1903 All Ireland Football Championship medal at Fonsie Mealy. UPDATE: THIS MADE €8,000 at hammer
The Kingdom’s first All Ireland football championship in 1903, objects that might grace a great library or Modernist design spearheaded by Mies van der Rohe are among the array of fabulous choices at auction right now.
The market is positively heaving with the sort of lot that will set the pulses of serious collectors racing.
Among the highlights at Fonsie Mealy’s two day rare book and collectors sale in Castlecomer starting on April 30 is a 1903 All Ireland Football Championship medal. In the 17th staging of the competition Kerry, under the captaincy of Thady O’Gorman beat London, captained by Sam Maguire on a scoreline of 0-11 to 0-3 in front of a crowd of 10,000 at Jones Road. The historic nine carat gold inscribed and hallmarked Celtic Cross design medal in the auction is estimated at €5,000-€7,000. Kerry won back to back football championships and a 1904 winners medal is estimated at €3,500-€5,000. In 1904 the team was captained by Austin Stack.
Portrait of John Byron from the studio of Sir Joshua Reynolds at Adams. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
From a portrait of Captain Byron, grandfather of the poet, to a Carthaginian terracotta figure of the Tanith, mother goddess of fertility and the moon, the annual library collection sale at James Adam on April 29 is brimful of interest. The portrait of John Byron (1723-1786), also known as Foul Weather Buck, from the studio of Sir Joshua Reynolds is estimated at €20,000-€30,000. Once shipwrecked off Chile he was considered one of the finest sailors in England who circumnavigated the globe and claimed various Pacific islands for the crown. His numerous expeditions are commemorated in a line inscribed in the gilt frame from Byron’s Epistle to Augusta: Our grandsires fate of yore/He had no rest at sea.
A pair of brown leather button back armchairs at Adams. UPDATE: THESE MADE €2,800 at hammer
Desks, models of yachts and even a carved marble head of a philosopher once decorated many grand libraries and can be found here too. An important consideration in any library is a comfortable chair or two. This sale has the most seductive looking examples including a pair of brown leather button back armchairs and a pair of nicely worn Victorian armchairs designed for extreme comfort. Why anyone would ever construct a chair that is not comfortable is beyond me though sadly they exist in plenty.
The Barcelona day bed designed by Mies van der Rohe in 1930 is a comfortable classic to be found at de Veres Art and Design auction on April 29. In brown leather created from a single hide and labelled Knoll International it is estimated at €6,000-€8,000. Among the pioneers of modern architecture Mies was the last director of the Bauhaus before emigrating to the US after the rise of Nazism. In a furniture market flooded with replicas this auction offers unique items of quality in both art and design. The catalogues for these three sales are online.
Barcelona day bed by Mies van der Rohe at de Veres. UPDATE: THIS MADE 6,000 AT HAMMER
