There will be a three day online house clearance auction with 2,100 lots by Matthews of Kells on April 10, 11 and 12. On offer are contents from Ardlaois, Blackrock, Co. Louth, home of the late Professor Kieran Taaffe who was head of International Affairs at Dublin Institute of Technology. There is Irish and international art, old silver, antique furniture, rugs, gilded mirrors, books, oriental items and collectibles. The catalogue is online.
Fine and decorative art from the collection of entrepreneur, collector and philanthropist Sydell Miller will come up at Christie’s two marquee weeks in New York. A selection of 20 works of art will highlight the 20th and 21st Century Week from May 11-14, and a dedicated auction on June 10 entitled will feature masterworks of 18th Century French furniture and Design. Her Palm Beach ocean front house called La Rêverie was a true achievement in collecting – a vision of art and design that was the result of Mrs. Miller’s avant-garde eye and connoisseurship, complemented by the renowned talent of interior designer Peter Marino. The collection in total is estimated to exceed $30 million. Sydell Miller and her late husband Arnold Miller co-founded Matrix Essential, which became the largest manufacturer of professional hair and beauty products in America. Mrs. Miller devotes much of her time and energy to philantrophy, chiefly the Cleveland Clinic. The Sydell and Arnold Miller Family Heart, Vascular and Thoracic Institute houses the heart hospital on the main campus in Ohio.
This George III ormolu mounted white marble and biscuit porcelain clock by royal clockmaker Benjamin Vulliamy was made around 1791. One of the richest and most sophisticated examples of Vulliamy’s known work is described by Christie’s as a tour de force of English Neo-Classical design. From the collection of Mrs. Henry Ford II, who died aged 80 last year, it comes up at Christie’s in New York on March 30. The porcelain figures are by John Deare, the pedestal by Thomas Brownley and it is estimated at $250,000-$400,000. The collection of Kathleen Ford is to be offered at two sales in New York and London. Contents from the Palm Beach home come up in New York while contents from her mansion flat at Eaton Square, London and residence at Turville Grange in Oxfordshire come to auction on April 15. She married Henry Ford II (1917-1987) in 1980 and was his third wife while he was her second husband.
UPDATE: The New York sale totalled $4.7 million. The top lot was a pair of c1770 lacquer cabinets attributed to Joseph Baumhauer which made $846,000 over a top estimate of $600,000. The clock was unsold.
Antique jewellery, furniture and silver are among a total of 370 lots at an online auction at Hegarty’s in Bandon, Co. Cork on March 28. Among them is this c1790 Georgian demi lune side table of large proportions. Lot 2 is estimated at 500-1,000. The catalogue is online. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 1,450
This portrait of Matthew Parker (1504-1575), the Archbishop of Canterbury, by a follower of Hans Holbein the Younger soared to £189,000, more than 75 times its estimate of £2,000-3,000 at Sotheby’s sale of the family collection of
Patricia Mountbatten. Over 1,400 participants from 55 countries drove the total to £5,620,798 over three times the pre-sale estimate with 98% of lots sold. The eldest daughter of Britain’s last Viceroy of India Louis Mountbatten, Patricia Knatchbull was the great-great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria, great niece of Russia’s last Tsarina and first cousin to Prince Philip. A Jaguar 420 commissioned by Lord Mountbatten in 1967 made £126,000 over an too estimate of £20,000; a group of four pieces of mourning jewellery belonging to Queen Victoria made a combined total of £100,800, more than doubling their estimates; a c1905 Lacloche Frères pig-shaped evening bag sold for £109,620 over a top estimate of £3,000; a rare pale celadon jade teapot, Qing Dynasty sold for £176,400, eighteen times its estimate; The Banks Diamond, a late 18th century brooch with a cushion-shaped yellow diamond given to explorer and botanist Joseph Banks by his eccentric sister Sarah around the time of his marriage in 1779 sold for £138,600 and a Fabergé gold-mounted cigarette case and Imperial enamel timepiece bought by the last Tsar and Tsarina as gifts for the parents of Louis Mountbatten, both soared above their estimates, selling for £47,880 and £81,900 respectively.
If you are looking at ways to ward off evil and spice up your garden or an interior space at the same time Woodwards sale in Cork on March 13 might have the answer. A pair of antique Qing Dynasty foo dogs – also known as stone lions or shishi in Japan – is on offer with an estimate of €2,000-€3,000. These highly stylised lions originated in Chinese Buddhism and are thought to offer protection from harmful spiritual influences or people. A popular decorative feature found everywhere from imperial palaces to the entrances of restaurants and supermarkets they are an ideal additive in 2021, though vaccines are even better.
The selection on offer includes an Edwardian games table (€600-€1,000), a bureau bookcase (€600-€1,000), a kidney shaped desk (€400-€600), an Oriental pod table (€300-€500), a Georgian library table (€300-€500), a William IV work table (€300-€400) and a Georgian Pembroke table (€300-€500). A pair of Coalbrookdale garden benches (€1,500-€2,000) and a five piece patio set will also be offered. The sale features items from the estate of the late Stan Cussen who was well known in Cork as owner of the Planes, Boats and Trains model toy shop on Princes St. and the Farmhouse cafe and cake shop.
