 2,200 AT HAMMER
A set of Cork 11-bar chairs (€3,000-€4,000) will highlight Woodwards sale in Cork on March 25. There is a selection of affordable antique furniture like a William IV Mahogany lowboy, a Regency sofa table and a Georgian peat bucket (each €400-€500). Other pieces have estimates that are even smaller. An Edwardian walnut sewing table (€300-€400), a Louis XV bowfront chest (€200-€300), an Edwardian bonheur du jour (€200-€300), a Georgian bureau (€200-€300), a Regency walnut card table (€200-€300), a boulle bombe chest (€200-€300) and a Victorian dining table (€100-€200) are some examples of lots with value. This sale offers a five piece cast iron garden set and a Coalbrookdale cast iron garden bench as well as Wateford Crystal, mirrors and collectibles.
Annotated typescripts from Finnegans Wake by James Joyce, mainly from Paris in 1936-37, will come up at Bonhams sale of fine books and manuscripts in Knightsbridge on March 29. Among them are sections of the third chapter of the second book, typed in black ink with Joyce’s autograph ink additions and two genealogies of “Finn” on two separate sheets. There are further revisions and corrections in the hand of either Joyce or more likely one or more of his amanuenses working on his instructions, in two parts. The lot, with 42 leaves in total, is estimated at £45,000-55,000. The sale also includes a series of six signed letters by Roger Casement to to Max W. Karstensen of the Münchener Zeitung, 6 November 1915 to 6 March 1916, with supporting material. This lot is estimated at £4,000-6,000. UPDATE: The Casement letters made £4,845, the annotated Joyce typescripts were unsold.
A model of the Nellie Fleming of Youghal, lost with all hands in February 1936. UPDATE: THIS MADE 800 AT HAMMER
With everything from Capuchin annuals, oak furniture from the old Fawcett’s Hotel in Ballycotton which came to a house in Cork around 1949, a fine set of Cork 11-bar chairs, an English silver lidded jug inscribed in 1877 from Jane, Countess of Bantry and a model of the Nellie Fleming of Youghal, lost with all hands in 1936, the sale at Lynes and Lynes in Carrigtuohill on March 25 is redolent of Cork in days of yore. There is more memorabilia in a silver salver by Egans of Cork inscribed: Presented to Henry St. J. Glynn on leaving Skibbereen by the members of the Choral Society, Nov. 1944″. Each of these silver pieces is estimated at €500-€700.
A 19th century carved oak Black Forest sideboard is estimated at €1,000-€1,500 and the selection of antique furniture is good. Most of it is fairly affordable. Unusual collectibles include a pair of tractor seat stools, about 30 old stoneware beer bottles, 142 Parker biros in original cases emblazoned with logos from Aer Lingus, Ryanair, Black & Decker and many more companies and a 19th century rocking horse in need of restoration. There will be interest too in a collection of metal garden lamps by Harte, Wexford and six old framed photographs of Queenstown originally at Ballynoe House. Artworks include a painting of Annalong Harbour, Co. Down by Lillian Lucy Davidson.
Irish art and rare Irish whiskeys form the nucleus of Dolan’s timed online Spring auction which runs until next March 20 at 6.30 p.m. Among the many artists featured are Patrick Hennessy, Mark O’Neill, John Behan, Arthur Maderson, Charles Harper, John Brobbel, Martin Mooney, Ernest Hayes, Ciaran Clear and and Roger Dellar.
The sale opens with a collection of 12 Midleton Very Rare Irish whiskeys from 2012 to 2022. The estimate is €10,000-€12,000. Dolan’s reports internet bidders from Cork to Sydney for this particular lot. There is a unique bronze by John Behan titled Kyrenia Ship based on a 15 metre long Greek Cypriot ship from around 389 BC which sank around 288 BC three miles off the coast of Kyrenia. Dolan’s is also featuring artwork by Susan Cronin and other artists including Henry Morgan, John Morris, Norman Teeling, Mat Grogan, Douglas Hutton, Robert Ballagh, Roy Lyndsay, Robert Egginton, Olive Bodeker, Michael Morris and Henry Healy.
18th century Irish penal cross – UPDATE: THIS MADE €3,700 AT HAMMER
This 18th century Irish penal cross comes up at Sheppards Irish Vernacular Part II sale on March 28. It is dated 1729 with a well figured corpus among a skull and crossbones. Sheppards will offer 368 lots in a private collection of Irish ceramics, furniture and metalwork. The catalogue is online and there will be viewing in Durrow from March 25-27. The cross is estimated at 2,000-3,000.
This type of auction is developing as more and more collectors opt for rare and unusual collectibles. Auctioneers James Adam will hold their first Irish vernacular sale in Dublin on April 12. This is a new category for Adams.
The magnificent jewels of Anne Eisenhower featuring the iconic‘Jarretière’ ruby and diamond braceletacquired by Marlene Dietrich in 1937 from Van Cleef & Arpels will be sold by Christie’s in New York on June 7. Worn by the actress in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1950 murder mystery ‘Stage Fright’ it was purchased by Ms. Eisenhower in 1992 – making its way from one iconic collection to another. Anne Eisenhower was, according to Christie’s, as known for her humble character as for her undeniable glamour, the late philanthropist and designer approached all aspects of her life with that same sense of effortless grace. When asked by Architectural Digest in 1990 – the same year she was named one of the publication’s Top 100 designers — to describe her interior design style the granddaughter of the late US President responded: ‘Traditional, but for today’s living: comfortable, with a “lived-in” look; uncluttered without appearing austere.’
A tour of the collection will begin in Los Angeles and continue to Paris, Geneva, and Hong Kong. Additional jewels offered from the collection will come up at an online sale open from May 30 to June 8.
