The James Adam timed online sale of contents from the Wellington Road, Dublin home of former restaurateur Peter White, who is downsizing, draws to a conclusion on January 11. Louis le Brocquy’s Red Roses For Me, a 1946 watercolour inspired by O’Casey’s play about a Dublin Protestant family against the background of the 1913 Lockout, is the top lot of 284. It comes with an estimate of €8,000-€12,000. There are no less than 31 works landscapes and cityscapes by the Dublin born Italian Irish painter Niccolo Caracciolo RHA, who died in a car crash near Siena in 1989. The sale offers a selection of furniture, silver, china, glassware, Persian rugs and household effects.
Rowan Gillespie Recumbent Nude, bronze on an oval base (€3,000-€5,000). UPDATE: THIS MADE 4,800 AT HAMMER
A new Irish Museum of Silver is up and running in Waterford, ready to welcome visitors at the end of lockdown. It is housed in the beautiful eighteenth-century Deanery building in Cathedral Square, in the heart of Waterford’s Viking Triangle. Exhibits trace the importance of silver in Ireland from the 9th-20th century. Among many rare items on show is a Viking gold and silver Kite brooch – discovered just a few hundred yards from the museum – which is considered to be the finest piece of 12th century secular metalwork in Ireland.
A 12th century Viking gold and silver kite brooch at the new Irish Museum of Silver in Waterford.
It isn’t great but it isn’t all bad either. Pandemic closures are horrible but there is much to explore online. If, for instance, you thought you might never get to visit the Mayfair Antiques Fair in London or the New York Winter Show, you were wrong. In 2021 they are available at the touch of a button on your computer.This is part of an ongoing shift online. All the data so far available from 2020 strongly suggests that large numbers of people who might never go to an auction viewing are buying online. At Christie’s, for instance, preliminary figures suggest that 36% of all buyers last year were new to the auction house. This experience is repeated everywhere else as the pandemic delivers new customers.Another statistic from Christie’s showed that 32% of all new online buyers were millennials (23 to 38 years old). In case you are wondering they are the ones who come after Generation X and before Generation Z. So the pandemic is leading large numbers of buyers straight to auction, spawning a new generation of young collectors and opening up specialist fairs to people everywhere. Anything positive in the midst of this lockdown is to be warmly welcomed and this bit of positivity is likely to have a long term impact.
A Chinese export reverse painted mirror in a Chippendale frame at the Mayfair Antiques Fair.
The Mayfair Antiques Fair usually takes place at the London Marriott Hotel in Grosvenor Square. This year it is in a new online guise. It opened on Thursday and continues today and tomorrow at www.mayfairfair.com There are 43 stands with a diverse mix of art and antiques dealers, mainly members of the British Antique Dealers Association or LAPADA, The Association of Art and Antique Dealers.There is much to choose from including a monumental first period Emile Galle vase enamelled with exotic flowers, a Chinese export reverse painted mirror plate in a Chippendale period frame, a pair of George III tea caddies made in London by William Frisbee in 1793, fine jewellery, art, antique furniture and collectibles.In New York the new virtual Winter Show runs from January 22-31 with preview access from January 19. It will bring together 60 leading international dealers with fine and decorative arts from ancient times to the present day. Visitors can taken in visual presentations and view close ups. All objects on view are vetted for authenticity, date and condition.There are leading dealers from New York, London, Paris, Amsterdam, Philadelphia, Chicago, Zurich and a variety of other locations. Among them are Ronald Phillips from London, Aronson, Amsterdam, A La Vielle Russie, New York, Apter-Fredericks, London, Elle Shusan, Philadelphia, Hirschl and Adler Galleries, New York and Les Enluminures of Chicago.
Masterworks of Modern Japanese porcelain will be displayed by Joan B. Mirviss Ltd. in New York
A prehistoric pair of fossilised Irish Elk antlers come up as Lot 1 at Sotheby’s Royal and Noble sale online until January 14. They are estimated at £25,000-£40,000. The Irish Elk or giant deer is thought to have originally colonised Siberia before migrating westwards in response to a deteriorating climate. The species became extinct 11,000 years ago. The largest concentration of its remains have been found in Irish bogland and many featured in Irish bnaqueting halls. UPDATE: THESE SOLD FOR £44,100
A virtual exhibition of rarely-seen drawings inspired by Dante’s The Divine Comedy has been launched by the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. It marks the 700th anniversary of the death in 1321 of Dante Alighieri. The 88 illustrations on view were completed between 1586 and 1588 by Renaissance artist Federico Zuccari.
The Divine Comedy by Dante, known as the father of the Italian language, is an epic first-person odyssey through heaven, hell, and purgatory considered one of the most important literary works of all time. The exhibition can be found by googling Uffizi Gallery Dante.
With three auctions planned for the first quarter of 2021 Whyte’s has reported that sales in 2020 reached €7 million. This compares to €8.5 million in 2019. Increased demand for art and collectibles offset the worst of the effects of the pandemic. Demand was driven by savings made from not travelling abroad, not eating out, not drinking in pubs, not commuting and not buying clothes for work. The imposition of negative interest rates on bank deposits has encouraged cash rich individuals to purchase tangible assets such as art and collectibles.
