EMERALD AND DIAMOND BRACELET, CIRCA 1945. UPDATE: THIS MADE €30,000 AT HAMMER
THIS c1945 em emerald and diamond bracelet is one of the highlights at Adams evening and online sale of fine jewellery and watches in Dublin on September 14. The geometric open work design bracelet with graduated cabochon emeralds is estimated at 30,000-40,000. There is a similar estimate on a pair of fancy coloured diamond and pendant earrings. With everything from a c1960 bow diamond brooch by Bulgari (18,000-28,000) to a tri coloured trinity gold ring by Cartier (800-1,000) the sale of 102 lots caters for a variety of budgets. The catalogue is online.
THE opening day of the sale of contents from Howth Castle exceeded all expectations. There has been huge international interest in an auction of contents from a home that has been in the same family for 800 years. Again and again prime lots far exceeded the top estimate. Late in the day a pair of early 18th century Delft vases sold for 38,000 at hammer, 38 times the top estimate of 1,000. A pair of c1738 Irish carved giltwood and gesso side tables made 168,000 over a top estimate of 50,000.
An important mid 18th century Irish decanter stand sold for a hammer price of 48,000 at Fonsie Mealy’s sale. As was the case with many lots this was after a battle between a telephone bidder, probably Irish, and an internet bidder from the UK. It went to the internet. Regarded as one of the finest examples of early Irish furniture it had been estimated at 20,000-30,000. A set of prehistoric Giant Irish Elk antlers and skull made 23,000 on the hammer over a top estimate of 18,000. The Georgian mahogany dining table on two quadruple centre pods and two outer tripod bases made 29,000 at hammer and the full length portrait of Jonathan Swift by Francis Bindon made a hammer price of 234,000 which was less than the estimate of 300,000-500,000. The good news is that an Irish bidder fought off international competition and this painting will be staying in Ireland.
A Louis XVI French ormolu mantel clock by Regnault of Paris with two matching candlesticks – a gift from Marie Antoinette to her lady in waiting Marie Therese de Barmont – made 28,000 at hammer. It had been estimated at 4,000-6,000. An allegorical 18th century Irish School relief depicting the taking in 1575 of Lord Howth’s grandson and heir to the castle by Grace O’Malley, Ireland’s pirate queen, made 25,000 at hammer over a top estimate of 12,000. After protracted negotiations the child was returned and one condition was that the gates of Howth should never again be shut at dinner time.
The sale continues on September 9.
One of a pair of c1738 Irish carved giltwood and gesso side tables which sold for 168,000 over a top estimate of 50,000THIS PAIR OF EARLY 18TH CENTURY DELFT VASES MADE 38,000 AT HAMMER OVER AN ESTIMATE OF 700-1,000
(See posts on antiquesandartireland.com for August 12, August 23, August 31 and September 4, 2021)
The European Fine Art Foundation (TEFAF) has virtually gathered a community of collectors, institutions, and art lovers from around the world for todays preview of TEFAF Online 2021. The fair will open to the public tomorrow and runs until September 13. This second edition of TEFAF’s digital fair brings the rich stories behind each work of art to life through TEFAF Collections, robust virtual programming, and the unsurpassed scholarship of over 267 top exhibitors.
“TEFAF Online 2021 is a celebration of expertise, art and storytelling.” said Charlotte van Leerdam, Managing Director of TEFAF. “We are grateful that our community is able to come together safely online during this time to enjoy the beauty of these works and continue participating in the top levels of the international art market from wherever they are in the world.”
THIS SMALL PLATE IN LACQUER WITH GEOMETRIC DECORATIONS AT GALERIE MARCELPOIL IS BY THE IRISH DESIGNER EILEEN GRAY (1878-1976)
Fonsie Mealy’s Howth Castle sale got off to a flying start today as collectors vied for blue a white and coloured Oriental porcelains. A 17th/early 18th century baluster vase and cover made 14,000 at hammer over a top estimate of 3,000. It has a six character mark to the base and is decorated with Royal subjects and attendants. Am 18th century Kangxi blue and white Gu vase with a top estimate of 3,000 made 12,000 on the hammer. An 18th century Famille Rose baluster shaped vase and cover with a top estimate of 1,800 made 4,800 on the hammer. A pair of Nankin blue and white platters with a set of three similar smaller dishes made 1,300 over a top estimate of 450 and two Xiangshi period triple gourd blue and white cafe au lait vases made 3,200 over a top estimate of 1,500. An 18th century blue and white jar and cover decorated with children at play made 7,500 over a top estimate of 1,000 and a large Chinese bronze gilt figure of a Buddha with a top estimate of 1,100 made 2,500. A large Majolica Palissy type oval dish made 8,600 at hammer over a top estimate of 350 and an 18th century bronze incense burner in the shape of a Foo dog with a top estimate of 600 made 5,000 on the hammer.
