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    WHAT PRICE GIANT’S CAUSEWAY BASALT STONES?

    Friday, April 8th, 2011

    A collection of four hexagonal basalt column sections similar to those found at Ireland’s famed Giants Causeway is the first of 628 lots at Whyte’s History, Literature and Collectibles sale in Dublin on April 16.   They have been in the garden of a County Donegal home for at least fifty years. Whyte’s said it is possible they were acquired from Kennedy Quarries, Portrush, Co. Antrim  in the vicinity of land now belonging to the National Trust. Similar examples were auctioned at Summers Place Auctions in association with Sotheby’s on 19 October 2010 (lot 132) and realised £18,500.

    The Giant’s Causeway is the most popular tourist attraction in Northern Ireland. The unusual stone landscape was formed around 50 to 60 million years ago  when Antrim was subject to intense volcanic activity. Rapidly cooling molten basalt formed an extensive lava plateau in columns. Legend has it that the Irish warrior Fionn mac Cumhaill (Finn McCool) built the causeway to walk to Scotland to fight his Scottish counterpart Benandonner.

    Examples of these stones in private collections are extremely rare. The Causeway area has been National Trust property for many years. It is illegal to remove anything from the site.  These ones are estimated at 3,000-4,000.

    UPDATE: They sold for 2,000.

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    A QUARTER OF A MILLION HITS AND GROWING

    Saturday, March 26th, 2011

    More than 250,000 hits were scored by this website in the month to March 25.  Figures from Google’s Webmaster Tools show that antiquesandartireland.com continues to grow.  Established last April it broke the 100,000 barrier of monthly hits at the beginning of December 2010.  In January and February the average number of monthly hits was 200,000.  This has now reached a quarter of a million from Ireland, the US, Britain and around the world.

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    RARE EMERALD AND DIAMOND TIARA AT SOTHEBY’S

    Friday, March 25th, 2011

    An extremely rare emerald and diamond tiara – the most important to have come to auction in 30 years – will be offered at  Sotheby’s sale of magnificent jewels in Geneva on May 17. It  is composed of 11 exceptionally rare Columbian emerald pear-shaped drops which weigh over 500 carats in total. The tiara was commissioned by the First Prince von Donnersmarck for his second wife Princess Katharina  (1862-1929). Their jewellery collection was known to be on a par with, or even to have exceeded, those of many of the crowned heads of Europe.
    The emeralds may have originally adorned the neck of a Maharajah and are believed to have been in the personal collection of Princess  Eugénie. It is thought the piece may have been commissioned from renowned jewellers Chaumet.  The estimate is £3.1-6.2 million (CHF 4.5-9 million / $5-10 million). (click on image to enlarge)
    UPDATE:  IT MADE  CHF 11,282,500/ $12,736,927, the highest price ever achieved for a tiara at auction.

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    FABULOUS JEWELS AND MORE AT TEFAF MAASTRICHT

    Friday, March 18th, 2011

    THERE are fabulous pieces to be seen in the Haute Joaillerie section at The European Fine Art Fair (TEFAF) in Maastricht.  Here are some to whet the appetite.

    The Graff blue diamond

    The Hemmerle vegetable collection.

    The aster brooch.

    The Chopard owl watch.

    Graff is exhibiting a 20.02 carat blue ice diamond ring.  The fancy deep blue diamond ring has white diamond shoulders. Each diamond pearshape sidestone is exactly one carat. The entire ring is 22.02 carats.
    Hemmerle Jewellers will unveil their new vegetable collection at TEFAF. The brooch illustrated is a white gold pod of five jade peas, speckled with demantoide garnets.
    THE Aster Brooch has a central cushion cut tourmaline supported by flame-shaped griffes bezel in yellow gold. It is contoured by a double circle of petals in white gold and brilliant-cut diamonds. This one-of-a-kind object of rare beauty and simplicity was created by Gianmaria Buccellati.
    At Chopard & Cie S.A. there is an Owl watch.  It is 18 ct white and rose gold set with diamonds (7cts), trapeze-cut diamonds (2cts) and trapeze-cut yellow sapphires (4cts).  It is from the ‘Animal World Collection 150th Anniversary.
    TEFAF 2011 has 260 exhibitors from 16 countries in nine sections. Some 30,000 works of art from the Neolithic Age to the present day are all rigorously vetted by 168 international experts in 29 specialist committees to ensure quality, authenticity and good condition.

    TEFAF Maastricht is launching the TEFAF Mobile Guide, an application for Android and iPhone, at the 2011 Fair. The application has been developed to help visitors get the most out of their visit to TEFAF.  It offers them a virtual tour, videos, an interactive floor plan, an overview of theFair’s sections, exhibitors and restaurants at the Fair and other information. It can be downloaded free at www.tefaf.com/mobile and from the iTunes AppStore and Android Market.

    (See antiquesandartireland.com posts for March 11, January 13 and January 6)

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    SOME BAUBLES FROM O’REILLY’S NEXT ANTIQUE JEWELLERY SALE

    Wednesday, February 23rd, 2011

    A diamond and sapphire cluster ring. (click on image to enlarge). UPDATE: IT MADE 16,000.

    These are some of the lots that feature at the O’Reilly’s auction at Francis St., Dublin on Wednesday, March 2.  The sapphire and diamond cluster ring is estimated at 17,000-18,000, the target ring is estimated at 6,500-7,500, the amethyst and diamond brooch is estimated at 1,200-1,500 and the Art Deco diamond and sapphire plaque brooch is estimated 4,500-5,000.

