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This newly restored dwarf Georgian linen press is lot one at Hegarty’s auction in Bandon on March 6. There is antique furniture, art and jewellery pieces on offer including a yellow snake and moonstone pendant necklace, an Art Deco style diamond and ruby ring and a neatly sized secretaire bookcase with string inlay. The linen press is estimated at 900-1,200. The catalogue is online.
THIS Irish Regency convex mirror within a moulded frame surmounted by a carved eagle above a pierced stylized scallop shell sold for a hammer price of 5,200 at the opening day of Sheppard’s four day sale of contents from Erindale House today. It had been estimated at 5,000-8,000. An antique Irish spinning wheel made 550 at hammer and other hammer prices so far include the following: large gothic panelled peat buckets (1,700), neo classical marble chimney piece (4,200), pair of 19th century brass lamps (1,700), Edwardian Sheraton satinwood inlaid cabinet (1,400), Killarney wood chess set (3,600), Martin Finnin Abstract Study (3,300), large Donegal carpet (2,200), pair of brass bound campaign chests (1,500), 19th century kingwood games table (1,500), 19th century French ormolu clock (2,400), Celtic phoenix pattern runner (1,900) and a pair of brass bound peat buckets (2,600).
A large carved oak bookcase believed to have been made for the Cork Exhibition of 1902-03 is a centrepiece at Lynes and Lynes online sale in Carrigtwohill, Co. Cork on March 5. Contents from two house clearances which had been in storage and property from a religious order of nuns feature in this auction. The bookcase, which contained a note saying that it had been purchased by a Sr. Teresa, is estimated at €1,000-€1,500. Another piece almost certainly from the Cork Exhibition is a long oak coffer (€200-€400) with a carved front panel marked 1902.
Late Victorian and Edwardian Cork was eclipsed by the War of Independence and all the horrors it brought but the Great Exhibition of 1902, repeated in 1903, was the most comprehensive show the city ever mounted. Fitzgerald Park is among the legacies it brought to the people of Cork.The auction offers a wide variety of antique furniture, art and collectibles. A circular dining table with a diameter of 6’4″ is estimated at €3,000-€4,000 and there is an estimate of €300-€500 on a pair of reliquary stands believed to be from Mount Mellary. A late 19th century ships washbasin is estimated at €100-€200 and an American rug is expected to make €200-€300. A large 17th century painting of The Madonna and Child in a carved giltwood frame is estimated at €1,000-€2,000, a watercolour by Alexander Williams of Dromana on the River Blackwater is estimated at €100-€200 and a folding triptych with biblical scenes is estimated at just €60-€100. The catalogue is online.
The impressive four day sale which gets underway at Sheppards on March 1 goes on view in Durrow from today. The sale of the Governey Collection from Erindale House and other important Irish estates offers 1,584 lots with much to tempt collectors at all levels. A pair of Louis XVI gilt console tables is, at €10,000-€14,000, the most expensively estimated furniture lot. The highly ornate c1780 tables have rouge royale demi lune shaped marble tops above a central bell petal cartouche each one is raised on four square tapered and fluted legs. A pair of Edwardian satinwood bookcases is estimated at €10,000-€15,000.
When it comes to top lots these days jewellery tends to trump furniture every time. This sale is no exception. A platinum diamond and sapphire ring (€20,000-€25,000) is the most expensively estimated lot.Undoubtedly there will be Cork interest in a pair of large seascapes by renowned Cobh artist George Mounsey Wheatley Atkinson. Featured are Dutch sailing vessels in rough seas. Lot 1019 is estimated at €5,000-€7,000. Collectors of all things Irish will be interested in a large Dun Emer carpet on a red ground with a circular Celtic cartouche and enclosed by Celtic bird quadrants (€4,000-€6,000). The Dun Emer Guild (1902-1964) was an Irish Arts and Crafts textile studio founded in 1902 by Evelyn Gleeson initially in partnership with Elizabeth and Lily Yeats. They made tapestries for the Honan Chapel in Cork and a carpet presented to Pope Pius XI in 1931 as part of Ireland’s effort to host the 1932 Eucharistic Congress. Another lot of great interest to Irish collectors is a 19th century Killarney arbutus wood chess set. The tallest of the 32 pieces measures 10 cms. Lot 97 is estimated at €2,000-€3,000. Lot 98 is the profusely inlaid Killarney wood chess folding board with backgammon to the interior (€800-€1,200. Sales get underway at 10 am next Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday with over 400 lots on most days.
This set of the quarto edition of the works of Jonathan Swift is lot 576 at Fonsie Mealy’s Rare Book and Collector’s timed auction which goes online from 5 pm today and runs until March 8. The sale includes the libraries of the late Henry “Harry” McDowell, Celbridge Lodge, Kildare and Dr. Nora Liddy of Wexford. There are antiquarian books, literature, travel, military history, directories, sporting, history, economics, Celtic studies, ephemera, periodicals and cinema posters among 700 lots. Lot 576 is estimated at €1,500-€2,000.
