In the current exhibition at the Douglas Hyde Gallery in Dublin until next March the renowned Irish-Parsee sculptor Siobhan Hapaska uses the Medici lion to explore current crises, democratic failure, war and climate. Ideas of shifting power and loss are expressed through a large scale lion which is fractured and suspended at the centre of the double height space in the gallery. The ambient sound was captured at Westminster Abbey as Queen Elizabeth lay in state. The artist likes ideas that are adrift, to suggest rather than dictate a reaction. Her singular voice in contemporary sculpture expresses hope, desire and longing in the face of adversity.
An important Qing Dynasty celadon jade. UPDATE: THIS WAS WITHDRWN PRIOR TO THE SALE
A Qing Dynasty celadon jade seal heads up the Fine Asian Art sale at James Adam in Dublin on December 18. The base is carved with six characters meaning: “A treasure in auspicious celebration of a seventeenth birthday”, Set on a small square platform surmounted by a mythical double headed beast carved with a scaly body it will attract international interest and is estimated at €120,000-€150,000. Dr. Wei Wang, who has taken over as head of the Asian art department at Adams explained that seals symbolise power and can be crafted from various materials,with jades being particularly prized for their precious nature. “Our seal stands out for its impressive size and intricate carving work” she said.
A Meiji period ivory okimono of a grimacing fisherman holding giant conch shells being tackled by a large crab at Adams. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
A total of 455 lots will come under the hammer on Monday in an auction divided across four sections originating from China, the Himalayas, Vietnam and Japan. Offerings from each country have been divided into categories including ceramics, jade and stones, accessories, bronzes and paintings. A Meiji period (1868-1912) Imari charger from Japan is estimated at just €300-€400, a very rare Ding kilns white stoneware bowl of the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127) carved with a peony spray is estimated at €15,000-€20,000). Ding bowls with peony designs are rare. This one is from an Irish private collection. A bronze stupa with four directionals Buddhas made in 18th century Tibet is estimated at €1,500-€2,000.
Two kingfisher feather hairpins, one with carved amber. UPDATE: THESE MADE 420 AT HAMMER
The sale offers a European collection of Qing Dynasty kingfisher feather ornaments worn as head pieces and accessories within an estimate range of €300-€1,500. For over 2,000 years, the Chinese have utilized the iridescent blue feathers of kingfisher birds as inlays for fine art objects and adornments, ranging from hairpins, headdresses, and fans to panels and screens. Dr. Wang said that In the past decade, a rising trend has emerged among the younger generation in China seeking to incorporate historical Chinese elements into the design of modern fashion. This has created a revival and appreciation of Hanfu culture and traditional Chinese handicrafts.
An 18th century Bleu de Hue porcelain bowl finely painted in shades of cobalt blue from Vietnam – commissioned from China – has an estimate of €8,000-€10,000. A fantastic carved ivory Japanese okimono of a fisherman with giant conch shells being tackled by a crab is estimated at €3,000-€5,000.Or how about an armchair made of deer antlers. One of the top lots of the auction is a Qing Imperial style antler armchair. There are seven known surviving deer antler chairs in China, with five in the Palace Museum in the Forbidden City. The one at Adams is a late copy, but it remains rare in the market, hence the estimate of €85,000-€95,000.
A rare Qing Imperial style antler armchair at Adam. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
The Crawford Art Gallery in Cork has acquired The Colloquy of Monus and Una, a pencil, ink and watercolour by Harry Clarke, which made €70,000 at the James Adam sale of Important Irish Art in Dublin earlier this month. The colour plate illustration for a 1923 edition of Edgar Allan Poe’s Tales of Mystery and Imagination is the first addition to the popular Harry Clarke collection at the Gallery in almost a century. Two other illustrations from the same series, ‘The Fall of the House of Usher’ and ‘Marie Rogêt’, were purchased in 1924 alongside over 20 other pieces by Clarke. The acquisition brings to 27 the number of Clarke artworks in Crawford Art Gallery’s collection, including the three earliest examples of his stained glass work, which were conserved in 2023 with Heritage Council support. It is now on display at the Crawford.
