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    • A LETTER WITH THE SEAL OF AN IRISH BISHOP AT CHRISTIE’S

    December 9th, 2022
    A letter with the seal of an Irish bishop UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £7,560

    A February 1261 letter with the seal of an Irish bishop relaxing twenty days of penance for those praying for the soul of Ralph de Sumertone, formerly canon of St Mary’s Priory, Canons Ashby, Northamptonshire, and the souls of his parents is lot 77 at Christie’s online sale of the Collection of Marvin L Colker. The sale runs until December 12 and the letter is estimated at £2,500-£3,500. Written in Latin on vellum it contains the large green wax vesica-shaped pendant seal of William de la Hay, bishop of Connor [Ireland] (1260–62), depicting a full-length standing bishop holding a crozier and blessing, with the legend ‘Willelmi dei g[ratia Con]nerensis episco[pi]’.

    Marvin L Colver (1927-2020) was Emeritus Professor of Classics at the University of Virginia, world-renowned palaeographer, classicist and author of the first comprehensive catalogue of the manuscripts at Trinity College Dublin (a herculean endeavour that took over 30 years), and collector of manuscripts. This sale is a testament to the breadth and depth of his collecting, spanning more than 1,500 years of written history and subject matters ranging from astrology to music, literature, medicine, Church history, humanism, liturgy, Hebraica, law and theology. There are leaves from important manuscripts such as the St Albans Abbey Bible, the Hungerford Hours, the Chester Beatty Book of Hours; manuscripts in Catalan, Picard, French, Italian and Hebrew; examples of Beneventan, Carolingian, Visigothic and Scandinavian script; and rare and unusual texts and authors.

    UPDATE: THE SALE TOTALLED £720,342

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    STRONG BIDDING AND NEW RECORDS FOR OLD MASTERS

    December 9th, 2022
    HANS HOLBEIN THE YOUNGER (1497-1543) AND WORKSHOP – PORTRAIT OF DESIDERIUS ERASMUS (1466-1536)

    Led by Hans Holbein the Younger and Workshop there was five new records at Christie’s Old Masters evening sale in London last night. The auction brought in £13.1 million and the Holbein made £1,222,000. Records were also established for Jacob Savery the Elder (£544,400), Antonio Stom called Il Tonino (£138,600), Barnaba Agocchiari called Barnaba da Modena (£882,000) and Sebastiano Conca (£378,000) in a sale which attracted registered bidders from 15 countries and four continents.

    Leading the sale was Jean-François de Troy’s tableaux de mode Reading Party which achieved £2,922,000 bringing the combined total for the Collection of Lord and Lady Weinstock to £8,082,595 and Anthony van Dyck’s Portrait of Queen Henrietta Maria  which achieved £2,442,000. There was strong competitive bidding throughout and 33% of lots sold above the estimate.

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    CHRISTMAS ONLINE ART AUCTION AT WHYTE’S

    December 9th, 2022
    ALAN KENNY (B.1959) – THE STRIPED MUSICIAN, 1999 UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD

    The Striped Musician by Alan Kenny is lot 31 at Whyte’s Christmas online art auction. The oil on board is estimated at €1,000-1,500. This seasonal timed online sale which runs until December 12 offers a selection of affordable art by some of our best loved painters. It is designed to appeal to first time buyers and seasoned bidders. The catalogue is online and viewing is underway at Molesworth St. in Dublin.

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    JACK B YEATS AND PAUL HENRY SHINE AT ADAMS

    December 7th, 2022
    Jack Butler Yeats RHA (1871-1957)  – The Duet (1945) SOLD FOR €70,000 AT HAMMER

    The Sick Bed and The Duet, both by Yeats, made hammer prices of €160,000 and €70,000 respectively at the James Adam sale of Important Irish Art in Dublin tonight. They had been estimated at €150,000-€200,000 and €70,000-€100,000. Connemara Hills by Paul Henry made €92,000 over a top estimate of €60,000. Fantail, an oil on canvas by Louis le Brocquy made €50,000 (€40,000-€60,000) and The Garlanded Goat, an Aubusson tapestry designed by le Brocquy made €46,000 (40,000-€60,000). Abstract Composition by Evie Hone made €34,000 (€15,000-€25,000) and Lighthouse Man’s twin cats and Washing by John Shinnors made €30,000 (€30,000-€50,000). Children playing in a woodland glade by George Russell made €28,000 over a top estimate of €15,000 and Valley Wind, Jemisa by Tony O’Malley made €24,000 at hammer (€15,000-€25,000).

    The auction brought in  €1.135m gross and recorded a sold rate of 78%.

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    PROCLAMATION SELLS FOR €170,000 AT FONSIE MEALY AUCTION

    December 7th, 2022
    This original copy of the Irish Proclamation made €170,000 at hammer.

