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    • IRISH ART ONLINE AUCTION AT MORGAN O’DRISCOLL

    May 14th, 2014

    An online art auction with 297 lots by Morgan O’Driscoll is underway. It runs until Monday May 19 at 7 p.m.   The catalogue is online. Here is a small selection.

    Nancy Wynne-Jones (1922-2006) Farm with Vineyard (600-900)

    Nancy Wynne-Jones (1922-2006)
    Farm with Vineyard (600-900)  UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD

     

    Yvonne Moore (b.1969) Still Life Jug and Vase (400-600).

    Yvonne Moore (b.1969)
    Still Life Jug and Vase (400-600).  UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 280

     

    John Faulkner RHA (1835-1894) Near Cape Clear (3,000-5,000)

    John Faulkner RHA (1835-1894)
    Near Cape Clear (3,000-5,000)  UPDATE: THIS MADE 2,800

     

    Sir Frederick William Burton RHA (1816-1900) Study of a Gentleman

    Sir Frederick William Burton RHA (1816-1900)
    Study of a Gentleman (800-1,200)  UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 340

     

     

    Posted in ART, AUCTIONS | Comments Off on IRISH ART ONLINE AUCTION AT MORGAN O’DRISCOLL

    19th CENTURY SNUFF BOX SELLS FOR $842,408

    May 14th, 2014
    This 19th century gold and enamel automaton snuff box sold for US$802,408.

    This 19th century gold and enamel automaton snuff box sold for US$802,408.

    A rare 19th century gold and enamel snuff box was the top lot at Sotheby’s auction of important watches in Geneva.  The masterpiece of Swiss horology – a three compartment box with a concealed timepiece and musical automaton – sold for US$842,408.  It was produced in the workshop of Piguet & Capt in Geneva c1801-04.  The right lid opens to reveal an automaton scene with a seated lady playing the harp and a gentleman tapping his food in beat to the music and moving his forearm. The figures stand beneath a bird jumping from a cage. The sale, for which around 550 watch connoisseurs from across the globe registered to bid, totaled US$11,386,142. There was a world auction record for a Panerai watch when a stainless steel miitary divers wristwatch, Luminor c1955, sold for $478,002.  It was from the colleciton of the late Admiral Gino Birindelli, former commander of the Italian Navy.

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    HIGHEST TOTAL IN ART MARKET HISTORY AT CHRISTIE’S LAST NIGHT

    May 14th, 2014
    Black Fire I by Barnett Newman made $84,165,000.

    Black Fire I by Barnett Newman made $84,165,000.

    THE $744,944,000 achieved at Christie’s evening sale of Post-War and Contemporary Art in New York on May 13 represents the highest total in art market history. The top lot was Black Fire I, a sublime Abstract Expressionist masterpiece by Barnett Newman (1905-1970). It sold for $84,165,000, doubling the previous record for the artist. Francis Bacon’s Three Studies for a Portrait of John Edwards sold for $80,805,000.

    Two contemporary sales at Christies on May 12 and 13 achieved a combined total of $879,574,000 with a sell through rate of 98% by value and 95% by lot.  Bidders from 35 countries competed. With a wide range of examples from the collections of Edwin A. and Lindy Bergman, the Estate of Anita Reiner, Phillip Schrager, Frances R. Dittmer, and institutions such as the E.ON Art Collection in Düsseldorf, and The Art Institute of Chicago, collectors competed for works with the best quality and significant provenance. The two evening sales established 26 new world auction records, selling two works over $80million, four over $50million, 12 over $20 million, 19 over $10 million and 86 over $1 million. 80% of the lots were completely new to the auction market.

    Brett Gorvy, Chairman and International Head of Post-War and Contemporary Art said: “The sales so far this week have demonstrated the growing appetite for contemporary art across the global marketplace. From the highest number of visitors to our online space to the 12,500 people visiting our public exhibitions, from the volume of bidders in the sales themselves to the significant number of new artist records set, we are seeing unprecedented momentum in the market as the desire to connect with great art continues to grow.”

