Original Mazawattee Tea enamel sign. UPDATE: THIS MADE 200 AT HAMMER
This original Mazawattee Tea enamel sign is from Aidan Foley’s online sale of contents from the Groody Bar, Castletroy, Limerick on September 7. The auctioneer has not put an estimate on it but collectibles like this are popular and the entire pub contents are for sale. The name Mazawattee is a derivative of the Hindi word Maza meaning pleasure or fun and the Sinhalese word Wattee meaning a garden. There are 499 lots in the auction.
A desk from the early 18th century attributed to André Charles Boulle. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR €486,400
More than 300 years old this remarkable desk dates to the end of the reign of the Sun King, Louis XIV and is attributed to André-Charles Boulle (1642-1732). It bears all the hallmarks of his work. The projecting frieze drawer and emblematic masks resemble a famous series of drawings attributed to Boulle at the Musée des Art Décoratifs in Paris. The desk is one of a very small number of known examples to retain its original cartonnier, a small ornamental box for documents. Estimated by Christie’s at €400,000-€600,000 it is from the fabulous collection of Graziella Patino de Ortiz Linares (1900-1980) to be auctioned in Paris on September 23.
Masterpieces by Watteau and Fragonard stand alongside classical furniture and a magnificent collection of silver in an auction of 60 lots with an overall estimate of €23 million – €33 million. Among numerous highlights is Jean-Honoré Fragonard’s The Longed for Moment, or Happy Lovers, a composition characteristic of his lively and spontaneous style painted with great freedom. The estimate is around €2.5 million. A glittering figure in Paris in the 1920’s Graziella was daughter of the Bolivian business magnate Don Simon Iturri Patino (1860-1947) known as the Tin King. With refined taste and great erudition she built a collection over four decades in one of the most beautiful private mansions on the widest and one of the most expensive streets in Paris, Avenue Foch.
UPDATE: THE AUCTION REALISED €38,736,120
Jean-Honoré Fragonard (1732-1806) – The Longed for Moment or Happy Lovers. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR €10.6 MILLION
A Killarney davenport UPDATE: THIS MADE 12,000 AT HAMMER
Some spectacular though not strictly speaking vernacular Killarney furniture has crept on to the catalogue for a sale now on at Adam’s. Headed by a profusely inlaid davenport the four top lots at the timed online Irish Vernacular auction which runs until Monday September 7 are fine Killarney wood pieces.
Highly decorated pieces like this were crafted for the commercial tourist trade. Vernacular furniture like dressers, sugán chairs, larders and blanket boxes locally made throughout Ireland was designed and built for utilitarian purposes in rural homes and farmhouses. Some of it is very fine and collectible.
The exceptional davenport, complete with carved bog oak pillars includes marquetry vignettes and trailing foliate motifs of shamrock, dog rose, oak leaf and ivy and would grace any sale. The estimate is €12,000-€16,000. A Killarney centre table has an estimate of €8,000-€10,000. There is as well a chess and draughts table and a circular centre table each estimated at €6,000-€8,000.
An 18th century painted larder. UPDATE: THIS MADE 1,400 AT HAMMER
Among an interesting selection of vernacular furniture on offer is a cerise painted shelved larder with panel doors, a green painted pine cupboard, a stained pine kitchen dresser, a green painted plate rack stand, a buttermilk painted kitchen table, a red and white painted three seater settle bed, an open spit rack, an unusual set of sugán ladder back chairs, a railback chair with a stained elmwood seat, various farmhouse kitchen tables, a sage green painted Irish folk chiffonier with an ornate carved gallery back,a green painted marriage chest and a bog oak book slide.
A red and white painted three seater settle bench. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
There is a decorative wrought iron harnen stand, used near open fires to dry and crisp oatcakes, a beechwood butter table, a 19th century wooden rocking cradle, a milking stool, a coopered churn and paddle, a domestic butter churn, a wrought iron rush light, willow baskets, a stained oak hedge chair, toleware cannisters and a carved bog oak quaintly named fisherman’s priest. This object was used to humanely and quickly kill a catch. The name derives from the idea that it administers the last rites to the fish.
There is no doubt about it. Vernacular furniture is attractive, evocative and suits many contemporary settings. In this auction it is matched with early 19th century Irish glass decanters, pedestal bowls, jugs and dishes, there is a selection of spongeware and a glazed ceramic mether cup, a stoneware flask, contemporary ceramics, art, Irish harps, duck decoys, Claddagh rings, banknotes and a number of smaller Killarney wood pieces. The catalogue is online.
