This gold and diamond Cartier necklace comes up at the James Adam sale of fine jewellery and watches in Dublin on May 17. It is estimated at 15,000-20,000. A total of 262 lots will come under the hammer. There are rings of every shape, hue and price along with an appetising selection of earrings, bracelets, cuffs, necklaces, brooches, cufflinks and watches by renowned makers.
One of only three known copies in private hands of Robert Emmet’s inspirational 1803 Proclamation comes up at Whyte’s Eclectic Collector sale on May 21 with an estimate of €50,000-€70,000. No other example has ever been offered for sale. Neither the National Museum nor the National Library possess a copy. Emmet’s request to read his proclamation in court was rejected but he did manage to include parts of it in his speech from the dock. It calls on the Irish to claim their independence and specifies that we war against no religious sect. The line “we will put no man to death in cold blood, the prisoners which first fall into our hands shall be treated with respect” predates the first Geneva Convention by 60 years. After the Rebellion he was found guilty of treason. Robert Emmet was hung, drawn and quartered at Thomas St. in Dublin, one of the last prisoners to be subjected to this barbaric form of execution.
Kurt Cobain’s Fender Mustang electric guitar, Madonna’s Material Girl dress inspired by Marilyn Monroe, the original drum kit used in the pre-Beatle group The Quarrymen and Bruce Springsteen’s handwritten lyrics for “Born to Run” are all due to come under the hammer this month. Popular culture is big business – and in our global village auction houses are cashing in on the big time. Julien’s Auctions, conveniently located in Hollywood, leads the charge. Their Music Icons sale live and online from the Hard Rock Cafe in New York on May 20, 21 and 22 offers dedicated fans of all ages a heady mix. For the information of us non specialists the Quarrymen was formed by John Lennon in Liverpool in 1956 as a skiffle rock and roll group. Ultimately it evolved into the Beatles. Another lot sure to attract attention from around the world is a single sheet of handwritten lyrics by Bruce Springsteen for Glory Road, later re-named Born to Run. Kurt Cobain’s legendary blue “Smells Like Teen Spirit” music video 1969 Fender Mustang electric guitar will appeal to a different generation.
Christie’s Magnificent Jewels sale in Geneva tonight achieved a total of CHF68,990,650 / $69,668,694 / €65,939,460, led by The Rock, which sold for CHF21,681,000 / $21,894,082 / €20,722,133. Weighing 228.31 carats, The Rock is the largest white diamond ever to be sold at auction.
The Red Cross Diamond realised CHF14,181,250 / $14,320,624 / €13,554,068, with a significant portion of the proceeds benefiting the International Committee of the Red Cross. The auction was 98% sold by value and 92% sold by lot, and witnessed global participation with registrants from 20 countries across 4 continents. The next generation of collectors were active with millennial collectors comprising 50% of new registrants to the sale.
This 20 foot long Irish William IV dining table is among the top lots at Matthews original country house clearance auction on May 10. The executors sale of the estate of the late Trevor Fitzherbert of Rockfield, Athboy Road, Kells, Co. Meath offers a total of 950 lots and is on view at the property. The dining table is lot 348 and is estimated at €3,000-€5,000. The catalogue is online.
A May celebration of Ireland by Sotheby’s in Paris will introduce Irish art to new European audiences and mark an important centenary. Bidding on Ireland / France: Art and Literature opens May 9. The online sale runs until May 16 and will be on view in the French capital from May 11 until May 14. The newly founded Irish state took part in a week long international conference in Paris in 1922 titled The World Congress of the Irish Race. Irish politicians, diaspora delegates, writers, artists and musicians all turned up with the intention of promoting Ireland on the world stage and highlighting our artistic and cultural uniqueness. The auction this month – staged in addition to the annual sale of Irish Art by Sotheby’s to be held in London next November – coincides with the centenary of that congress.
In 1922 the then capital of the art world was witness to a major, month long Irish art exhibition of three hundred works at Galeries Barbazanges.Sotheby’s will avail of the viewing to exhibit three works on loan from private collections. Two of them, The Rosary by Grace Henry and Market Day Mayo / The Long Car by Jack B Yeats, painted respectively in 1910 and 1920, were exhibited at l’Exposition d’Art Irlandais at Galeries Barbazanges. The third, The Bridge at the River Grez, was painted by John Lavery in 1883. Among the literary offerings are copies of Ulysses (first published in Paris in 1922) and Dubliners by James Joyce; Molloy, Malone Dies and The Unnameable by Samuel Beckett and Stories of Red Hanrahan by William Butler Yeats. There is a death mask of James Joyce by Victor McCaughan.
