Classic Ford sign among the automobilia collectibles. UPDATE: THIS MADE €840 AT HAMMER
Collectibles are a major up a coming category in Ireland and there will be plenty to choose from at three days of sales by Aidan Foley in Doneraile on the evenings of February 2, 3 and 4. The online sale on Tuesday evening features two lifetime collections of automobilia with 277 lots in total including dealership signs, enamel signs, oil cans, banners and petrol globes. An oval Esso forecourt sign and a Munster Simms Oil cabinet are of particular interest. Mondays sale offers antique furniture, jewellery and art by Ivan Sutton, Graham Knuttel, Marie Carroll and others. There will be 150 lots pub memorabilia on offer on Wednesday. The catalogue is online.
A photo of Thomas Wall, aged 16, from the exhibition of prisoners photographs of Kilmainham Gaol in 1921. Wall was killed during the Civil War in 1922.
An exhibition of secret photographs taken by prisoner’s in in 1921 during the War of Independence is at Kilmainham Gaol Museum until October 26 next. With smuggled cameras prisoners recorded everyday life. Photos show boxing matches, Irish language classes, religious services and drama productions. Other show men enjoying the sunshine in south facing yards, cooking food and playing with two dogs. The prisoners were released on December 8, 1921 following the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty. The exhibition is organised by the OPW.
Arnout Tholinx, Inspector (circa 1656) made £3.1 million in December, a new world record for a Rembrandt print.
With projected global sales of $6.2 billion in 2025 Christie’s is ending the year on a high note. Auction sales accounted for $4.7 billion (up 8%), private sales for $1.5 billion according to figures released today by Christie’s. No less than 17 works sold privately for more that $15 million and the top three works sold by Christie’s this year were sold privately.
“The energy has returned to the saleroom, online, and across the market. We’ve seen renewed confidence worldwide, reflected in these outstanding results. Our selling performance has remained consistently strong throughout the year: a solid first half followed by an even more competitive second half, delivering exceptional, market-leading outcomes for our clients” said Bonnie Brennan, Christie’s ceo.
The Americas amounted for 41% of sales, EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) 36% and Asia Pacific for 23%.
A c1900 enamel, sapphire and rose quartz brooch by Carlo and Arthur Giuliano at O’Reilly’s of Francis St., Dublin. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
Jewellery and books make acceptable Christmas presents so two sales on December 10 have potential to offer inspiration at across the board price points. Estimates at O’Reilly’s of Francis St., Dublin – who will offer 511 lots at a live and online sale – range from €25-€80 for a collection of costume jewellery, an Irish sterling silver signet ring and an Egyptian revival pill box to €42,000-€52,000 for a round cut diamond solitaire of 5.35 carats and €34,000-€40,000 for a diamond line bracelet with radiant cut stones. The selection in between these figures ranges from rings, necklaces and brooches to watches, earrings and a 1947 Mexican 50 peso gold coin.
More than 600 lots, from limited, rare and signed first editions to Marvel comics and works of sporting and antiquarian interest, will come under the hammer at Purcell Auctioneers in Birr. The sale will be led by a 1920 book of Irish Fairy Tales by James Stephens with illustrations by Arthur Rackham (€1,750-€2,250). A rare catalogue from the May 1939 sale of 2,711 lots from Ashford Castle by Jackson, Stops and McCabe (€200-€300), a programme from Ireland’s Grand Slam winning match against Wales on March 13, 1948 (€350-€600), Marvel’s Amazing Spiderman from 1984 featuring the first appearance of his black suit (€300-€400) and a signed first edition of Normal People by Sally Rooney (€200-€250) are among the highly collectible lots.
The programme for Ireland’s 1948 Grand Slam winning rugby match at Purcell Auctioneers in Birr. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
William Harvey’s Exercitatio anatomica de motu cordis et sanguinis in animalibus, 1628 Courtesy Christie’s Images Ltd., 2025. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £1,016,000
The groundbreaking first description of blood circulation, William Harvey’s 1628 Exercitatio anatomica de motu dordis et sanguinis in animalibus, is a highlight at Christie’s books, manuscripts and photographs sale in London on December 10. The sale will include a selection of 100 books, manuscripts and photographs from the library of the Royal Society of Medicine, featuring some of the most important names and breakthroughs ever made. The Harvey book is estimated at £800,000-£1.2 million (€913,120-€1.37 million). A first edition Essay on the Shaking Palsy by James Parkinson, published in 1817, is estimated at £50,000-£70,000 (€57,070-€79,900). UPDATE: THE PARKINSON BOOK MADE £101,600.