John Crampton Walker (1890-1942) – A cottage by the dunes. UPDATE: THIS MADE 700 AT HAMMER
An advertising print for the Dingle Peninsula by Paul Henry. UPDATE: THIS MADE 180 AT HAMMER
Over 500 lots will come under the hammer at O’Donovan’s in Newcastle West on August 29. The online only sale includes an advertising poster for the Dingle Peninsula with artwork by Paul Henry, a signed Pelé Brazil CBD jersey, a signed poster of The Pogues and a Versace exhibition poster for the V & A Museum featuring Linda Evangelista along with a selection of antiques, collectibles, vintage tools, fishing gear and collectibles. The catalogue is online.
The pistol lanyard worn by Michael Collins on the day he was shot at Beal na mBlath. UPDATE: THIS WAS PASSED
Hitler, the Titanic, de Valera, Collins – if celebrity sells then two auctions in Cork on August 29 have it in spades. The choice between Lynes and Lynes in Carrigtwohill and Marshs in Ballinhassig is entirely yours. If this poses a logistical challenge the good news is that both sales are online and they can be easily viewed separately next week.
Regular readers already know that a heart shaped pendant cherished by a Titianic survivor who lost her husband and the Mercedes used by Hitler’s Ambassador to Ireland during World War II on whom the then Taoiseach Eamon de Valera called with condolences on the death of the Fuhrer are to be sold at Lynes and Lynes and Marshs respectively.
With 472 lots in Carrigtwohill and 333 in Ballinhassig each sale offers much more than such singular collectibles.
Lynes and Lynes has Michael Collins’s pistol lanyard, given by his older sister Mary Collins Powell to Comdt. Frank O’Friel at Shanakiel Hospital exactly 104 years ago. Commandant O’Friel was part of the escort of the remains, brought to Shanakiel following the shooting of Michael Collins at Beal na Blath on August 22, 1922. The coffin was moved from Shanakiel to Penrose Quay under military escort which included Comdt. O’Friel and General Tom Ennis. The estimate on this unique piece of Collins memorabilia is €10,000-€15,000. Comdt. O’Friel’s gold medal for the Eastern Command Football Championship in 1927 is estimated at €200-€300.
A large dolls house and contents at Lynes and Lynes. UPDATE: THIS MADE 400 AT HAMMER
The sale includes lots from the estate of the well known and greatly liked Cork businessman Ted Crosbie including some Cork and Scottish silver, seascape paintings, yachting books and period furniture. Viewing for an auction which includes a wide variety of items ranging from Waterford Crystal to toys, trains, postcards and a selection of framed posters relating to Youghal in days of yore starts today.
The auction by Marshs next Saturday will jog even more memories of those bygone days. On offer here is the collection of Alan and Mary Barry of the Ramble Inn, Ballinhassig.
There are vintage tractors and lorries, original cast iron famine pots, tractor seats, horse drawn potato diggers, ploughs and thistle toppers, a 1947 flat bed truck, old railway signs, enamel advertising signs, an antique brass cash register and all sorts of agricultural memorabilia.
A Victorian antique cash register at Marshs. UPDATE: THIS MADE 200 AT HAMMER
This is an auction that will excite considerable interest, particularly at a time when the market for collectible memorabilia is so strong. The same cannot be said for the furniture market, but two lots in this auction will excite the interest of serious collectors of contemporary furniture. They are two early furniture pieces by the Riverstick based maker Joseph Walsh whose stellar reputation is now global. A Canadian cherrywood three part wall cabinet stamped December 1999 and a hand crafted cherrywood TV cabinet will be sold separately. Viewing gets underway in Ballinhassig on August 26 at 10.30 am.
The German Ambassador’s 1937 Mercedes 170V Cabriolet B Saloon, restored in 1988/99, will not be the only scene stealer at Marshs. Titanic survivor Florence Angle’s c1900 tourmaline and half pearl brooch and the sandstone heart shaped pendant she cherished will bring international attention to the sale at Lynes and Lynes there is much here to excite the attention of avid auction watchers.
A horse drawn potato digger at Marshs. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 100
A 12 place canteen of cutlery at Adam’s in Dublin. UPDATE: THIS MADE 7,000 AT HAMMER
When it comes to 21st century dining convenience is trumped by style almost all of the time. Trump is trumped by style in every single department but that is another story. The leading lot at Adam’s timed online At Home sale which closes next Tuesday (August 25) underlines the latter day supremacy of convenience. The c1937-39 Sheffield Old English pattern canteen in a mahogany George III style chest contains butter knives, sugar tongs, fruit spoons and forks, dessert spoons, a soup ladle, sauce ladles, fish knives and forks, a fish carving knife and fork set, a bone handled four piece carving set, cheese knives and cutlery for every conceivable dining occasion – except eating out of a paper bag or box.
