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    • BANTRY HOUSE IRISH REGENCY MIRRORS AT MEALY’S

    November 23rd, 2010

    This Regency mirror was originally in Bantry House. (click to enlarge) The mirrors failed to sell.

    ONE of a pair of Irish Regency gilt convex girandole mirrors with eagle crests probably by Clare, Grand Parade, Cork – originally from Bantry House – will feature at the Mealy’s two day winter fine arts and decorative sale in Castlecomer, Co. Kilkenny on November 30 and December 1.

    It is one of three lots from Bantry House in the sale.  The mirrors are estimated at 10,000-15,000. A late George III twin pedestal dining table is estimated at 4,000-6,000 and a pair of George III knife boxes with a slope top and serpentine front applied with brass carrying handles originally part of the dining room furniture is estimated at 800-1,500.

    Bantry House, Bantry has been home to the White family since 1739.
    Mealy’s 1166 lot sale features Irish paintings by artists like William Mulready, Walter Osborne, Aloysius O’Kelly, Frank McKelvey, Daniel Maclise, Augustus Nicholas Burke and William Saddler II.
    There are clocks and other timepieces, a collection of vintage fashion and costume, Irish and other period silver and plate, jewellery and a single owner private collection of wine, port and whiskey.
    POSTPONED UNTIL DECEMBER 7 DUE TO BAD WEATHER.
    UPDATE:  THE mirrors failed to sell at auction, under active negotiation afterwards.  The sale realised just under 380,000, about 40 per cent of lots were unsold, but the high value lots found buyers.

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    PAUL HENRY AT WHYTE’S NOVEMBER IRISH ART SALE

    November 22nd, 2010

    Fisherman in a Currach is the title of this 1910 work by Paul Henry. It features at the Whyte's sale in Dublin on November 29. (click to enlarge) UPDATE: IT MADE 145,000

    Donegal Dancer by William Conor features at Whyte's on November 29. It is estimated at 3,000-5,000. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD

    Painted shortly after Paul Henry first arrived on Achill Island in 1910 the painting on the left is one of a number of works that record the artist’s excitement at his new found surroundings. It is entitled Fisherman in a Currach. The setting is Achill Island and must almost certainly be the Cathedral Rocks at the northern end of the Menawn Cliffs at Keel; the distant island is Inishgallon.  The work will feature at the Whyte’s sale in the RDS on Monday, November 29 at 6 p. m.  It is estimated at 100,000-150,000.
    There are a number of works in the sale donated by leading Irish artists to raise funds for Amnesty International.  Among those who have contributed paintings are Robert Ballagh, Barrie Cooke and Alice Maher.
    There is an illustration by Harry Clarke of John Keats’  The Eve of St. Agnes and this 191 lot sale features works by Percy French and William Conor and a Mediterranean scene by Nathanial Hone.
    The venue for the sale is the RDS Clyde Rooms, Anglesea Road, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4.  Viewing is from Saturday, November 27 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily.
    UPDATE: Fisherman in a Currach was the top lot at this sale. It made 145,000.  Harry Clarke’s illusation for The Eve of St. Agnes made 15,500.  Watercolours by Percy French made various sums of between 1,500 and 6,000 and most of the offerings from William Conor sold too.  Conor’s The Potato Pickers made 21,000. Nathanial Hone’s Fishing Boats at Villefranche c1880 made 35,000, John Behan’s unique bronze Famine Ship made 10,000 and a diptych by John Shinnors sold for 14,500

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    SAMUEL BECKETT’S ENDGAME, A RARE FIRST EDITION

    November 21st, 2010

    A first edition of Endgame for sale in Cork. UPDATE: IT WAS UNSOLD

    Samuel Beckett’s Endgame,  in its first French edition from 1957, comes up at the Morgan O’Driscoll sale in Cork on Monday, November 29.
    Arriving on the market at the moment when the financial game is up for Ireland, the national endgame for this indebted country involving a financial bailout from the IMF, the ECB and countries like Britain and Sweden, this particular version is Number 32 in an edition of 54 numbered copies.  It is estimated at 3,500-4,500.
    Endgame is a one act play with four characters by the Nobel Prize winning Irish writer. It was originally written in French and entitled Fin de partie.  Beckett, as was his custom, translated it into English.
    The play was first performed in a French language production at the Royal Court Theatre in London in 1957.
    A first edition of L’innommable (The Unnamable) by Beckett, inscribed by the author in 1953, also features in the sale.  It is estimated at 3,000-4,000.
    L’innommable is the final installment of Beckett’s trilogy of novels Molloy/Malone Dies/The Unnamable.   This edition was inscribed by Beckett to his Swedish translator Carl Gustaf Birger Bjurstrom.
    Morgan O’Driscoll will conduct two auctions at the Radisson Hotel at Little Island in Cork on November 29,   The 296 lot antique furniture, silver, Republican memorabilia and rare book
    auction at 4 p.m. will be followed by a 225 lot art sale at 7 p.m.

