FRANÇOIS-XAVIER LALANNE (1927-2008) ‘MOUTONS DE LAINE’, SHEEP AND TWO OTTOMANS, 1969-1971
Two days of design sales at Christie’s in New York achieved $18,162,375. The iconic ‘Moutons de Laine’ by François-Xavier Lalanne was the top lot of the sale. It made $1,590,000. Works by Alberto Giacometti from the collection of a member of the Matisse family – ‘Lampe Coupe aux deux figures’ and a ‘Grande Feuille’ floor lamp respectively made $930,000 and $1,170,000. Notable results were also realised for iconic designs by the French master Jean Royère, including a beautiful and rare ‘Croisillon’ sofa which sold for $562,500 as well as an exceptional ‘Ours Polaire’ salon suite, a sofa and armchair, which totalled $1,110,000.
This late George III cut glass 12 light chandelier, described as possibly Irish, comes up at Sotheby’s Town and Country, A Private Collection sale which runs online until December 14. Acquired from Denton Antiques, London in 2003 it is estimated at £15,000-£25,000. The sale also features an Irish cut glass pedestal bowl and a pair of Irish 18th century glass oval wall mirrors by Gresley.
UPDATE: The chandelier sold for £16,380, the pedestal bowl made £504 and the oval mirrors made £6,300.
Pair of large silver sauceboats by Matthew West, Dublin 1794. UPDATE: THESE MADE 4,400 AT HAMMER
Christmas is coming and there is still time to pick up stuff. In fact next week is unusually busy with a raft of last minute Christmas auctions. Given that the need to make merry is very great under the sorry circumstances of this year a pair of very large Irish George III silver sauceboats at the James Adam At Home sale next Tuesday might be just the thing for the festive Christmas table. Made by Matthew West in Dublin in 1794 this pair, complete with scroll handles and hoof feet, are functional, big and beautiful. Estimated at €2,000-€3,000 they take pride of place in a silver section where the selection ranges from decanters, cutlery and strawberry dishes to wine funnels, ladles, plated candlesticks and salts. Lot 20 is a Cork silver sugar bowl stamped sterling and estimated at €600-€800.
An attractive George IV serpentine front bookcase with twin glazed doors would definitely add a touch of superiority to any home office. It is estimated at just €600-€1,000, The catalogue cover lot is a burnt orange leather Chesterfield sette (€1,500-€2,000).Reproductions of the distinctive Art Nouveau work of Czech illustrator Alphonse Mucha were all the rage with the advent of high street art print shops in the 1970’s and are never out of fashion. A pair of lithographic poster prints on board by Mucha with the trade label G Garrault, Rue Pigalle, Paris – Spring and Summer – are estimated at €4,000-€6,000.
Lot 386 is an unusual and historic papier mache picture frame made for the Royal Art Union by the English artist Charles Frederick Bielefeld. The union was established in 1839 to promote fine arts in Ireland. The frame is estimated at €1,000-€2,000.This At Home auction is ideal for those looking for a less traditional gift from a selection of furniture, furnishings, paintings, silver, glass, ceramics and jewellery. The catalogue with 485 lots is online. This is just one of a larger than usual number of last minute pre-Christmas auctions in Ireland next week. Normally the season in Ireland would have more or less wrapped up by the first week of December. It underlines how 2021 has been different. In terms of auctions, easy availabilty and online activity it has not been at all bad for much of the antique trade.
Mid 19th century Royal Irish Art Union picture frame by Charles Frederick Bielefeld UPDATE: THIS MADE €1,000 AT HAMMER
This c1780 pair of Louis XVI gilt console tables made a hammer price of €14,000 at Sheppards today. Sheppards four day sale of the Cronin Collection of Seafield House, Donabate continunes on December 9 and 10.
THIS mid Victorian carved walnut Irish throne chair by Jones of Dublin made a hammer price of £44,000 at Thomas R. Callan’s auction in Ayr this afternoon. Though billed as the star lot of the sale it had been estimated at just £2,000-£3,000. Dated 1850 it was probably part of a large suite of furniture made of Irish bog yew or oak by Arthur J Jones and Son of Dublin for The Great Exhibition held in London, in 1851. Decorated to illustrate the history, antiquities, animals and vegetation of Ireland the carved decoration features a harp, oak leaves, stag and Irish Wolfhounds
The hectic pace of 2021 continues as the auction world zooms into December. A number of stunning sales in the offing next week in Ireland offer collectors a wide range of stellar choices in the fields of antiques, art and collectibles. Fonsie Mealy’s Christmas Rare Books and Collectors sale is at the Talbot Hotel, Stillorgan on Tuesday and Wednesday, four days of sales with amazing contents from the Cronin collection at Seafield House, Donabate, Co. Dublin get underway at Sheppards in Durrow next Tuesday and the Outstanding Irish Art sale at James Adam on Wednesday evening will follow a strong sale of fine jewellery and watches at Adams on Tuesday. And Aidan Foley will offer more than 2,000 lots at three days of online sales from tomorrow with viewing in Sixmilebridge today.