This bureau plat with ormolu mounts is lot 22 at Sheppards four day say of contents from Erindale House and other clients on March 1, 2, 3 and 4. Nearly 1,600 lots are to be sold with around 400 coming under the hammer on each day. A wide range of quality antique furniture, silver, art and collectibles is to be sold. The catalogue is online.
Spring may not be in the air quite yet but this Victorian cast iron bench, which comes up at Matthews sale of contents from Knockboyne House, Navan, Co. Meath and other clients on February 27, is a welcome reminder of warmer outdoor days to come. It comes up as lot number 2 in a sale of 674 lots which includes antique furniture, mirrors, rugs,, collectibles and silver.
Porcelain, plate, glassware and clocks feature at Fonsie Mealy’s timed Spring Collectibles sale which runs online until March 22. There is everything from, a Victorian rosewood book carrier to a late Qing dynasty cinnabar lacquer box and cover, a large Wedgwood game pie dish and a 19th century carved ivory chess set. All 242 lots are to be sold without reserve.
Serious collectors of fine antique furniture will have much to choose from at auctions in Ireland in the coming week. The At Home sale at James Adam in Dublin on February 22 and Marshs auction of contents from the Ursuline Convent, Blackrock, Cork on February 26 offer opportunities to bag something rare and functional that might also serve as a conversation piece.
It can be difficult to display furniture to full advantage in an auction room so Adams imaginatively chose to photograph and depict some pieces in the authentic setting of a decayed but graceful Georgian townhouse on Henrietta St. in Dublin. This they felt would serve to show the timeless quality of antique furnishings and demonstrate how they can be incorporated into our modern homes.The arresting catalogue cover image is of a George III style two seater mahogany framed settee in cream damask against an unrestored rendered wall on an uncarpeted wooden floor in an alcove beside a white marble fireplace. It is estimated at just €600-€800. Above it hangs a William and Mary cushion framed mirror with an oxidised glass plate reflecting an unusual and muted view of the room. It is estimated at just €300-€400.
Lot 261 is a Georgian mahogany chest on chest depicted in an alcove in a more pared back image which highlights the quality of the craftsmanship and demonstrates how a single piece can command a space. It is estimated at €800-€1,200. With arresting images and a good selection of fine antique furniture such as a set of 12 Regency dining chairs, a Georgian chest on stand, a George IV armchair, an oak framed settee with Art Nouveau upholstery and two overmantle mirrors there is more than enough here to give the imagination a major workout.A gem set diamond bracelet of tutti frutti design is, at €7,000-€8,000, the most expensively estimated lot in this sale of nearly 500 lots. As well as jewellery the auction offers silver, porcelain, Asian decorative arts, contemporary pieces, art, sculpture and collectibles.
There are antique pieces that you would not come across everyday like a pair of Gothic reliquary cabinets at Marshs sale. Creating a suitable domestic setting for fine French Empire, Gothic and Regency furniture from the Ursuline Convent in Blackrock, Cork is another real challenge that many imaginative home designers will yearn to take on. There are five early 19th century Gothic oak carved bench seats of various sizes (€800-€1,000), a pair of Gothic carved high back chairs (€300-€500) and an antique Victorian bergere invalid chair that looks like it still functions perfectly (€300-€400).
A French Empire ebonized mahogany inlaid breakfront side cabinet is estimated at just €800-€1,000 and a William IV brass inlaid rent table is estimated at €2,000-€2,500.It is unusual to come across a pair of Victorian circular flame mahogany breakfast tables. These ones come with foliate centre decoration and are estimated at €2,000-€4,000. A Regency library table stamped Gillingtons is estimated at €1,500-€2,000.There will be viewing at the Ursulines in Blackrock from next Wednesday. The catalogue is online and the auction will be too.
(See posts on antiquesandartireland.com for February 13 and February 16, 2022)
A dedicated cross category sale entitled Ireland / France: Art, Literature, Wine will take place at Sotheby’s Paris on May 16. It will coincide with the cententary of The World Congress of the Irish Race when the newly founded Irish State participated in a week-long international conference in Paris. The aim of the event was to promote an independent Ireland on a world stage and display the country’s artistic and cultural uniqueness. For the occasion, a major, month-long Irish art exhibition of 300 works was also staged at Galeries Barbazanges a bold statement in the art capital of the world.
Sotheby’s, which is currently seeking consignments for the sale in May, will offer key works by Ireland’s leading artists and writers with French connections or who were represented in the 1922 World Congress. France’s vineyards have also long attracted Irish connoisseurs and the sale will include a select group of lots with Irish links. Ulysses by James Joyce was first published in Paris in December 2020. There will be an online auction from May 9 – 16.
Sotheby’s is currently seeking works by a variety of artists including August Burke, Harry Clarke, William Conor, Eileen Gray, Rowan Gillespie, Paul Henry, Mainie Jellett, Jack Yeats, William Leech, John Lavery, Countess Markievicz, Roderic O’Conor, Frank O’Meara, Louis le Brocquy, Walter Osborne, Evie Hone, William Scott, Sean Scully, Mary Swanzy, Leo Whelan and the writers James Joyce, J.M. Synge, Oscar Wilde and W B Yeats.