    An original copy of the Irish Proclamation made a hammer price of €170,000 at Fonsie Mealy’s Christmas rare books and collectors sale in Dublin today. It was printed at Liberty Hall, Dublin, under the protection of soldiers of the Irish Citizen Army, on Easter Sunday, 1916. A first edition of Ulysses by James Joyce, number 149 of 1000 copies published by Shakespeare and Co,. in Paris in 1922, made €16,000. A 1936 copy of the first UK edition signed by Joyce made €9,500; The Mime of Mick, Nick and the Maggies, a fragment of a work in progress (i.e. Finnegan’s Wake) signed by James and Lucia Joyce made €11,000; a 1934 letter from James Joyce to Thomas Pugh seeking photographs of scenes mentioned in Ulysses for his American publisher made €16,000. In this letter Joyce asks if Pugh knows of any illustrated weekly published in Dublin around 1904, for the use of the French painter Henri Matisse, who is working on designs for a new edition-de-luxe of Ulysses. An illustrated copy of Ulysses signed by both James Joyce and Henri Matisse made €9,000 and a signed limited edition of Finnegan’s Wake made €3,600.

    A folio of ten large watercolours of Ireland’s geological landscape by George Victor du Noyer made €16,000. A file of 1901-03 unpublished letters relating to the Irish theatre by Frank Fay made €11,000, An argument on behalf of the Catholics of Ireland signed by Wolfe Tone made €10,000, The Aran Islands by Synge with drawings by Yeats and signed by both made €9,000, a facsimile of The Lindisfarne Gospels made €6,600 and a facsimile of The Book of Kells made €5,000. A Little Fleet by Jack B Yeats made €6,200, a collection of Broadsides by Jack B Yeats and others made €5,100, a first edition of At Swim Two Birds with an inscription by Flann O’Brien made €5,400, a 1958 self published Recent Poems by Patrick Kavanagh made €3,800 and a complete set of Kavanagh’s Weekly signed by Kavanagh made €3,600. A rare Irish trial piece 20p coin made €4,000, the accounts by Michael Collins for the Treaty Negotiations made €3,200, a heavy blackthorn shillelagh by tradition belonging to Michael Collins made €4,000 and a collection of Beatles signatures made €3,000.

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    CHINESE LACQUERED CABINET AT SHEPPARDS

    December 7th, 2022
    18TH-CENTURY CHINESE LACQUERED CABINET

    This 18th century lacquered cabinet sold for €2,800 at hammer at the opening day of Sheppards three day sale which began in Castlecomer and online on December 6. An Irish 18th century five pillar dining table failed to sell but there were some good prices for antique furniture like a pair of Edwardian satinwood bookcases (€8,000), a large Regency side table (€3,400), an Irish crested hall seat (€2,700), a pair of George II style humpback settees (€4,000) and a burr walnut circular dining table (€2,600). A Charles X ormolu and bronze cathedral clock made €3,000, a William Morris Donegal carpet made €2,800 and a West Anatolia Ushak carpet made €3,600. The auction continues today and tomorrow.

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    CHRISTINE MCVIE’S WARDROBE AND ICONIC INSTRUMENTS

    December 5th, 2022

    Christine McVie’s wardrobe Including her vintage Rumours album cover worn maxi dress sold for $56,250 at Julien’s in Hollywood over the weekend. The sale featured over 800 lots from three iconic members of Fleetwood Mac including personal wardrobe, musical equipment, household furnishings, awards, memorabilia and more. A portion of the proceeds will benefit MusiCares, who honored Fleetwood Mac in 2018 as the organisation’s Person of the Year, to support the charity’s work providing critical services to underserved members of the music community.

    An emotional moment of the auction was the sale of the collection of Christine McVie, who passed away three days before the event took place. The auction and catalogue of her most personal and professional items organised by Ms. McVie and her team with Julien’s a year ago represented the Songbird’s lifetime of great performances, recordings and songs as a member of one of the best-selling groups of all time, Fleetwood Mac, and as a legendary solo artist.

    Highlights included: the GRAMMY® Award- winner’s vintage maxi dress which sold for $56,250, five times its original estimate of $10,000. Christine McVie’s iconic instruments including her Leslie Rotary speaker and microphones sold for $37,500, thirty-seven times its original estimate, touring Hammond B3 organ made $28,125, Yamaha E3 Series Disklavier electric five-foot baby grand piano sold for $22,400 and Hammond B3 Organ, stage-played sold for $18,750

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    IMPORTANT IRISH ART AT JAMES ADAM

    December 5th, 2022
     Line by John Shinnor. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD

    Economic uncertainty is no bad thing for the art market and John Shinnors, Hughie O’Donoghue and John Doherty are among the more contemporary blue chip Irish artists that Adams will bank on to deliver a good sale of Important Irish Art on the evening of December 7. Yeats, Paul Henry and Louis le Brocquy are there too.

