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This Chinese lacquered wedding cabinet kicks off Sheppards two day sale at Barrettstown House, Newbridge, Co. Kildare online on November 2 and 3. There will be viewing at Barrettstown this weekend. Lot 1 of 788 has a fall front inset with foliate and figural panels, above a signed elongated ornithological panel. It opens to a series of shelves and is furnished with heavy brass carrying handles. The estimate is 1,400-1,800.
This Victorian walnut inlaid credenza comes up at Hegarty’s October Homes and Interiors auction on October 30. The catalogue is online and offers more than 400 lots of antique furniture, silver, jewellery, art and collectibles. Among the is a Dublin Tunbridge wall clock, an antique Persian Kashan rug, a Burmese ruby ring and an Art Deco console table. The credenza is estimated at 3,500-5,500.
More than 160 lots of vintage and storied guitars, iconic fashions, unique synthesizers, production equipment and rare cars from the collection of legendary and multiple GRAMMY-winning composer, producer, arranger and guitarist Nile Rodgers will be sold by Christie’s in New York on December 16. His renowned productions for artists such as David Bowie, Diana Ross and Madonna have sold over 500 million albums and 75 million singles worldwide, while his trendsetting collaborations with Daft Punk, Avicii, Keith Urban, Disclosure, Sam Smith and Lady Gaga reflect the vanguard of contemporary music. Proceeds will benefit We Are Family Foundation, a non-profit organisation co-founded by Rodgers and Foundation President, Nancy Hunt, that promotes cultural diversity while nurturing and mentoring the vision, talents, and ideas of young people who are positively changing the world.
Viewing at Barrettstown House, Newbridge, Co. Kildare takes place on October 30 and 31 for Sheppards sale of 788 lots online on November 2 and 3. Government covid regulations will be strictly enforced for the viewing. Meantime the catalogue is online. Among the more unusual lots is a Chinese Qing Dynasty Imperial Court silk robe. Embroidered with nine gold dragons chasing the flaming pearl of wisdom and truth it is estimated at 3,000-5,000. UPDATE: The hand made Chinese carpet in the image above made a hammer price of 2,000 and the Imperial silk robe made 3,200 at hammer.
The first Penny Black postage stamp comes up at Sotheby’s Treasures sale in London on December 7. The world’s first postage stamp is part of a unique document from the archive of British postal reformer Robert Wallace. It is dated April 10, 1840 and estimated at £4-£6 million.
This small Penny Black – a pristine impression, unused, and from plate 1a (the very first printed sheet) and lettered A-I – represents the birth of a device that would be central to the birth of mass communications across the globe for more than a century and a half and that still has not been completely supplanted by newer technologies. Rediscovered nearly three decades ago but not fully recognised until much more recently, the stamp’s identification began when British businessman and philatelist Alan Holyoake came into the possession of The Wallace Document, to which the stamp is attached, almost ten years ago. Holyoake was to instigate a three-year research project – which culminated with the document being issued with certificates of authenticity from The Royal Philatelic Society, London (2016) and The British Philatelic Association (2015), and its subsequent exhibition at the Smithsonian National Postal Museum in Washington DC.
‘The Wallace Document’, which will be offered for sale at Sotheby’s, is considered the most important piece of philatelic history in the world. It is from a now dispersed personal scrap-album assembled by MP Robert Wallace, and brings together two highly important philatelic artefacts: the Penny Black and a proof of the ‘Mulready Stationery’ that had been commissioned by the government as an alternative means to prepay postage. Both were given to him in thanks by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Francis Baring, for everything that Wallace had done to overhaul the postal system and bring these innovations to fruition.
No prizes for guessing that the contents of Tullamaine Castle, home of the Tipperary Hunt, will contain much of equestrian interest when they are sold by Sean Eacrett at the Horse and Jockey Hotel on October 25. The castle, which has been sold, was a stud farm for the last 40 years where Bob Lanigan bred equine stars like Delilah, Bid Ajwad, Hot Tin Roof, Pollinator and the Minerva Rose.Highlights include a life sized sculpture of a pack of hounds by Robert Till, a walnut and marquetry longcase clock by Anthonij van Oostrom of Amsterdam, art by Peter Curling, an oil on canvas of the Bailey Lighthouse by Stephen Catterson Smith and a collection of signed prints by the 19th century British artist Lionel Edwards. Viewing is now underway at Tullamaine Castle and the catalogue is online.