A full size replica in silver plate of the Liam McCarthy Cup at Fonsie Mealy. UPDATE: THIS MADE 9,000 AT HAMMER
Among more than 1,000 lots at Fonsie Mealy is a prized first edition of Ulysses by James Joyce and full replicas in silver plate of both the Liam McCarthy Cup and the Sam Maguire Cup There will be international interest in.an original engraved facsimile copy of the American Declaration of Independence issued by Order of Congress in 1823 when it was noted that the ink on the original document was fading. This particular copy has direct provenance by family descent to Charles O’Connor, the Irish American democratic lawyer who in 1872 became the first catholic to be nominated for a US Presidential election. With everything from the antiquities of Ireland to Monty Python this auction is on view at the Talbot Hotel, Stillorgan on tomorrow and Monday.
One of a pair of museum quality late nineteenth century satinwood bookcases at Sheppards. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD.
Sheppards have a pair of museum quality 19th century satinwood bookcases from the collection of Cork businessman Liam Cronin. There is a Mannerist Mannerist painting of The baptism of Christ by John the Baptist, once owned by Augustine Roche, Lord Mayor of Cork. His dispersal sale by Marshs, Cork in 1916 had to be postponed from April to July because of the Easter Rising. This is an online sale of 1,637 lots with everything from a Chinese Meiping vase to a 19th century neoclassical overmantle. The auction is on view in Durrow on today, tomorrow and Monday.Adams will offer lots of diamonds, as well as rubies, sapphires, emeralds and all sort of gemstones at their fine jewellery sale in Dublin at 4 pm next Tuesday. Viewing for this dazzling sale is now underway in Dubin.
The Adams sale next Wednesday is particularly strong in mid 20th century art. Through the Streets to the Hills by Jack Yeats from 1950 is a view of Fitzwilliam St., Dublin where Yeats lived from 1919 until he retired to the Portobello Home. It is estimated at €100,000-€150,000. There will be much interest too in a contrasting work, Portrait of Lucian Freud in Patrick Swift’s Hatch St. (€20,000-€30,000) which depicts the young artist in Dublin.Other Modernist works include Edward McGuire’s Barn Owl (€6,000-€8,000) and How Many Miles to London Town (€30,000-€50,000), Trojan Horse (€15,000-€20,000) and Abstract with Toy Train (€20,000-€30,000) all by Colin Middleton.
Inlaid marble chimney piece in the Bossi manner. UPDATE: THIS MADE 2,500 AT HAMMER
THIS inlaid marble chimney piece comes up as lot 450A at Victor Mee’s two day Christmas decorative interiors sale in Co. Cavan today and tomorrow. It is estimated at €3,000-€5,000. The auction of more than 1,000 lots is online only.
This late Georgian Sienna marble and Carrara marble chimney piece made 13,000 at hammer. An early 19th. century Carrara marble chimney piece made 4,000 at hammer
SIR WILLIAM ORPEN – THE ROSCOMMON FUSILIER. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
Among the lots at Dolans auction on November 29 are a drawing by Sir William Orpen of The Roscommon Fusilier. The drawing depicts a young woman, with hand on hip, wearing a militia uniform, complete with military hat and plume. It is sketched on ‘Metropolitan School of Art, Kildare Street, Dublin’ paper. Orpen taught there in the early years of the 20th century. The sitter was Vera Hone and it is estimated at 9,000-12,500. A charcoal study of The Men of Aran by Sean Keating is estimated at 16,000-20,000. UPDATE: THE KEATING MADE €16,000 AT HAMMER.
The timed online sale features a selection of fine Irish whiskeys as well as antique furniture, silver and rugs.
This intricately carved Hongmu side table with drawers made a hammer price of €140,000 over a top estimate of €6,000 at the James Adam Asian art sale in Dublin today. The late Qing Dynasty table was formerly the property of Ferdinand Viscount Lesseps (1805-1894), the French developer of The Suez Canal and renowned diplomat. A Blue de Hue Dragon, Qilin and Thanh Tho porcelain plate also made €140,000 at hammer. It had been estimated at €6,000-€8,000.
John Shinnors – Girl and White Umbrella. UPDATE: THIS MADE 3,000 AT HAMMER
Girl and White Umbrella by John Shinnors is lot 56 at Dolan’s November online auction which runs until the evening of November 29. It is estimated at 4,000-6,000. The sale features art by Sean Keating, Sir William Orpen, Kenneth Webb, Mat Grogan, John Morris and many other artists. There is a selection of fine Irish whiskeys as well as antique furniture and collectibles among 252 lots on offer. The catalogue is online.