This is the second Harry Clarke piece brought into public ownership in weeks. The National Gallery announced this month that it had acquired a rare Clarke stained glass piece, Titania Enchanting Bottom (1922). It is undergoing conservation treatment and will be on display in the New Year. The luminous stained glass panel was sold by Morgan O’Driscoll last October 24 for a hammer price of €160,000.
THIS multi-strand, cultured pearl necklace, with an 18 carat gold clasp designed as a rose flowerhead is one of the more expensively estimated lots at Adams Jewellery Box sale in Dublin on December 17. The estimate is €4,000-€5,000 in a timed online auction where many of the nearly 300 lots are estimated at under €1,000. Among the are a ruby and diamond pendant (€400-€600), an amethyst, diamond and pink sapphire cluster ring (€500-€700), a pair of ruby and sapphire earrings (€500-€700), a silver mesh bib necklace by Elsa Peretti for Tiffany (€400-€600) and a pair of rock crystal and diamond drop earrings (€700-€900). Bidding begins to close at 5 pm on Sunday. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
David Stephenson – Ann and Ollie, Main Street, Wexford,
This is David Stephenson’s prizewinning entry to the Zurich Portrait Prize. The winner was announced this evening at the National Gallery. His portrait of Ann and Ollie, Main St., Wexford was taken while he was recovering from Covid. The judges were Dorothy Cross RHA, artist, Dr Nicholas Cullinan, Director, National Portrait Gallery, London, and Anne Stewart, Senior Curator of Art, National Museums Northern Ireland.
The artist explained that: “During lockdown, I made a short film in which I tried to portray what we all experienced: the isolation that enhanced one’s sense of aloneness. Something of that silence and separateness resonates in this image. What drew my eye was Ann’s red coat, the condensation that made a ghost of Ollie, and how they were separated yet connected by the cracked paint of the window frame. These details made a transitory stage suffused with pristine light, the same ordinary light that falls into every window on every street.” Along with a prize of €15,000 the Dublin born artist will receive a commission worth €5,000 to produce a new work for the National Portrait Collection.
MARKEY ROBINSON (1918-1999) – SHAWLIE ON A ROAD INTO A VILLAGE. UPDATE: THIS MADE 3,200 AT HAMMER
This oil on board by Markey Robinson comes up as lot 6 at Whyte’s Christmas sale of art and collectibles which ends from 6 pm on December 13. The estimate is €1,500-€2,000. With everything from Bealtes lithographs by Andy Warhol to Sheep by Graham Knuttel he work of a broad range of artists at affordable estimates is available. The timed online auction offers art, books, silver, wines and spirits.
JEAN DUPAS (1882-1964) Set of Three Panels from the ‘Birth of Aphrodite’ Mural from the Grand Salon of The S.S. Normandie, circa 1934
The iconic ‘Birth of Aphrodite’ panels created by Jean Dupas for the Grand Salon of the famed liner S.S. Normandie made $378,000 at Christie’s two day series of Design sales in New York. The results were exceptional. The first sale featured a group of works by leading artists and designers from 1900 through to the present and achieved $11,408,670. The second was a showcase of works by glassmaker Louis Comfort Tiffany and the Tiffany Studio and it brought in $3,676,050. The highest prices were achieved by Les Lalannes, the iconic 20th century artist couple. François-Xavier Lalanne bronzes ‘Singe Alternatif IV’ made $945,000 and a black Bélier made $882,000. The third highest price was made by a ‘Singerie’ armchair by Claude Lalanne. The top lot of the Tiffany sale was a window – ‘Landscape with Magnolias and Irises’ – which made $705,600, three and a half times its low estimate.
TIFFANY STUDIOS ‘LANDSCAPE WITH MAGNOLIAS AND IRISES’ WINDOW, CIRCA 1910
A first edition of the first Harry Potter book. UPDATE: THIS MADE 13,800 AT HAMMER
The online sale by Hegarty’s in Bandon from 5 pm on December 12 will feature a first paperback edition of the first Harry Potter book, one of 5,150 copies in wrappers. Both paperback and hardback editions of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone were published on June 26, 1997. This one is estimated at around €3,000. The sale offers art by Graham Knuttel and a selection of antique furniture, collectibles and jewellery including contents from
John Doyle (1797-1868) – Portrait of Daniel O’Connell holding a pistol.