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    The Marriage of Strongbow and Aoife

    November 18th, 2010

    A detail from The Marriage of Strongbow and Aoife at the National Gallery of Ireland, which is to be restored. Photo © National Gallery of Ireland (click to enlarge)

    The Marriage of Strongbow and Aoife by Cork born historical painter Daniel Maclise (1806-1870) at the National Gallery of Ireland is to be restored.

    The work on one of the most popular paintings in the collection, viewed by around 750,000 people each year, is made possible through the generosity of the Art Conservation Fund of Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

    The painting will undergo a preliminary technical examination with ultraviolet and infrared reflectography and radiography. This will enable conservators to investigate areas of over-painting, as well as any original under drawings and alterations to the composition. The Maclise painting, which presents extraordinary conservation challenges because of its size (317 x 515cm), requires a selection of structural treatments.

    Aoife, daughter of Dermot McMurrough, King of Leinster, married Richard de Clare, the 2nd Earl of Pembroke, known as Strongbow, in Waterford in 1170.  He was the leader of the Norman Invasion into Ireland.

    Dr. Brendan Rooney, Curator of Irish art at the National Gallery of Ireland, remarked: “Historical subjects of this kind are relatively rare in Irish art, and Cork-born Maclise’s technical ability was exceptional.

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    DOLANS IRISH ART IN GALWAY

    November 17th, 2010

    The Ploughed Field by Jay Murphy (estimated at 500-800) features at the Dolans Art Auction at the Marriott Hotel in Galway on Sunday, November 21. (click on image to enlarge) UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD

    This watercolour by Annemarie Bourke entitled Aspects of Galway (estimated at 800-1,200) features at the Dolan's art auction on November 21. (click to enlarge) UPDATE: IT MADE 1,000

    Traditional and contemporary work by Irish artists features at the Dolans art auction at the Marriott Hotel in Galway on Sunday November 21 at 3 p.m.  The emphasis is on affordability.

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    EARLY GIANT’S CAUSEWAY PHOTOGRAPHS AT BONHAMS

    November 17th, 2010

    An album of rare photographs of the Giant’s Causeway taken in 1867 by Dublin based photographer, F H Mares is a feature of Bonhams sale of  Books, Maps and Historical Photographs in Oxford on  November 30 next.  The album is inscribed: “Emma Townsend, from her affectionate Sister Bessie on the return from Ireland, March 27th, 1879” and is estimated at £200 – 400.

    The Giant's Causeway in the 19th century. (click to enlarge) taken in 1867 by Dublin based photographer, F H Mares is a feature of Bonhams sale of Books, Maps and Historical Photographs in Oxford on November 30 next. The album is inscribed: "Emma Townsend, from her affectionate Sister Bessie on the return from Ireland, March 27th, 1879" and is estimated at £200 - 400. UPDATE: IT MADE £660.

    Other lots of Irish interest include the Dublin Edition of Clarendon’s History of the Civil Wars in England from the library of the 5th Earl of Drogheda (£300-500): a set of over 80 photographs of personalities of the Kildare Hunt from 1890, (£300-500): 80 books and manuscripts belonging to the Earls of Donoughmore contain a scare eighteenth century devotional work in Irish, ‘An Teagasg Criosdiadhe,’ by Bonaventure O’Hussey, (£900-1,200).
    This influential Tridentine catechism was written in Antwerp in the early years of the 17th century to increase awareness of  international developments in catholic practice in Gaelic Ireland.
    The collection also features a group of rare librettos for eighteenth century comic operas performed at the Theatre Royal, Smock Alley, Dublin (£1,000-1,500). They include Galluppi’s ‘The Guardian Trick’d’ and the 1762 work, ‘The Fair of Malmantile,’ by Goldoni.
    UPDATE: THE F.H. Mares album made £660, the Kildare Hunt photographs sold for £864, An Teagasg Criosdiadhe made £2,880 and the Theatre Royal librettos failed to sell.

