Dublin Metropolitan Police reward poster for the Irish Crown Jewels. UPDATE: THIS MADE 1,600 AT HAMMER
This rare poster issued by the Dublin Metropolitan Police in the wake of the theft of the Irish Crown Jewels in 1907 comes up at Whyte’s Eclectic Collector timed online auction which runs until June 7. Issued by John Lowe, Superintendent with three illustrations of the jewels – all of them for the Order of Saint Patrick – the lot is estimated at 600-800.
The Jewels of the Order of St Patrick were the heavily jewelled badge and star created in 1831 for the Grand Master of the Order of St. Patrick established in 1783 by George III to be an Irish equivalent of the Order of the Garter in England. They were stolen along with the collars of five knights of the order. The theft was never solved and the items were never recovered. Viewing for the auction gets underway at Whyte’s today and the catalogue is online.
Poster for cancelled Nirvana concert in Dublin in April 1994. UPDATE: THIS MADE 1,900 AT HAMMER
An historic poster for a cancelled Nirvana concert at the RDS in Dublin on April 8, 1994, the day Kurt Cobain’s body was found in Seattle, the original manuscript from The Fianna of Fionn by Padraig Pearse, the magnificent sporting collection of Ed Hayes of Two Mile Borris, captain of the winning All-Ireland hurling team in 1900 and a letter to General Lauriston dictated and signed by Napoleon are highlights at Whyte’s. The timed online Eclectic Collector auction is open for bidding and runs until June 7.
The sale of 582 lots at Whytes includes historical artefacts, manuscripts, documents, photographs, books, militaria and medals, weapons and memorabilia.
The 1809 letter from Emperor Napoleon, Pádraig Pearse’s original handwritten manuscript of 23 pages, a 1966 Rising Jubilee 4 ounce gold medal, the British War medals to awarded to Captain G.T. Baggallay, assassinated by Michael Collins’ squad on Bloody Sunday, a 1921 grocer’s account for ‘The Irish Delegation to the Treaty Talks in London’ and the 1900-1910 Hurling, collection of Ed Hayes including All-Ireland, Tipperary and Munster Championships medals and two cups will attract many bidders.
The scarce Nirvana poster relates to a Dublin concert poignantly dated on the 1994 day Kurt Cobain’s body was found, three days after his suicide in Seattle. The artwork is based on the transparent anatomical mannikin with superimposed angel wings used on the cover of In Utero, the bands third and final studio album.
The oldest items are south Italian pot lids and a candle holder from c300 BC. There is a range of 17th century maps of Ireland and a Penal Cross from 1745, items from modern history including the Troubles and a Libyan munitions box seized on the MV Claudia in 1973.
The 1900-1910 medal and cup collection of Ed Hayes, Two Mile Borris including All Ireland, Tipperary and Munster Championships. UPDATE: THESE MADE 6,200 AT HAMMER
An excessively rare piece of Irish silver, the Commonwealth/Charles II two-handled porringer, comes up at Whyte’s Eclectic Collector sale in Dublin on July 25. Known as the ‘IS’ Porringer and with the maker’s mark unidentified it was made in Dublin around 1659/60. The piece is of plain form with scroll handles and engraved ‘IS’ within a wreath. It was sold for £3,000 (the equivalent of €61,000 in 2020) by How of Edinburgh at the 1967 Grosvenor House Antique Dealers’ Fair and is now estimated at 50,000-70,000.
The sale features a wealth of historically important material including The Wolfe Tone Archive, The Thomas Ashe Archive, 1798 and 1916 Proclamations, 1916 Rising medals, uniforms and weapons, collectibles from the Northern Ireland ‘Troubles’, including the archive of Loyalist leader William ‘Plum’ Smith and a unique collection of ephemera related to Count John McCormack. Part 1 of the sale on July 25 at Freemason’s Hall, Molesworth St. in Dublin will be followed on July 26 by a timed online only auction.
An extremely rare Commonwealth period Irish silver porringer. UPDATE: THIS MADE 40,000 AT HAMMER
An official copy of the final draft of the Good Friday Agreement was the top lot at Whyte’s Eclectic Collector sale in Dublin on April 6. It made a hammer price of 28,000. Printed at Stormont it contains autograph signatures of forty-four participants including Tony Blair, Bertie Ahern, Martin McGuinness, Gerry Adams, George Mitchell, David Ervine, Brid Rogers, Billy Hutchinson, Seamus Mallon et al. This rare example of this historic document with amendments annotated runs to 67 pages. It had been estimated at 5,000-7,000.
This highly successful sale grossed 480,000 with 87% of lots on offer sold. (See post on antiquesandartireland.com for April 1, 2019)
THE OFFICIAL COPY OF THE FINAL DRAFT OF THE AGREEMENT
