The Kings of the Swingers, a 12 piece Dresden monkey orchestra, will come up at
Mealy’s two day sale in Castlecomer next Tuesday and Wednesday. Lot 494, which will come up towards the end of day one, is an attractive set of monkeys, each playing a different instrument and including a conductor and vocalist. Just the thing to jazz up your home. The orchestra is estimated at 1,300-1,500.
The sale will include art, antiques and interiors from a number of period homes. There is a selection of lots relating to, and once the property of, Daniel O’Connell, the Liberator. Among these is a fine plaster bust of O’Connell after the eminent Cork sculptor John Hogan (2,000-3,000), a large portrait of him attributed to Joseph Crowley (1819-1857) (2,000-3,000), a large and heavily chased silver crested salver (5,000-7,000) and a large English porcelain jug together with a letter to Ms. McCarthy of 62 Dawson St., Dublin in which O”Connell refers to the purchase of the jug and another letter which refers to the jug which was presented to him while in prison. It is estimated at 2,000-3,000.
Nearly 1,000 lots will come under the hammer and the sale will be live on the internet. There is a George III style architectural fire surround and overmantle (2,400-2,600), some heavy cast iron garden benches and statuary, an Irish Georgian style reeded brass bound peat bucket, a Regency chaise longue, a long 19th century Irish pine kitchen table, a Cork silver soup ladle by Carden Terry and Jane Williams, a large Edwardian silver epergne, some jewellery and pistols a a c1920’s-30’s mechanical toy bank by Saalheimer and Strauss of Germany (1,500-2,000). The catalogue is online. Here is a small selection:
A monkey band UPDATE: THIS MADE 1,200 AT HAMMER
A portrait of Daniel O’Connell UPDATE: THIS MADE 2,200 AT HAMMER
A bust of Daniel O’Connell UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 3,000
A German made toy mechanical bank from the 1920’s-30’s UPDATE; THIS MADE 8,500 AT HAMMER