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    DIAMOND AUCTION RECORD SMASHED

    November 17th, 2010

    This rare pink diamond sold for 33.7 million euro at Sotheby's in Geneva. (click on image to enlarge)

    A rare pink diamond broke auction records when it made 33.7 million euro at Sotheby’s in Geneva on November 16.  The buyer was London diamond dealer Laurence Graff.

    Sotheby’s had said in advance that the market for coloured diamonds is extremely strong.  They are the most sought after gemstones in the world’s auction rooms today.

    This one is an exceptionally rare 24.78 carat fancy intense pink diamond of the purest hue.  It had been purchased directly from Mr. Harry Winston 60 years ago and has not been on the open market since.

    Sotheby’s had estimated the stone at $27-38 million Swiss Francs or about 20-25 million euro.  Demand for rare gems as wealth that is portable has pushed up prices.

    See post on antiquesandartireland.com for October 4



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    George Stubbs’s portrait of Viscount Gormanston’s White Dog

    November 12th, 2010

    George Stubbs’s portrait of Viscount Gormanston’s White Dog

    George Stubbs Portrait of a white dog, the property of Lord Gormanston and later owned by Lord Beaverbrook. (click to enlarge) UPDATE: IT MADE £361,250

    is a feature lot at Sotheby’s Old Master & British Paintings sale in London on December 8.  The painting was commissioned in 1781 by the 11th Viscount Gormanston of Gormanston Castle, County Meath, one of only two Irish patrons of the artist. Gormanston Castle was the seat of the Preston family – bearers of one of the oldest titles in both Britain and Ireland– until around 1950.

    Stubbs remains arguably the world’s greatest animal portrait painter. His paintings of dogs in particular demonstrate his exceptional ability to portray an owner’s treasured animals, and such portraits rarely appear on the open market. The painting, which was purchased by the 1st Lord Beaverbrook in 1951, is estimated at £300,000-£400,000.
    Sotheby’s will offer important old master paintings, modern British art and other works from the collection of 20th-century press baron and business tycoon Lord Beaverbrook in a series of auctions in both London and New York through January 2011.
    UPDATE:  The Stubbs’ portrait of Viscount Gormanston’s White Dog made a hammer price with buyer’s premium of £361,250. There was a new world record for Stubbs at this sale when his Brood Mares and Foal sold for £10,121,250. This was more than three times the previous record for a Stubbs. The Old Master and British Paintings sale brought in £23,577,600.

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    JADE EMPEROR’S SEAL MAKES £2,708,000 at BONHAMS

    November 12th, 2010

    Emperor Qianlong’s (1711-1799)  seal made £2,708,000 at Bonhams in London on November 11.  It was sold to a Chinese buyer from Beijing after competitive bidding from three people in the room. The perfect four centimetre square jade seal bearing the inscription `Zi Qiang Bu Xi’, (‘Self-Strengthening Never Ceases’) is closely linked to the Emperor’s 80th birthday celebration which coincided with the 55th year of his reign.

    Meantime a bidding war by Asian buyers resulted in a Qianlong vase (on right) making a record £51.6 million pounds at west London auction rooms Bainbridges on November 11.  It was discovered in an attic during a routine house clearance in the London suburb of Pinner.  The vase was estimated at £800,000-£1.2 million.

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    Fabergé Work Box Leads Christie’s Russian Sale

    November 11th, 2010

    A Fabergé work box is the highlight of the Christie’s Russian works of art sale on November 29, 2010.  The jewelled enamelled Imperial presentation snuff-box with the workmaster’s mark of Henrik Wigström was presented to the Turkish diplomat, Turkhan Pasha in December 1913 on behalf of Emperor Nicholas II.

    This was probably to commemorate the end of his five year ambassadorship in St. Petersburg. In 1919 the snuff-box changed hands for the last time, when it was acquired by the family of the present owner. It is estimated at £400,000-600,000.

    Almost 500 lots of Russian Art, including fine paintings, works of art and unique pieces of neo-Russian furniture  will be included.

    UPDATE:  IT sold for £937,250 in a sale that realised £14.9 million.

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