With everything from a rare Victorian steeplechase board game, a pair of 19th century model brass cannons, a suite of three Paul Storr meat covers and a painting of the East Indiaman Hotspur leaving Tyne on her maiden voyage in 1851 by William Garthwaite Sheppards online sales by Sheppards in Durrow on March 11 and 12 are brimful of interest. On offer are contents from Eyrefield Lodge Stud at The Curragh, home to Sir Edmund and Lady Susan Loder, as well as some other clients of Sheppards. Equestrian portraits, wonderful antique oak furniture, ceramics, glass, garden and conservatory pieces, racing memorabilia, wines and all the trappings of an exceptional home and garden come up at this sale. The steeplechase game dates to c1865 and is attributed to E.C. Spurin, London. Complete with mahogany cased board it is estimated at €800-€1,200. At the other end of the scale is a colourful Louis le Brocquy Aubusson tapestry of a garlanded goat with an estimate of €50,000-€80,000. A 19th century breakfront bookcase is estimated at €30,000-€40,000 but much of the fine furniture in this sale is far more affordable. There are wine tables, work tables, chairs, chests of drawers and cabinets including an attractive George III with vaulted back and scallop shell interior (€800-€1,200). The suite of three Paul Storr silver meat covers dates to 1811 and is estimated at €2,000-€3,000. A Chinese puce enamelled chrysanthemum dish is estimated at €800-€1,200 and a large Chinese porcelain jardiniere on stand is estimated at €1,500-€2,500. The pair of 19th century model brass cannons are estimated at €500-€800. The 1851 oil on canvas by William Garthwaite is estimated at €800-€1,200 and two pairs of Art Nouveau stained glass panels are each estimated at €400-€600. For the convenience of online bidders the auction of more than 800 lots will be broken up into four sessions, each of around 200 lots at 10 am and 2 pm on each day. The catalogue is online.
This pair of Dublin Chippendale carvers come up at Sheppards online auction of contents from Eyrefield Lodge Stud at The Curragh, home to Sir Edmund and Lady Susan Loder, on March 11 and 12. The c1900 chairs are estimated at 1,500-2,500 and come up as lot 95. There are 860 lots from Eyrefield Lodge and other clients and for the convenience of bidders the sales are broken up into four sessions of around 200 lots each.
Restoration specialists will find much to occupy themselves with at a two day online auction by Doneraile based Aidan Foley next weekend. A large selection of antique and reproduction furniture, paintings, porcelain and collectibles from Springmount House in Sunday’s Well, Cork will be on offer on February 27. Some furniture like a Victorian side or hall table, is simply too large for most modern homes. Most of it is in need of some tender loving care. A bit of elbow grease will be enough to revive a selection of occasional tables, side tables, a dining table, a set of eight dining chairs, gilt framed overmantle mirrors and various bureaux. Other works, such as a fine antique red lacquered boulle bureau plat, an old drum table, a Georgian bureau with astragal glazed doors (one broken pane), an early Victorian card table and a library table will need more specialist intervention. There is a decidedly continental feel to some of the furniture, like some gilt framed drawing room chairs which were almost certainly imported into this country from mainland Europe several decades ago. A selection of Victorian style gilt framed landscapes, seascapes and townscapes in gilt frames include two smaller townscapes. attributed to Fr. Prout, humorist, literary journalist and author of The Bells of Shandon. A large dark shipboard scene is signed Marstrand, possibly the Danish artist Wilhelm Marstrand (1810-1873). And there is a print of John Butts View of Cork from Audley Place, painted around 1750. Another lot to attract a different sort of specialist interest is an 07 registration Mercedes 500 SEL with leather interior and 5.5 V8 petrol engine. According to Mr. Foley it originally cost €180,000. This time round it is estimated at €12,000-€16,000 as lot number 2. The sales will be live on easyliveauction.com from 11 am on February 27 and 28.
An Irish George II mahogany side table with a top estimate of $50,000 sold for $130,000 at Brunk Auctions in North Carolina on February 12. The c1760 table was exhibited at the Art Institute of Chicago show Ireland: Crossroads of Art and Design, 1690-1840 in 2015. It is illustrated in Irish Furniture, Yale University Press by the Knight of Glin and James Peill. The table has a single board mahogany top on carved stand with leaf, scroll, and rocaille ornament in deep relief and a carved winged mask of Venus issuing from a shell. Based in Asheville, North Carolina Brunk Auctions is a national auction service with an international clientele specialising in fine art and antiquities.
At the same sale an Irish George II made $70,000; an Irish carved figured bookcase cabinet made $30,000 and two pairs of chairs from Russborough House made $44,000 and $46,000 respectively.
