This diamond ring is at Adams next Tuesday with an estimate of €10,000-€15,000. UPDATE: THIS MADE 15,000 AT HAMMER
The James Adam catalogue contains an eye watering selection of jewellery and watches from an Art Deco diamond bracelet designed by Austrian Imperial jewellers Kochert in 1929, later re-designed as a tiara by Bulgari in Rome in the 1950’s, to necklaces, bracelets, rings, dress rings, pendants, brooches and watches by makers from Rolex to Breitling. The fine jewellery and watches sale takes place on September 12 and is now on view in Dublin. The catalogue is online.
UPDATE: The top lot of the sale was an Art Deco diamond bracelet designed by Erwin Lang. It made €95,000 at hammer.
There is widespread regret in the Irish antique trade at the death this month of Gerald Kenyon, who was 96. Born in Chester and an eighth generation antique dealer he established himself as one of Ireland’s leading antique dealers with shops at various times in Dublin in South William St., Powerscourt Town House Centre and Lower Ormonde Quay. A founder exhibitor at the Irish Antique Dealers Fair he penned an invaluable book, The Irish Furniture at Malahide Castle and dealt is superb pieces of every sort. A kind, generous, lively and flamboyant person he was always very generous in sharing his prodigious knowledge of fine furniture
St. Audoen’s Society of Bellringers (l to r) – Maurice O’Reilly,Julian West,Derek McEndoo,Jason Lynam, Seán Waldron, Kathleen McEndoo, Joe Kealy , Clodagh Canavan, Lesley Hayes, Robert MacDonald and Theresa Nolan.
St Audoen’s Church and The Office of Public Works (OPW) are delighted to celebrate the 600th anniversary of three of its bells located in the church’s 15th-century bell tower. To mark the occasion St Audoen’s Society of Bellringers will ring the bellson Saturday, August 26 at 2 pm. Nestled in the heart of the walled medieval part of Dublin, St Audoen’s Church at High St. in The Liberties was originally founded in 1190 and is the only remaining medieval parish church in the capital still in use. The Office of Public Works who help preserve and maintain the site also welcome visitors to the historic location. A team of guides give insight into the chequered history of the church, the tower and the celebrated bells.
St Audoen’s was crucial to the life of the medieval city. Here papal bulls were pronounced and public penances carried out. The church is dedicated to the seventh-century bishop of Rouen and patron saint of Normandy, whose feast day is August 24.
This presentation copy of The Untilled Field by George Moore to the Liberal British Prime Minister H.H. Asquith is currently with London booksellers Peter Harrington, priced at £500. It is inscribed on the half-title “To the Right Hon’ble Henry Asquith, with many kind regards, George Moore, October 23 1914”. Like Moore, Asquith was a moderate supporter of Home Rule for Ireland, which may have spurred the presentation of the volume, a major publication in the Celtic Revival.
A rare piece of early Irish furniture has been donated by benefactor David Boles to the Irish Museum of Time at Greyfriars St. in Waterford. The George I walnut and featherbanded secretaire with sycamore, cedar and marquetry is believed to have been made in Dublin c1725-30 by German asylum seeking John Kirkhoffer. Around this time Ireland benefitted greatly when highly skilled silversmiths, clock and furniture makers from Germany, Holland and France sought refuge here. The cabinet was sold at Bonhams in London last February for £22,950 (€26,847). David Boles remarked: “It will not only rhyme but also chime with history in the company of early 18th century Irish walnut and marquetry longcase clocks already on display”. Since opening just over a year ago Ireland’s first horological museum has attracted visitors from around the globe.
Four outstanding silver salt cellars made by the renowned Amsterdam silversmith Johannes Lutma (1584-1669) Amsterdam’s foremost silversmith in the 17th century – have been acquired by the Rijksmuseum. These partially gilded objects are among the most important examples of 17th-century Dutch silversmithing. Prior to the Second World War, all four were the property of Hamburg resident Emma Budge, who was Jewish. Following her death in 1937, the cellars were sold at auction. The proceeds of this sale went to the Nazis rather than to Budge’s heirs. The Dutch Restitutions Committee recently decided that the salt cellars be returned to the descendants.
Following the death of Emma Budge in 1937, her property was sold off at Paul Graupe’s ‘aryanised’ auction house in Berlin. The proceeds of the sale were confiscated by the German Nazi party. It is believed that the four salt cellars were bought by a German dealer named Greatzer, about whom little else is known. They eventually entered collection of W.J.R. Dreesmann. In 1960, central government and the City of Amsterdam acquired the four salt cellars at an auction of the Dreesman collection; two went on display in the Rijksmuseum and two in the Amsterdam Museum.
An investigation carried out by the Amsterdam Museum concluded in 2013 that the two salt cellars in its collection were of suspicious origin. This prompted the Rijksmuseum to initiate an investigation into the two salt cellars in its own collection. A year later, these objects were identified as suspicious on the websites of both the Rijksmuseum and the Museums Association. In 2014, restitutions committees in various countries designated the 1937 auction of Emma Budge’s estate as involuntary. This led to the return to Budge’s descendants of silver, porcelain, tapestries and busts by London’s Victoria and Albert Museum, Boston Museum of Fine Arts and the German food conglomerate Dr. Oetker. The Dutch Restitutions Committee arrived at the same conclusion in 2018, leading to the return of the bronze sculpture of Moses attributed to Alessandro Vittoria from the collection of Museum de Fundatie in Zwolle. In May of this year the Dutch state and the City of Amsterdam returned the objects to the claimants. That same day, the heirs sold all four salt cellars to the Rijksmuseum.