    (See post on antiquesandartireland.com for April 14, 2014).

    Posted in ART, AUCTIONS | Comments Off on HIGHEST TOTAL IN ART MARKET HISTORY AT CHRISTIE’S LAST NIGHT

    JACQUELINE KENNEDY’S LETTERS TO AN IRISH PRIEST AT DURROW AUCTION

    May 13th, 2014
    A selection of the letters and a photo of Mrs. Kennedy with Fr. Leonard in 1950.

    A selection of the letters and a photo of Mrs. Kennedy with Fr. Leonard in 1950. (Click on image to enlarge it).

    With Fr. Leonard at All Hallows in Dublin in 1950.

    With Fr. Leonard at All Hallows in Dublin in 1950.

    A cache of 33 letters written by Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy to Dublin based priest Fr. Joseph Leonard will be offered by Sheppards in Durrow, Co. Laois on June 10. The unpublished personal correspondence, in manuscript form and written between 1950 and 1964, cover events from her engagement to Senator Kennedy to his assassination in 1963. In them she expresses thoughts about her marriage, life in the White House and her reaction to his assassination.

    In her raw grief she wrote to Fr. Leonard: “I would rather have lost my life than lost Jack”.  She told Fr. Leonard that Kennedy was consumed by ambition “like “Macbeth” and described him as like her father in many ways – loves the chase and is bored with the conquest.
    Fr. Leonard, an All Hallows priest died in Dublin in 1964 aged 87. He became immediate friends with Jacqueline Bouvier when she and her stepbrother Hugh Dudley Auchincloss called on him during a visit to Dublin in 1950. They corresponded regularly after that.  They only met again once, in 1955, when Mrs. Kennedy travelled to Dublin with then Senator John F. Kennedy.
    Jacqueline Kennedy never wrote an autobiography.  But there is much material for a biography in these letters, which are likely to be published in book form by any purchaser. They are expected to sell for at least one million euro.  Sheppards announced today that they will also be offering 21 lots of Jacqueline Kennedy associated correspondence and photographs including correspondence from the White House signed by Mrs. Kennedy and the President.  Estimates will range from 400 to 1.2 million.  The letters are being sold by All Hallows College, Dublin, which says it does not have the resources to curate them and that they will be a valuable addition to the Kennedy archive.  Some of the letters written by Fr. Leonard to Mrs. Kennedy  are in the White House “social files”  at the JFK Presidential Library in Boston.
    UPDATE:  The cancellation of  the sale was announced on May 21.  The directors of All Hallows are in discussions with the Kennedy family on how best to curate and preserve this valuable archive.
    A statement said: Sheppard’s Irish Auction House was today informed by the vendor that the archive of letters from Jackie Kennedy to Father Joseph Leonard was being withdrawn from auction. Sheppard’s is in the process of returning the archive, and items related to the archive, which had been consigned to the auction, to the vendor.

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    FINE JEWELLERY AND WATCHES AT JAMES ADAM

    May 13th, 2014

    Diamond solitaire rings, an Art Deco diamond necklace, watches by  Rolex, Patek Philippe, Cartier, Omega, Longines, Bulova, Jaeger le Coultre, Breitling and Raymond Weil, necklaces, bracelet, rings, rubies, sapphire, turquoises, pearls, aquamaries and gold jewellery by leading makers will feature at the James Adam sale of fine jewellery and watches in Dublin on May 20.  The catalogue is online. Here is a small selection:

    An 18 carat gold necklace by BVLGARI (3,500-6,500).

    An 18 carat gold necklace by BVLGARI (3,500-6,500). UPDATE: THIS MADE 3,800 AT HAMMER

     

    A Gentleman's 18 carat gold Calatrava wristwatch by Patek Philippe (3,000-7,000).