This interior sale draws on Irish country houses, city residences and collections with 472 lots from the 18th century to the present day. There is a selection of furniture, silver, ceramics, glass, mirrors, clocks, rugs, lighting, pictures and collectibles. The catalogue, with oodles of character, is online.
The auction by R J Keighery in Waterford next Monday includes 75 lots of Waterford Crystal including a large globe with chrome fittings among a total of 844 lots. A fully fitted Killarney wood sewing table on pod is estimated at €3,000-€5,000. A luxurious coromandel and brass lady’s travelling vanity box by Austins, the 19th century Dublin cabinetmakers, is similarly estimated.
A Killarney wood sewing table at R J Keighery in Waterford. UPDATE: THIS MADE 10,000 AT HAMMER
Russian silver mounted glass pot. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
This rare Russian silver mounted glass pot dates to c1900 in Moscow. It was made by Gustav Klingert (1865-1916), originally from Germany who began his career working for Fabergé. It comes up at Adam’s At Home sale on August 25 with an estimate of €800-€1,200. A total of 472 lots feature in this timed online auction.
This large Waterford Crystal globe with chrome fittings on a mahogany base is the leading lot at an auction by R.J. Keighery in Waterford on August 24. The estimate is €5,000-€8,000. Over 800 lots, including 75 lots of glass, will come under the hammer at this timed online auction which is now on view. The catalogue is online. UPDATE: THIS MADE 5,500 AT HAMMER
An early three part cabinet by Joseph Walsh. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD AT THE AUCTION AND SOLD PRIVATELY AFTERWARDS
Two early pieces by Joseph Walsh, the innovative world renowned Riverstick, Co. Cork based furniture maker whose work features in major international collections like the National Gallery of Ireland and the Musée des Art Décoratifs in Paris feature at Marshs sale in Ballinhassig, Co. Cork on August 29.
The first is a sixteen foot long part Canadian cherrywood wall cabinet, comprising centre cabinet and two side cabinets dating to 1999. The second is a Canadian cherrywood tv cabinet. It is complete with centre cabinet and two side cabinets.
This is an auction of vintage tractors, lorries, farm machinery and railwayana by Marshs at the Ramble Inn, Ballinhassig, Co. Cork on behalf of Alan and Mary Barry, who are retiring. Among other lots in this sale of 333 lots are a James Crighton thrashing mill, a Terex 8 Ton excavator and an antique yard crane. There is a large selection of original enamel wall signs and a lifelong collection of memorabilia like a Victorian brass cash register, a collection of skillet pots and famine pots and a framed coloured print of the Chetwynd Viaduct.
The auction will be on view in Ballinhassig on August 26, 27 and 28 and the live and online sale is at 11 am on Saturday August 29.
A Canadian cherrywood tv cabinet by Joseph Walsh. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
A marble torso of a Roman Emperor probably representing Augustus, Tiberius or Claudius at Sotheby’s.
A series of auctions from an amazing single owner collection including the most important Roman Imperial sculpture at auction in over a decade will kick off at Sotheby’s in New York in October. Assembled over decades it encompasses more than 900 works ranging from Roman Imperial marble, Old Master paintings, ancient Near East ceramics, Islamic court carpets, Royal French furniture, Impressionist masterworks and 20th century design.
Probably representing Augustus, Tiberius or Claudius the commanding Roman sculpture complete with upper body armour is estimated at $8-$12 million (€6.92-€10.38 million). In one of this collectors residences it stands in a room that holds Richard Avedon’s revered portrait of Marilyn Monroe. Four Savonnerie carpets commissioned by Louis XIV for the Grande Galerie of the Louvre lie beneath furniture that once belonged to Marie Antoinette. Art includes masterworks by Canaletto, Degas, Fragonard, Guardi and Picasso. Works from a private collection expected to realise more than $60 million (€51.9 million) will be displayed across four floors of Sotheby’s new hq at the Breuer building in New York from October 17-22. There will be four New York sales on October 21, 22 and 23, with further lots at the Modern evening auction in New York in November. Prized and precious objects from a mosaic of civilisations will continue to feature at 22 sales in New York and Paris into 2027.