The latest in the series of collectibles auctions at Mullen’s includes historical memorabilia, rare and antiquarian books, militaria, arms and armour and sporting memorabilia. The live and online auction, which takes place on September 11, offers a variety of collectibles from a 1913-16 Irish Volunteers captains tunic to 24 mostly signed books by the Nobel Prize winning poet Seamus Heaney. There are 55i lots in total.
AN IRISH VOLUNTEER 1913-1916 TUNIC. UPDATE: THIS MADE 4,000 AT HAMMER
SEAN MCSWEENEY HRHA (1935-2018) – The Red Road. UPDATE: THIS MADE 3,800 AT HAMMER
THE Red Road by Sean McSweeney comes up as lot 12 at Morgan O’Driscoll’s online art sale, which runs until September 13 with an estimate of €2,000-3,000. The auction features more than 220 lots of art and sculpture by artists ranging from William Crozier and Kenneth Maguire to Kenneth Webb and Pauline Bewick. There is sculpture by John Behan, Imogen Stuart, Patrick O’Reilly, Melanie le Brocquy, Michael Foley and others.
This presentation copy of Dubliners signed by James Joyce is among the highlights of The Exceptional Literature Collection of Theodore B. Baum, to be sold in two parts at Christie’s in New York this month. It is estimated at $150,000-250,000. Inscribed copies of Dubliners are very rare and only three have been recorded at auction in the past 80 years. This one is the only example still in its original dust jacket. It is inscribed by Joyce to his publisher Crosby Gaige: “To Crosby Gaige James Joyce Paris 25.V.28.” This inscription dates to just five months after Gaige published Anna Livia Plurabelle, a section of Finnegans Wake, in a signed limited edition of 850 copies.
On November 28, 1905 Joyce mailed the manuscript of Dubliners to Grant Richards, who accepted it for publication in February 1906 and announced it the following month in The First Catalogue of Books Published by Grant Richards. In April, however, objections from the printer halted production. Joyce wrote an angry letter to Richards on 5 May: “You tell me in conclusion that I am endangering my future and your reputation. I have shown you earlier in the letter the frivolity of the printer’s objections and I do not see how the publication of Dubliners as it now stands in manuscript could possibly be considered an outrage on public morality…” (Herbert Gorman, James Joyce, pp.149). Although Joyce agreed to a few alterations, Richards soon abandoned his plans for Dubliners. Joyce offered the book to others, including Elkin Mathews and George Roberts at Maunsel. Maunsel printed an edition of 1,000 copies by July 1910 but this was destroyed by the printers because of objectionable passages. At the most, only a few sets of page proofs of this edition were retained by Joyce.
Joyce returned to Richards on 23 November 1914, committed to publishing the book as it was written, which by then had grown by two stories, “A Little Cloud” and “The Dead,” the masterpiece with which the collection concludes. Joyce guaranteed the sale of 130 copies in Trieste. Richards agreed, signed a contract on 4 March 1914 and published the book on 15 June. 1,250 sets of sheets were printed, of which approximately 746 were bound in this edition. The remaining 504 sets were sold by Huebsch in New York.
Mr. Baum’s library of literary first editions is among the finest ever assembled, built over the course of decades as he worked closely with top dealers and auction houses to locate the best copies of the most beloved books. The collection is particularly strong in works by English and American authors—from Edmund Spencer and John Milton in the 16th & 17th centuries through Jonathan Swift, Jane Austen, Charlotte Brontë, and Charles Dickens in the 18th & 19th centuries, all the way to Kurt Vonnegut, Toni Morrison and more in the 20th century.
The live online sale is on September 14. Part II of the online auction runs from September 2-17.
UPDATE: The Exceptional Literature Collection of Theodore B. Baum, sold across two live and online sales, totalled $9,657,875, surpassing the pre-sale high estimate.