    A Gentleman’s 18 carat gold Calatrava wristwatch by Patek Philippe (3,000-7,000).  UPDATE: THIS MADE 7,500

     

    A double row of cultured pearls, of graduated length to an Art Deco diamond and ruby plaque clasp (20,000-40,000).

    A double row of cultured pearls, of graduated length to an Art Deco diamond and ruby plaque clasp (20,000-40,000).  UPDATE: THESE WERE UNSOLD

     

    A diamond single-stone ring, composed of a cut-corner emerald-cut diamond within a four-claw setting, to a 14 carat gold hoop, diamond approx. 3.33 carat total (30,000-50,000).

    A diamond single-stone ring, composed of a cut-corner emerald-cut diamond within a four-claw setting, to a 14 carat gold hoop, diamond approx. 3.33 carat total (30,000-50,000).  UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD

     

    A diamond and sapphire necklace (20,000-40,000).

    A diamond and sapphire necklace (20,000-40,000).  UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD

     

    A pair of natural pearl and diamond earrings (6,000-10,000).

    A pair of natural pearl and diamond earrings (6,000-10,000).  UPDATE: THESE WERE UNSOLD

     

     

     

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    BOOK GIVEN BY OSCAR WILDE TO GOVERNOR OF READING GAOL AT BONHAMS

    May 13th, 2014
    The copy inscribed by Oscar Wilde.

    The copy inscribed by Oscar Wilde.  UPDATE: IT MADE £55,000.

    A specially printed copy of The Importance of Being Earnest inscribed by Oscar Wilde to Major James Nelson, the Governor of Reading Gaol during the writer’s term of imprisonment there is to be sold at Bonhams Books, Atlases, Manuscripts and Photographs sale in London on June 18. It is estimated at £40,000 – 60,000.  Numbered 13 out of a presentation edition of 100, it is inscribed “To Major Nelson: from the author.  A trivial recognition of a great and noble kindness. Feb, 99.”  Elsewhere, Wilde was to describe Nelson as: “The most Christlike man I ever met.”

    After being found guilty of gross indecency in May 1895 Wilde was transferred from Wandsworth prison to Reading Gaol in November of that year.  There, the draconian regime of the then Governor, Henry Isaacson – a man with “ the soul of a rat” according to Wilde – had a drastic effect on his mental and physical health.  Isaacson was replaced in July 1896 by Major James Nelson who immediately gave his most famous prisoner access to books – his first words are said to have been: “The Home Office has allowed you some books. Perhaps you would like to read this one.  I have just been reading it myself.” Crucially, Nelson allowed Wilde to begin writing creatively again. The result was  De Profundis – an extended letter to his lover and the main author of his misfortune, Lord Alfred Douglas. Under prison rules, all written material had to be handed over each evening and retained by the authorities but Nelson permitted Wilde to consult previous work to help him keep his thread.  On Wilde’s release in May 1897 Nelson gave him back the entire manuscript.
    Bonhams Head of Books, Matthew Haley, said: “This inscribed edition of The Importance of Being Earnest is a poignant reminder of the very real hardship which Wilde suffered in prison and the enormous difference which Major Nelson’s acts of common humanity made to the writer’s morale and health.  It is arguable that the Governor saved Wilde’s life and almost certain that without him there would have been no De Profundis.”

    UPDATE: IT SOLD FOR £55,000.

    Posted in AUCTIONS, COLLECTIBLES | Comments Off on BOOK GIVEN BY OSCAR WILDE TO GOVERNOR OF READING GAOL AT BONHAMS

    16 AUCTION RECORDS FOR EMERGING AND ESTABLISHED ARTISTS

    May 13th, 2014
    Untitled by Martin Kippenberger made a world record price of $18.6 million.

    Untitled by Martin Kippenberger made a world record price of $18.6 million.