    Line, one of John Shinnors larger works and one of his most significant, is an arresting response to Frank Bramley’s Domino at the Crawford Gallery and is estimated at €60,000-€80,000. Two fine oils by Yeats head this auction of 144 lots.  The Sick Bed failed to sell when it came up in 2020 with an estimate of €250,000-€300,000 and is now estimated at €150,000-€200,000. The Duet (€70,000-€100,000) is a more joyful work and graces the catalogue cover.The Garlanded Goat, an Aubusson tapestry and an oil of canvas of a fantail pigeons, both by le Brocquy, and Paul Henry’s deeply atmospheric Connemara Hills are all estimated at €40,000-€60,000.  Other top lots include Lighthouse, Man’s Twin Cats and Washing by Shinnors, The Canal Turn, Aintree by Peter Curling, Jasper’s Here … O’Donovan, Union Hall by John Doherty and Afloat by Hughie O’Donoghue. The sale is on view at St. Stephen’s Green and the catalogue is online.

    The Canal Turn, Aintree by Peter Curling. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD

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    THREE DAYS OF SALES AT SHEPPARDS COMING UP THIS WEEK

    December 4th, 2022
    The Bonnettstown Hall Irish side table. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD

    An Irish 18th century five pillar dining table (€50,000-€80,000) is the top lot at three days of sales at Sheppards from Tuesday December 6. The fascinating selection on offer includes fine wines headed by six bottles of Premier Cru Classe Pessac-Leognan, Chateau Haut Brion, 2009 (€5,500-€6,500) along with antique furniture, jewellery, art including a portrait of a lady in a green dress by Vanessa Bell, vintage designer dresses and handbags and collectibles including a Charles X ormolu and bronze cathedral clock by Schuller, Paris with painted porcelain plaque after Raphael Sanzio.

    There are some fine 18th and 19th century chimney pieces, Donegal and Persian rugs, an Irish 18th century side table (€8,000-€12,000), baronial armchairs and an 18th century Chinese lacquered cabinet (€3,000-€5,000) among more than 1,400 lots. Viewing for a sale entitled  Bonnettstown Hall, Kilkenny and other important clients is underway in Durrow and the catalogue is online.

    VANESSA BELL (1879 – 1961) – Portrait of a lady in a green dress. (1959). UPDATE: THIS MADE 6,500 AT HAMMER

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    ST. MANCHAN, MICHAEL COLLINS, JIMI HENDRIX AND ULYSSES

    December 3rd, 2022
     Adare Manor replica of the Shrine of St. Manchan. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD

    With an original copy of the Irish Constitution, a first edition of Ulysses in the centenary year of its publication, the pocket seal of Michael Collins engraved with his initials, facsimiles of The Book of Kells and the Lindisfarne Gospels, a collection of Beatles signatures, an album signed by Jimi Hendrix and Cork’s first All-Ireland Football gold medal from 1894 there is little not to like about Fonsie Mealy’s Christmas Rare Books and Collectors sale.

    Michael Collins’ pocket seal with the initials M.C. in reverse. UPDATE: THIS MADE €4,800 AT HAMMER

    “Here be Treasure” is what they used to write on the old pirates maps and “X marks the Spot”. In this auction there is a respectable quota of 1,156 x’s. That is the number of lots due to come under the hammer over two days of sales ON December 6 and 7 at the Talbot Hotel in Dublin. With estimates of €20-€30 euro (for a match programme and scarf from Ireland’s first win over New Zealand in Dublin in 2018) to €140,000-€180,000 (for the Irish Constitution) there is material in this sale to cater for many interests across all price ranges. A  life sized replica of the shrine of St. Manchan in wood, plaster of Paris and gilding, commissioned by Sir William Wilde (Oscar’s dad) and presented to the 3rd Earl of Dunraven, conveys the magnificence of one of the finest examples of 12th century metalwork to have survived in Ireland at Boher in Co. Offaly. The replica, displayed at Adare Manor for over a century and included in the contents sale there in 1982, is estimated at €20,000-€30,000.

    Among the highlights is a collection of gold and silver medals awarded to John Enright of Limerick including the World Fly Fishing Tournament at Wimbledon in 1896, an archive of documents relating to Hugh Kennedy (1879-1936),  first Attorney General and Chief Justice of the Irish Free State, An Argument on behalf of the Catholics of Ireland, 1791 signed by Wolfe Tone and the controversial Cork All-Ireland football gold medal of 1894 featured on these pages last Saturday. The Michael Collins memorabilia includes a copy of the London accounts for the Treaty negotiations, his shillelagh and his pocket seal.  There is an intriguing note with an almost certain intelligence connection seeking “any particulars”.

    A signed album cover for Axis: Bold as Love by Jimi Hendrix. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD

    There will be competition for a collection of album covers with signatures by John Lennon, Yoko Ono, George Harrison, Ringo Starr and Paul and Linda McCartney as well as the album Axis: Bold as Love signed by Jimi Hendrix (who would have been 80 this week).A folio of ten large watercolour drawings of Ireland’s geological landscape by George Victor du Noyer (€4,000-€5,000) is another rarity.  There is no shortage of signed first editions of books of poetry, literature and popular fiction, medals, coins, banknotes, historic match programmes, cinema posters, soldiers letters and even a boxing glove signed by Joe Frazier and George Foreman.  The catalogue is online.

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