    The sale features around 290 lots of jewellery as well as silver and fine art.

    An antique diamond target ring at O'Reilly's on March 2. (click on image to enlarge) UPDATE: IT MADE 6,400

    An amethyst and diamond brooch modelled as a bow at O'Reilly's. (click on image to enlarge) UDATE: IT MADE 1,200

    An Art Deco diamond and sapphire plaque brooch. (click on image to enlarge) UPDATE: IT MADE 4,500

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    CHRIS de BURGH TO SELL HIS REDS

    Thursday, February 3rd, 2011

    Christie’s will offer stock from the private cellar of Chris de Burgh at a wine sale in London on March 24.  Apparently the ladies in the life of the Irish singer songwriter, who had a worldwide hit with Lady in Red, no longer like reds. The ladies in question are his wife Diane and his daughter, the former 2003 Miss World Rosanna Davison.

    The sale comprises  320 bottles and 84 magnums of wine, principally red, and is estimated to make around £200,000. It follows the auction of 746 lots from Andrew Lloyd-Webber’s private wine collection at Sotheby’s in Hong Kong during January, which raised a total of US$5.6m.
    The sale features a variety of rare wines from his home in Ireland where they were carefully stored in a specially constructed temperature controlled wine room and purpose built cabinets.
    Chris de Burgh’s long love affair with wine began whilst wine waiting at his parents’ castle hotel in South East Ireland as a teenager – a guest asked him to try the bottle of Château d’Yquem he’d ordered, and the special moment has stayed with him to this day. However, due to an intense touring and recording schedule, it was not until the early 1980s that he was able to find the time to start seriously collecting wine himself.
    The highest value lot in the sale is a vertical collection of 62 magnums of Château Mouton-Rothschild, vintages 1945-2005 (estimate: £70,000-90,000)

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    TIFFANY DIAMONDS AT O’REILLY’S, FRANCIS ST., DUBLIN

    Wednesday, January 26th, 2011

    A Tiffany diamond dress ring from 1964 at O'Reilly's, Francis St., Dublin. (click on image to enlarge) UPDATE: IT MADE 12,600

    This Tiffany diamond dress ring from 1964 on the left is one of the highlights at the first 2011 jewellery sale at O’Reilly’s of Francis St., Dublin.  The sale takes place on Wednesday, February 2 at 1 p.m.  The ring, complete with its original receipt, is estimated at 10,000-12,000.

    A c1870 mourning brooch at O'Reilly's. (click to enlarge) UPDATE: IT SOLD FOR 700

    It features antique and modern jewellery.  The example on the right is a Victorian mourning brooch dating from around 1870.  It is mounted in gold with a seed pearl surround and estimated at 700-800 euro.

    The 319 lots sale includes engagement rings, diamond solitaires, a three stone diamond ring,  bracelets, pendants, earrings, watches and gold jewellery.  There is a small selection of Irish antique and later silver along with collectables and paintings.

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    JOHN LENNONS FERRARI TO BE SOLD AT BONHAMS, PARIS ON FEBRUARY 5

    Tuesday, January 11th, 2011

    John Lennon's blue Ferrari

    JOHN LENNON’S 1965 Ferrari GT coupe will be sold at Bonhams sale of motor cars at the Grand Palais, Paris on February 5.  It is estimated at 120,000-170,000 euro.
    Philip Norman recounts in his biography John Lennon – A Life: ‘In February 1965, John passed his driving test, an event that made headline news across the nation. Within hours, every luxury car dealership in the Weybridge area, hoping for business, jammed the road outside Kenwood’s security gates with Maseratis, Aston Martins, and Jaguar XK-E. John strolled out to inspect this gleaming smorgasbord, eventually selecting a £2,000 light blue Ferrari.’
    Better known is Lennon’s Rolls-Royce Phantom V Limousine delivered two months later and subsequently painted in psychedelic colours.
    UPDATE:  The car was withdrawn two days before the auction.  Bonhams say this was due to “seller’s remorse”.

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    CHRISTMAS GREETINGS AND SOME IRISH ANTIQUE ART

    Thursday, December 23rd, 2010

    A very early view of Cork Harbour with Spike Island, artist unknown, from the Crawford Gallery Collection in Cork. (click to enlarge)

    A mid 19th century view of Blarney Castle by John Bosanquet from the Crawford Gallery Collection in Cork. (click to enlarge)

    A very happy Christmas to all readers of antiquesandartireland.com

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    RECORD BREAKING WINE SALES AT SOTHEBY’S

    Monday, December 20th, 2010
    THE Season to be Merry extended year round in some quarters.  Sotheby’s wine auctions in 2010 brought an overall global total of US$88,270,602.  This is more than double the figure for 2009 and the highest in the company’s forty years of wine auctions. There was extraordinary demand from Asian collectors with every bottle offered in eight Hong Kong auctions finding a buyer and major Asian participation in London and Hong Kong sales.  Globally 99% of wine lots found buyers, and all 23 auctions exceeded the high estimate.
    The Asian sales were led by the two auctions of wine direct from the Châteaux – Cheval Blanc, Yquem and Dom Pérignon which fetched $2.6 million in May and Lafite Ex Cellars which brought $8.3 million in October.
    There was a new record for a single standard sized bottle at the Ex Cellars sale when a bottle of Château Lafite 1869 sold for $232,692.
    Sotheby’s will offer the Andrew Lloyd Webber Wine Collection in Hong Kong on January 22 next.

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