SAPPHIRE AND DIAMOND RING, FIRST QUARTER OF THE 20TH CENTURY SOLD FOR €280,000 AT HAMMER
This cushion-shaped Kashmir sapphire weighing 5.08cts made a hammer price of €280,000 at Adam’s sale of fine jewellery and ladies watches in Dublin this evening. With French assay marks and signed Boucheron Paris it was accompanied by a Swiss report authenticatings its Kashmir origin with no indications of heating. The ring was acquired circa 1930’s in Paris by a member of the Guerlain family of perfume fame and has remained with the family by descent.
A Kashmir sapphire and diamond ring by Boucheron will lead a sale of fine jewellery and ladies watches at Adam’s in Dublin on December 4. The sapphire weighs 5.08 carats and the ring is estimated at €100,000-€150,000 but it might be advisable to break out the piggy bank if you really, really want it. So far this year Adam’s sold a Kashmir diamond and sapphire ring for €540,000 at hammer, an early 20th century Kashmir sapphire brooch for €540,000 and a c1900 Kashmir sapphire and diamond brooch for €550,000. This one dates to the first quarter of the 20th century and was acquired in the 1930’s by the Guerlain family of perfume fame in Paris.
INCUNABULA: The Nuremberg Chronicle by Anton Koberger, 1493 SOLD FOR €35,000 at hammer
One of the most important German incunables (a book printed before 1501) and the most extensively illustrated book of the 15th century made a hammer price of €35,000 at Purcell Auctioneers in Birr today. The Nuremberg Chronicle by Anton Koberger dates to 1493, the very first edition Latin in Gothic Rotunda type. A Pictorial History of the World, the Nuremberg Chronicle was written over several years by the doctor and book collector, Hartmann Schedel, who was commissioned by two Nuremberg merchants. It was originally published in Latin in an edition of around 1400-1500. The Chronicle also incorporates geographical and historical information on European countries and towns. The narrative is divided into 11 parts – the so-called world ages, and is profusely illustrated by images of biblical and historical events, and topographical views of towns and countries in Europe and the Middle East, including Jerusalem and Byzantium. It contains the bookplate of The Right Honourable Robert Henry Meade 1879 (Meade GCB, was the second son of the 3rd Earl of Clanwilliam and Lady Elizabeth Herbert. Clanwilliam, an Irish peer, had served as Private Secretary to Lord Castlereagh and subsequently as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.).
This old mine cut diamond brooch owned by Emperor Napoleon I (c1810) sold for US $4.4 million at Sotheby’s Royal and Noble jewels sale in Geneva after a bidding battle that lasted nearly ten minutes. The estimate was $150,000-$250,000. Most likely created to adorn his bicorne hat on special occasions it centres on a large oval diamond of 13.04 carats surrounded by two rows of diamonds of varying shapes and sizes. In his haste to flee Waterloo Napoleon had to abandon some of his carriages when they got stuck on a muddy road a few miles from the battlefield. One of them contained precious personal belongings including weapons, medals, silverware, a hat and a jewellery box. The brooch was offered to the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm III on June 21, 1815, three days after the battle. It remained in the House of Hohenzollern for many years and has been part of different private collections since.
A gold pocket watch recovered from the body of one of the richest passengers on the Titanic is could make £1 million at auction at Aldridges in Wiltshire on November 22. Isidor Straus and his wife Ida were among the more than 1,500 people who died in the disaster in April 1912. An 18 carat gold Jules Jurgensen pocket watch was recovered from his body in the Atlantic. Ida’s body was never found. The Bavarian-born American businessman and politician was co-owner of Macy’s department store in New York.
The pocket watch stopped at 02:20, the moment the Titanic disappeared beneath the waves. It is believed to have been a gift from Ida to her husband in 1888 and is engraved with Straus’ initials. Returned to his family it was passed down through generations before Kenneth Hollister Straus, Isidor’s great-grandson, had the movement repaired and restored. It will be sold alongside a rare letter Ida wrote aboard the liner describing its luxury which was posted in Ireland at Queenstown (Cobh). The letter is estimated at £100,000-£150,000, the watch at £800,000-£1 million.