Irish art on offer at this auction spans different generations and styles. There are paintings by Jack B Yeats and Louis le Brocquy, Sir John Lavery and William Scott. Among our leading contemporary artists there is sculpture by Dorothy Cross, Rowan Gillespie and Patrick O’Reilly with painting by Hughie O’Donoghue and John Noel Smith. Cow up a Tree by the west Cork based Australian artist John Kelly is estimated at €24,000-€35,000. A French cafe scene from 1937 by Harry Kernoff – Sunday Evening, Place du Combat, Paris – is estimated at €40,000-€60,000. Head of a Breton boy by Roderic O’Conor dates to 1883 and is estimated at €60,000-€80,000. Work by Evie Hone, Mainie Jellett, Charles Lamb, Sean Keating, Sean O’Sullivan, Aloysius O’Kelly, Sean O’Sullivan, Sarah Purser, Mary Swanzy, William Orpen and Leo Whelan features too.Among the most expensively estimated lots are Rocks and Foam, St. Guenole, 1883 by Roderic O’Conor (€300,000-€500,000), A Stranger by Sir John Lavery and Quatre Poires by Roderic O’Conor each estimated at €120,000-€180,000 and Statue of the Fragonard, Grasse, 1920’s by William Leech (€30,000-€50,000). There is much here to interest the French, the Irish and members of the Irish diaspora and their descendants located right around the globe.
This Chinese Ming blue and white bowl, Chenghua (1447 – 1487), is the most expensively estimated lot at Sheppard’s sale of Chinese ceramics and Asian works of art on May 12. The body is decorated with striding Kui dragons in mutual pursuit prancing through scrolling foliage. Measuring 9 cms high and 17 cms in diameter it is estimated at €20,000-€30,000. The catalogue for this sale of 255 lots is now online.
This Pugin style oak confessional box is one of the more unusual collectibles items of furniture to come up at auction in Ireland for some time. It is at €3,000-€5,000 the most expensively estimated lot at Victor Mee’s online sale of antique furniture, decorative interiors and ecclesiastical items from Clonliffe College Seminary in Dublin on May 10. Among a total of 628 lots are an ebonised Steinway grand piano, a Regency five pillar dining table and a 19th century oak pulpit with wrought iron balustrade.
The Dublin archdiocese has offered its former seminary at Clonliffe in Drumcondra for the accommodation of Ukranian refugees.
Twelve jewels by JAR from the estate of Ann Getty will highlight Christie’s Magnificent Jewels live sale in New York on June 8. Ann Getty’s striking group of jewels by JAR is one of the largest and most important private collections of works by the visionary designer, Joel Arthur Rosenthal to appear at auction. The group is expected to achieve in the region of $1.5 million. JAR’s masterfully crafted jewels are beloved by collectors as sculptural works of art. Evocative of 18th and 19th century design, they draw inspiration from historic architecture, intricate textiles, art and nature, and are often defined by their exquisite palette of signature pavé stones. From the diamond and gem-set fleur-de-lys brooch reminiscent of a sublime medieval stained-glass window, to the carved agate Zebra brooch adorned with a royal headdress, Ann Getty’s collection of JAR jewellery perfectly captures the artist’s early years of design and exploration and includes stunning examples of his most important creative themes.
This spectacular early Georgian gilt and scarlet japanned bureau cabinet is the most expensively estimated lot at Sotheby’s sale of contents from Monte Alverno, Dalkey, Dublin in London on May 26. Formerly at Bletchley Park, Buckinghamshire it was acquired at Mallett’s in London in 1999 and is now estimated at £150,000-£250,000. The City by Jack B Yeats has a similar estimate. Monte Alverno; An Irish Private Collection contains a remarkable collection of English and Irish furniture and paintings from a home perched high on a terrace in Dalkey with views over the Irish Sea. There is beautifully carved and patinated Irish furniture dating from the mid-eighteenth century through to later pieces by Hicks of Dublin, partnered with gilded mirrors, Chinese works of art and fine English furniture along with paintings by Jack B. Yeats, William Scott, James Arthur O’Connor, Patrick Swift and other renowned Irish artists. The catalogue is online.
