A large carved oak bookcase believed to have been made for the Cork Exhibition of 1902-03 is a centrepiece at Lynes and Lynes online sale in Carrigtwohill, Co. Cork on March 5. Contents from two house clearances which had been in storage and property from a religious order of nuns feature in this auction. The bookcase, which contained a note saying that it had been purchased by a Sr. Teresa, is estimated at €1,000-€1,500. Another piece almost certainly from the Cork Exhibition is a long oak coffer (€200-€400) with a carved front panel marked 1902.
Late Victorian and Edwardian Cork was eclipsed by the War of Independence and all the horrors it brought but the Great Exhibition of 1902, repeated in 1903, was the most comprehensive show the city ever mounted. Fitzgerald Park is among the legacies it brought to the people of Cork.The auction offers a wide variety of antique furniture, art and collectibles. A circular dining table with a diameter of 6’4″ is estimated at €3,000-€4,000 and there is an estimate of €300-€500 on a pair of reliquary stands believed to be from Mount Mellary. A late 19th century ships washbasin is estimated at €100-€200 and an American rug is expected to make €200-€300. A large 17th century painting of The Madonna and Child in a carved giltwood frame is estimated at €1,000-€2,000, a watercolour by Alexander Williams of Dromana on the River Blackwater is estimated at €100-€200 and a folding triptych with biblical scenes is estimated at just €60-€100. The catalogue is online.