The acquisition was made with financial support from the Friends Lottery, the Mondriaan Fund, the Rembrandt Association, and private benefactors. The Rijksmuseum will place the four salt cellars on view from September 6 next in a display that also tells the story of Emma Budge.
This diamond dress ring by Castlebar based master jeweller Nigel O’Reilly will come up as lot 177 at Adams fine jewellery and watches online sale on May 16. With a central rose cut diamond of 3.28 carats and a mount setting with pave diamonds it is estimated at €8,000-€12,000. O’Reilly’s work has been included at exhibitions in Los Angeles and at Bergdorf Goodman in New York. He is the first Irish high jewellery master to have work featured at Sotheby’s Important Jewels sale in New York and is included in Sotheby’s haute joaillerie collection. Viewing is underway in Dublin and the catalogue features a number of pieces selected and modelled by Sarah Greene. The Cork actress has just completed filming Sexy Beasts for Paramount Plus, plays in the upcoming Irish thriller In the Land of Saints and Sinners with Liam Neeson, Ciaran Hinds and Kerry Condon and in Terrence Malicks new film The Last Planet. UPDATE: THIS MADE 9,000 AT HAMMER
Stage Costumes, handwritten lyrics, fine and decorative arts, Japanese art, precious objects and a trove of Freddy Mercury’s personal belongings will be sold by Sotheby’s this summer. While Mercury captivated audiences across the globe, it was at his beloved home – Garden Lodge in Kensington, West London – where he fashioned his own private world, assembling a collection that reflected and fired his expansive imagination.
For some 30 years, Garden Lodge has remained almost entirely as Mercury left it, complete with the many works of art that spoke to him so deeply: from Victorian paintings and striking works on paper by the greatest artists of the 20th century, to the finest examples of the glass maker’s art (a medium he loved beyond measure) and other beautiful objects; and from the exceptional fabrics and fine works he would seek out on trips to Japan, to the smaller, more personal items that were such an important part of his daily life. All complemented by defining objects from his more public life: a number of never-before-seen drafts of the immortal song lyrics, along with some of the riotous costumes that were the hallmark of Mercury’s signature style.
Freddy Mercury’s Martin D35 acoustic guitar
This summer, the contents of Garden Lodge, all lovingly cherished and cared for over the last three decades, will be revealed to the public for the first time in a dedicated month-long exhibition at Sotheby’s in London, which will see every inch of the company’s 16,000 square foot gallery space dedicated to celebrating Mercury’s rich and multi-faceted life and passions, culminating in six dedicated sales in September, each one devoted to a different aspect of his life, both public and private.
Pablo Picasso, Jaqueline au Chapeau Noir (1962
Mary Austin, one of Mercury’s closest and most trusted friends, has treasured and cared for his home and everything in it for the last thirty years.
The month-long exhibition at Sotheby’s this summer will see all 1,500 or so items from Garden Lodge displayed in a sequence of specially designed immersive galleries, each one devoted to a different aspect of Mercury’s rich and varied life. The exhibition will open on August 4, and close on what would have been his 77th birthday, September 5. Prior to the exhibition highlights from will tour to New York, London, Los Angeles, and Hong Kong in June.
The six dedicated auctions which follow will kick off with a live evening sale on September 6 with a cross-section of the most significant items.
Emmanuel Danan is new Global Managing Director of Christie’s Luxury. Reporting to Francis Belin, President of Christie’s Asia Pacific, who oversees the Luxury, as well as the Asian and World Art departments globally, Emmanuel joins Christie’s following the business’ nearly billion-dollar year in global sales of Jewels, Watches, Wine and Handbags in 2022. Based in Paris, as of February 20, Emmanuel will direct all aspects of Christie’s luxury business across both live and online auctions and Private Sales and will work closely with colleagues across the specialist departments in New York, London, Geneva, Paris, and Hong Kong.
Fragments: Lost Stories of Ancient Women is the title of the 2023 annual lecture at the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin. This year the series celebrates St. Brigid’s Day, the new permanent holiday in Ireland on the first Monday of February. Few historical facts are known about St. Brigid. When it comes to ancient women’s lived experience, all we have are fragments. A scrap of a handwritten letter from mother to daughter, preserved two millennia in a fortuitously arid microclimate. A tiny metal amulet worn around the neck, bearing a rolled-up incantation to protect the wearer from menstrual pain. One or two verses, ignored by readers of the canonical gospels, implying that a woman may have personally bankrolled the earliest Jesus movement. Evidence for ancient women is virtually inaccessible compared to evidence for (elite) ancient men, but it is there if we are just willing to dig a little.
The online lecture will be delivered by Dr. Sara Parks, historian on women and gender in antiquity, on February 8. Dr. Parks will address the Chester Beatty Library’s ever increasing online and global audience from Nova Scotia, Canada where she is assistant professor of religious studies at St. Francis Xavier University.