    Headed by Martin Kippenberger at $18.6 million there were world auction records for no less than 16 artists at Christie’s contemporary art sale entitled “If I Life I’ll see you Tuesday”  in New York last night.  The sale of work by emerging and established artists attracted worldwide participation and brought in $134.6 million.  An untitled work by Kippenberger made a world record price of $16,645,000 after six minutes of bidding in the room and on the phone.  Peter Doig’s Road House made $11,925,000, a world record for the artist  and Nurse at Greenmeadow by Richard Prince  made a world record for the artist of $8,565,000.

    Among the other artists who set records were Joe Bradley, Dan Colen, On Kawara, Glen Ligon, Adam McEwen and Thomas Schutte.  Contemporary masters also saw strong demand with fierce competition from a largely international collector base. There were 350 registered bidders from 26 countries.

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    TINY JADE VESSEL SELLS FOR 380,000 AT JAMES ADAM

    May 11th, 2014
    This jade ritual vessel sold for 380,000 at James Adam, Dublin.

    This jade ritual vessel sold for 380,000 at James Adam, Dublin.

    A tiny Chinese jade ritual vessel made 380,000 at the James Adam Sunday Interiors auction on May  11. It had been estimated at 4,000-6,000. It was bought by a bidder on the telephone from Beijing.  The underbidder was in Hong Kong.

    The pale russet and jade vessel dating from the 18th-19th century is carved in shallow relief with stylised Taotie mask and archaistic scrolls.  The handle has a double ended chilong dragon with a detachable mouth ring.  It measures just 12 centimetres high.  The piece came from the executors of a Dublin estate.
    The sale underlines the global nature of the market.  The internet has become a feature in many sales. It is no longer unusual to find collectors from more than 100 countries registering to buy at a single auction in the big international houses.
    Afterwards James O’Halloran, managing director at James Adam, commented that the price is very much in line with other Chinese artefacts which have made exceptional prices throughout the UK and Ireland in latter years.

     

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    IRISH OAK FOUR DOOR BOOKCASE AT SIXMILEBRIDGE

    May 11th, 2014

     

    The Irish oak mid 19th century bookcase.

    The Irish oak mid 19th century bookcase.

    AN Irish oak library bookcase, by repute produced for Durrow Castle in the mid-1800’s, comes up at the Aidan Foley sale at the Auction Rooms, Sixmilebridge, Co. Clare on May 13.  Possibly by Strahan of Dublin the Victorian breakfront four door bookcase has a carved pediment over fur glazed doors flanked by inset mirror panels.  The lower doors are decorated with oval panels of Harps and Hounds, and a carved shamrock frieze.  It is estimated at 10,000-15,000 in a mixed auction with over 1,000 lots.

    UPDATE:  This was unsold but under negotiation after the auction.

    Posted in AUCTIONS, FURNITURE | Comments Off on IRISH OAK FOUR DOOR BOOKCASE AT SIXMILEBRIDGE

    PORTRAIT MINIATURE OF JOHN SHEARES AT ADAMS

    May 10th, 2014

     

    Portrait miniature of John Sheares by John Comerford (1773-1832)

    Portrait miniature of John Sheares by John Comerford (1773-1832)  UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR A HAMMER PRICE OF 620

     

    The inscription on the back: "John Sheares" Executed for the cause of his country in 1798."

    The inscription on the back: “John Sheares” Executed for the cause of his country in 1798. Painted by John Comerford Dublin

    A portrait miniature of Cork patriot John Sheares (1756-1798) comes up at Adams Sunday Interiors sale in Dublin on May 11.  He and his brother Henry (1753-1798) – lawyers and members of the United Irishmen – were hanged, drawn and quartered at the height of the 1798 Rebellion. They had become politicised by the French Revolution.

    The 8.5 cm high miniature on ivory is attributed to the Kilkenny born Dublin based artist John Comerford (1773-1832). An inscription on the back reads:  John Sheares, executed for the cause of his country in 1798.

    (See post on antiquesandartireland.com for May 5, 2014)

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