Whyte’s anticipate that 2021 will be another challenging year with the continuance of pandemic restrictions and Brexit. This will cause problems for trading in art between the EU and the UK. Individual collectors will have to pay 13.5% VAT on importation of art, and 21% on importation of collectibles from the UK. UK collectors and businesses will only pay 5% VAT on imports of art and most collectibles from Ireland. Irish VAT registered businesses will account for the importation VAT in their returns to Revenue. Customs clearance charges will add an extra 1% to the cost of importing art and collectibles. Thus a painting bought in the UK for €10,000 could cost an extra €1,450 to import to Ireland, and a €1,000 collectible will be charged €220 on arrival.
Whytes will hold sales of Irish & International Art on March 1, The Eclectic Collector on March 27 and a Spring Art Sale on April 13-19.
This 1916 Procalamation of the Irish Republic sold for €190,000 in July
A selection of costume jewellery made for the Chanel runway comes up at an online sale at Christie’s, New York from January 14-29. Spanning over 100 intricate creations the jewels provide a glimpse into the golden era of Karl Lagerfeld’s Chanel. They are featured as part of the landmark sale series from the Collection of Mr. & Mrs. John H. Gutfreund 834 Fifth Avenue. Susan Gutfreund shared a close friendship with Karl Lagerfeld. Many of the pieces are prototypes never before offered for sale and they provide a window into the world of haute couture in the 1980’s and 1990’s.
(See post on antiquesandartireland.com for December 20, 2020)
CHANEL GRIPOIX GLASS AND FAUX PEARL PENDANT EARRINGS $800-1,200. UPDATE: THESE SOLD FOR $3,250
A selection of exceptional works from the property of heirs of Franz Koenigs will come up in a series of sales at Christie’s in 2021. Categories will include Old Master Paintings and Old Master Drawings, Impressionist and Modern Art, Prints and Applied Arts. There are more than 2,800 works of art, ranging from the 15th to the early 20th Century. German by birth, Franz Koenigs (1881-1941) was a businessman and banker who settled in the Netherlands in 1922. Because of the political developments in his home country he obtained Dutch nationality in 1939. Among the highlights are a number of exceptional landscapes by the leading exponents from the Dutch Golden Age, led by Jacob van Ruisdael’s iconic Tower of Kostverloren on the Amstel (£500,000-800,000), and A wooded river landscape with a punt, Deventer in the distance by Meindert Hobbema (£500,000-800,000).
Meindert Hobbema – A wooded river landscape with a punt, Deventer in the distance
Knight, Death and the Devil an etching produced by Albrecht Dürer in 1513 comes up at Phillips in London on January 21. It is the first time that the firm will offer a work from the 16th century in London. This is one of three large prints that form Dürer’s Master Engravings produced between 1513 and 1514. Knight, Death and the Devil, accompanied by Melancholia I and Saint Jerome in His Study, are considered to correspond to the three kinds of medieval scholarly virtue – theological, intellectual, and moral. The engraving is estimated at £20,000-30,000.
The 272 lots in the sale offer examples of Pop, Modern and Contemporary editions as well as pieces from key periods of art history. Among them are Roy Lichtenstein’s Reverie from 1965 and two screenprints in colour by Andy Warhol: Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, from Reigning Queens (Royal Edition), 1985 and Mickey Mouse, from Myths, 1981.
Albrecht Dürer Knight, Death and the Devil. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £47,880
From the Westport House table to the Leinster House cabinets there is much of Irish interest in a sale for furniture specialists at Christie’s in London on January 19. Apter-Fredericks: 75 Years of Important English Furniture encompasses some spectacular Irish pieces as it marks the end of one era and the beginning of a new one. Internationally renowned for the superlative quality, condition and provenance of their pieces, Apter-Fredericks remains an industry byword for the very finest furniture and works of art, a reputation which has been built by three generations of the family over the last 75 years. The firm is giving up their Fulham Road, London showroom in order to spend more time in pursuit of masterpieces and visiting clients.
It is a great pity that at home and abroad the new world that beckons makes little room for fine antique shops like this in expensive downtown locations. Antique furniture is as green as you can get. So it is more than a little perverse that in a world with growing awareness of the urgent need to tackle climate change there is little room for shops selling the ultimate recyclable.
A c1750 Irish side table. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £30,000
Christie’s wlll offer 140 lots including work by the foremost craftspeople and designers of the 18th and 19th centuries like Chippendale, Ince and Mayhew, Linnell, Gomm, Lock, Bullock and Gillows, as well as some Chinese works of art. The Westport House dining table (£50,000-£80,000), capable of extending beyond 30 feet, is attributed to Gillows. It was purchased by Howe Peter Browne (1788-1845), the 2nd Marquess of Sligo. As governor of Jamaica he supported the emancipation of slaves. It is possible that the mahogany for the table came from Jamaica.The Leinster House cabinets (£40,000-£60,000), are thought to have been commissioned by the 2nd Duke of Leinster in 1777-78 and have been in the possession of the FitzGerald family ever since. Another highlight is a c1750 Irish side table. The carved pierced apron with foliage, shells and a central cartouche with a bird, is a good example of the Irish style. It came from a private collection in the US.A c1740 side table is described as English or possibly Irish. Apter-Frederick say the quirky nature of the overall proportion suggests a provincial or Irish origin. There is an Irish bottle stand and an Irish George III giltwood and verre eglomise mirror. Verre egomise is a process where there is both a design and gilding on glass to produce a mirror finish. This one, dated 1798, is by Josias Phillips, Wards Hill, Dublin.
(See post on antiquesandartireland.com for December 3, 2020)
Irish George III giltwood mirror. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £18,750