A pocket watch mentioned in Ulysses by James Joyce comes up at Bonhams Time is Precious sale in Paris on November 4. The 18 carat gold hunter case pocket watch and chain was owned by John O’Connell, Superintendent of Glasnevin Cemetary. The reference to O’Connell’s watch comes in Hades, the sixth episode of Ulysses. The novel’s central character Leopold Bloom travels with the funeral procession from Paddy Dignam’s house to Glasnevin cemetery where O’Connell was Superintendent (or caretaker as Joyce calls him). O’Connell regales the small group of mourners with an anecdote, an event described by Joyce as follows: “The caretaker hung his thumbs in the loops of his gold watch chain and spoke in a discreet tone to their vacant smiles.”
John Kileen O’Connell (1844-1925) was Superintendent of Glasnevin Cemetery, and a well-known and respected Dublin character. In Ulysses, Joyce described him as a ‘portly man’, who “ambushed among the grasses, raised his hat in homage” as the coffin of the deceased Paddy Dignam passed by on a barrow.
Curator of the Time is Precious sale, James Stratton, said: “This watch has the most fascinating and unusual provenance of any I have ever encountered. To offer a tangible item from one of the most famous and influential novels of modern times is a rare privilege and something I never expect to be able to do again.” The watch is estimated at £50,000-£80,000.
Next Thursday evening (October 21) Sheppards will sell contents from 33 Wellington Place, Dublin at a live online auction from Durrow. There are 168 lots in total including antique furniture, art, mirrors, lamps and an extendable Edwardian club fender and a Cork Regency chiffonier. Among the more unusual items are a Portuguese parquetry chest, a large 19th century cast iron Dublin park bench and a large 19th century gilt framed overmantle.
The gracious neo-classical mansion that is Townley Hall near Drogheda offers a fitting backdrop this weekend for viewing the annual James Adam country house collections sale. Irish Georgian furniture is a strong point of this auction along with classical Irish art, silver and collectibles like a 19th century cold painted model of a tiger by Bergman of Vienna. Fine English furniture including a pair of giltwood console tables in the manner of William Kent will also feature strongly in this sale.Ahead of a busy upcoming week of auctions there is viewing at Townley today and tomorrow. If you can’t make it to Townley Hall the catalogue is online. Adams sale is online from Dublin on Monday and Tuesday.
The sale of Irish art and design at de Veres on October 20 – highlighted by an iconic egg chair by Arne Jacobsen from 1958 – caters to a different taste. No matter. The eclectic style now in vogue allows much mixing and matching in any interior. Classical pieces from different eras sit comfortably side by side in many stylish contemporary homes. At de Veres there are chairs by Jacobsen, Mies van der Rohe, le Corbusier and the Norwegian Sigurd Ressell and a gilt metal table identical to one at Chanel’s apartment at 31 Rue Cambon. There are some highly collectible art pieces headed by Donald Teskey’s Cork Landscape (€20,000-€30,000) with work by Louis le Brocquy, Sean McSweeney, Martin Gales and 30 works from the studio of Reginald Grey, a portrait artist who was best man at Brendan Behan’s wedding.
If quirky retro is your thing or you just want to change your priorities an online sale by the newly formed West Cork Auctions tomorrow (October 17) might suit. A mix of 264 lots will come under the hammer at the sale on Easy Live Auctions. With everything from a Fabulous “50’s sign salvaged from an American Diner to a mid century red metal enameled coffee pot to model boats and cars to a small 1930’s countertop cash register there is sure to be something of memory jogging interest in this sale. Estimates are reasonable. A captivating white on red sign proclaiming “Changed Priorities Ahead” is estimated at €80-€100. Though it can apply to lots of situations there are no prizes for guessing that it originated with the traffic management industry.