Daniel O’Connell’s monogrammed leather gun case made a hammer price of €950 at Marshs online sale in Cork today. It had been estimated at €1,000-€1,500. By coincidence a half length portrait of Daniel O’Connell holding a pistol by John Doyle (1797-1868), the Irish artist who was grandfather to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, came up last week at Bonhams Irish sale. The estimate was just €700-€1,000. It was unsold in an auction where Paul Henry’s Killary Bay, Connemara made €140,500 and a portrait of Harry Clarke by Margaret Clarke made €51,200.
(See post on antiquesandartireland.com for December 3, 2023).
William Hurst Ashpitel’s prizewinning 1805 design for Ormond Bridge, Dublin. UPDATE: THIS MADE 11,000 AT HAMMER
A bound copy of one of the most elaborate 19th century publications on the Near East leads Fonsie Mealy’s two day rare book and collectors sale on December 12 and 13. This brimful of interest sale, being held this year in Castlecomer, offers rarities like the first edition of the first book by the first Irish author to write for a printing press rather than a scriptorum, important 1916 documents, the first Dublin All Ireland Hurling Championships medal from 1889, a lock of Oscar Wilde’s hair and the 1805 design for Ormond Bridge in Dublin (now named O’Donovan Rossa Bridge) by William Hurst Ashpitel (1776-1852). The design for O’Donovan Rossa Bridge near the Four Courts in Dublin is important because it was William Hurst Ashpitel of London who won the design competition in 1805. The bridge as it stands is as shown in his drawing, but the architects had previously been identified only as George Knowles and James Savage. This piece of architectural history is estimated at €5,000-€7,000.
A 1926 All Ireland hurling final programme (won by Cork). UPDATE: THIS MADE 3,000 AT HAMMER
Among more than 1,000 lots are a variety of GAA medals and other sporting memorabilia like a Bloody Sunday match ticket, a set of 26 views of Dublin by James Malton, a collection of Irish literature, travel plates and books and an unpublished letter by Michael Collins dated July 29, 1922 – just three weeks before his death – in which he states: “I am against shooting down unarmed men in any circumstances”. The first three volumes of The Holy Land, Syria, Idumae, Arabia, Egypt and Nubia by David Roberts and George Croly, published in 1842-43, is estimated at €10,000-€15,000. Duns Scotus Joannes by Maurice O’Fihily, Archbishop of Tuam – an edited commentary on the metaphysics of Aristotle believed to be the work of Duns published in Venice in 1497 – has an estimate of €8,000-€12,000.
An original Army issue Blueshirt tunic. UPDATE: THIS MADE 950 AT HAMMER
Among the other top lots are Dublin’s first All-Ireland medal from 1889 (€7,000-€10,000), a collection of 1916 documents including a rare copy of Irish War News printed during the Rising (€6,000-€9,000), Malton’s Dublin views and a lock of Oscar Wilde’s hair, each estimated at €6,000-€8,000. An edition of Bog Poems by Seamus Heaney illustrated by Barrie Cooke is estimated at €4,000-€6,000, as is a facsimile edition of the Book of Kells, and a copy of An Ideal Husband inscribed by Oscar Wilde.
A dummy rifle used in North Cork training during the War of Independence. UPDATE: THIS MADE 280 AT HAMMER
Among many lots of note is an original Army issued Blueshirt tunic (€1,000-€1,500), a rare dummy wooden training rifle used in the early stages of the War of Independence in North Cork (€300-€500) – this lot highlights the lack of basic equipment by those in Ireland who took on the might of the British Empire just over a century ago and won! – and a cheque written in 1920 by Terence MacSwiney during his brief tenure as martyred Lord Mayor of Cork to the Good Shepherd Convent. He disbursed his entire mayoral salary in charitable donations.The auction will take place at the saleroom in Castlecomer and online next Tuesday and Wednesday at 10.30 am on each day. The catalogue is online and viewing continues in Castlecomer tomorrow afternoon and all day on Monday.