There is water everywhere in William Roe’s 1837/38 views of Cork which come up as lot 17 at Mullens Collectors Cabinet online sale on September 11. Much of the city as we know it today is built on reclaimed land. The lot consists of seven framed sheets each with between two and four views of Cork city and environs. It is estimated at €2,000-€3,000. Works by Roe were displayed at the Cork Exhibition of 1852. UPDATE: THIS MADE 2,000 AT HAMMER
One of a pair of George II architectural pier mirrors by John Booker UPDATE: THE PAIR SOLD FOR 106,000 AT HAMMER
From Booker mirrors to an original portrait of Jonathan Swift to a clock garniture gift from Marie-Antoinette and a pair of commodes attributed to James Hicks the Howth Castle sale by Fonsie Mealy next week promises to be a humdinger. This auction of 800 years of history for the Gaisford-St. Lawrence family and other important clients offers an appetising variety of antique furniture, art, ceramics, glass and all sorts of historic collectibles like a painted wooden model of HMS Victory, an 18th century Irish School relief of the legend of Grainne Uaile, a mourning dress worn by Queen Victoria and the Great Sword of Howth which has been in the St. Lawrence family for many generations. According to tradition, the sword was used by Sir Armoricus Tristram, who arrived at Howth with Sir John de Courcy in the year 1177 and commanded the Norman army which defeated the local inhabitants. A more sober assessment dates the sword to the late 15th century. It is estimated at €10,000-€15,000. The live and online auction will take place at the Grand Hotel, Malahide on September 8 and 9 with admission subject to prevailing Covid conditions. The most expensively estimated lot, at €300,000-€400,000, is a unique full length portrait of Jonathan Swift painted in 1735 by Francis Bindon (1690-1765). There is an estimate of €50,000-€70,000 on Bull by Moonlight by Roderic O’Conor and A Birds Eye View of Howth Castle attributed to William Van Der Hagen or Joseph Tudor is estimated at €40,000-€60,000.. There are several Bruxelles and Flemish tapestries and an impressive set of prehistoric Giant Irish Elk antlers and skull.
This Louis XVI French mantle clock by Regnault of Paris together with two candlesticks was a gift from Marie Antoinette to her lady in waiting Marie Therese de Barmont. UPDATE: THIS MADE 28,000 AT HAMMER.
Among a number of lots certain to attract international interest is a pair of Irish George II carved giltwood and gesso architectural mirrors attributed to John Booker. These are estimated at €50,000-€70,000. A c1738 pair of Irish giltwood and gesso carved side tables believed to have been supplied to the 14th Lord Howth come with an estimate of €30,000-€50,000.A pair of satinwood and bow fronted commodes attributed to James Hicks are estimated at €7,000-€9,000 and a mid 18th century Irish side table is estimated at €8,000-€12,000. A magnificent Georgian mahogany dining table (€30,000-€40,000), a mid 18th century Irish mahogany decanter stand (€20,000-€30,000) and a Gothic Revival side table or alter attributed to Pugin (€4,000-€6,000) are among other remarkable furniture lots.A Louis XVI French ormolu mantel clock by Regnault of Paris with two matching candlesticks was a gift from Marie Antoinette to her lady in waiting Marie Therese de Barmont. Marie Antoinette was 14 at the time of her wedding in 1770, Marie Therese de Barmont was 13. The set is estimated at €4,000-€6,000.
A mid 18th century Irish mahogany decanter stand. UPDATE: THIS MADE 48,000 AT HAMMER
There is silver and plate, militaria, ceramics, porcelain, glassware and some estimates are as low as €80. With more than 970 lots on the catalogue and this truly a sale with something for everyone. Lot 787 is a George IV silver gilt model of the Warwick Vase by Phillip Rundell, London 1820 (€8,000-€12,000), there are early Netherlandish School portraits of the Bishop of Meath George Montgomery and his wife Susan Steyning (€10,000-€15,000) and an early 19th century Cantonese bowl and cover is ex the collection of the O’Briens at Dromoland Castle with an estimate of just €180-€220.The clearance sale of Howth Castle will continue with the sale of the library on September 22 and 23. The castle has been home to the St. Lawrence family since the Norman Invasion. Since 1919 it has been held by the distraff heirs, the Gaisford-St. Lawrences. In 2018 the family agreed to sell the castle, demesne and Ireland’s Eye to the Tetrarch investment group who intend to develop a hotel and a luxury resort. A seven acre portion has been sold to Glenveagh Homes who plan to build 200 apartments.
(See posts on antiquesandartireland.com for August 12, 23 and 31)
This untitled mixed media work by Felim Egan, dated 1981, comes up as lot 27 at de Veres art and furniture online auction which runs to September 14. It is estimated at just 200-400. Felim Egan, who died last December, was one of Ireland’s leading contemporary artists. He exhibited in Ireland and Europe and represented Ireland at the Paris Biennale of 1981 and the Sao Paolo Biennale of 1985. His work hangs in numerous public and private collections. There are 132 lots in the sale. UPDATE: THIS MADE 340 AT HAMMER
