A decorative 19th century walnut work/dressing table. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
A late 19th century walnut combination dressing table and work table is among the antique furniture highlights at Hegarty’s August live online auction which takes place on August 22. The cabinet, adorned with open fretwork with delicate scrolling and foliate detail, is estimated at €1,000-€1,500. A William IV specimen table is estimated at €2,500-€3,500 and a pair of William IV armchairs have an estimate of €900-€1,000. The sale offers more than 250 lots of art, furniture and collectibles from a private collection in Kinsale. There is an oil on board by Arthur Maderson titled Autumn Sunlight, a watercolour of Cork Docklands by Norma Healy and an oil on canvas by Martin Stone, Gorsefire. An Art Deco inspired Ceylon sapphire and diamond cluster ring is estimated at €6,500-€8,500.
Franz Bergman (1898-1963) Bronze painted pheasant. UPDATE: THIS LOT WAS UNSOLD
A pair of cold painted bronze pheasants by the Viennese Franz Bergman foundry come up at Hegarty’s live online sale in Bandon on August 22. The pair are impressed with the makers mark “B” and each one is numbered. The Bergman was noted for detailed and colourful work and the estimate on the pair is €800-€1,000. The sale of 290 lots includes art, antique furniture and collectibles from a private collection in Kinsale.
Vintage views of the Lakes of Killarney from well over a century ago. UPDATE: THIS MADE €50 AT HAMMER
There is much more to an album of old photographs than an album of old photographs. It is too easy nowadays to overlook the technical difficulties and arduous processes faced by picture pioneers. Our late 19th century photographers captured a long vanished utterly different Ireland – unspoilt by pollution, unworried about global warming and artificial intelligence – with great skill and determination.Photographers had to carry a great deal of heavy equipment with them into the field. The film they used retained its light sensitivity only when wet. A heavy glass plate needed to be coated, exposed and developed immediately in a single sequence. The idea of having a phone (what is that?) in your pocket to take photographs and videos at the drop of a hat was beyond what could then have been imagined. Those far off days are recalled in an interesting album of vintage photographs from c1865-1914 at Hegarty’s summer live online evening auction in Bandon on July 25. Estimated at just €80-€100 it contains vintage images of Irish and British buildings, castles, beauty spots and sights of interest. They were mostly taken by Robert French, chief photographer at William Lawrence Photographic Studios of Dublin, creators of the famous Lawrence Collection now held at the National Library of Ireland. In the late 1870’s William Lawrence sought out Robert French to photograph topographical work. French provided up to date views to Lawrence for 35 years which were sold in agencies throughout Ireland. In the period from 1880-1910 the firm dominated photography in Ireland.
A carved agate Fabergé frog UPDATE: THIS MADE 6,700 AT HAMMER OVER A TOP ESTIMATE OF 2,000
More than 300 lots of silver, furniture, art and jewellery will come under the hammer at Hegarty’s. Among the most expensively estimated are a gold lady’s Rolex wristwatch and a gem set carved agate frog attributed to Fabergé. Complete with gold mounted purple gem set eyes it is in a fitted Fabergé case with matching inventory number, Imperial stamp and marked Fabergé, St. Petersburg, Moscow, Odessa. These tiny figures – this one just five cm wide and 2 cm high – were born of Fabergé’s love for Japanese netsuke. He maintained a large collection of them.
Neatly sized antique furniture is usually a draw and this sale offers a 19th century Chippendale style kneehole desk/chest with serpentine top, canted corners, a brush slide and ample storage in tip top condition. There should be some interest too in an Irish mahogany sideboard which dates to the late 19th century.The silver section includes an 18th century Irish silver salver with the date mark for 1774 and a JL makers mark and an early 20th century Birmingham silver trinket box.
A vintage lake boat formerly owned by Hollywood actress Maureen O’Hara is among the lots at Hegarty’s online sale in Bandon on Wednesday April 12. Painted red and blue it was the private boat at her Glengarriff estate and is complete with a Mercury motor. It is estimated at €3,500-€4,500. Among the other lots are an Art Deco diamond ring, a fall front bureau, a pair of 19th century bronze ewers, mustard spoons by James Salter, Cork, 1823 and six George IV silver teaspoons by John Seymour, Cork c1820.
William IV chest of drawers. UPDATE: THIS MADE 500 AT HAMMER
This William IV bow fronted chest of drawers with patinated flame mahogany to the front comes up at Hegarty’s evening sale in Bandon on March 29. The estimate is €500-800. There is a selection of jewellery, furniture and silver on offer and the catalogue is online.
This oil on canvas by John Morris comes up at Hegarty’s online interiors auction on January 31. Measuring nine inches by twelve it is estimated at €500-600. This is an auction of 250 lots of jewellery, antique furniture, art and collectibles. The catalogue is online at easyliveauctions.
This mid century modern style console table comes up at Hegarty’s auction in Bandon, Co. Cork which continues until January 17. In excellent condition there is a polished chrome frame and shaped teak top. The estimate is 1,500-1,800. The online auction of 195 lots features a selection of antique furniture, art, jewellery, clocks and collectibles. UPDATE: THIS TABLE WAS UNSOLD
This vintage French tapestry measuring 40 inches across by 22 inches high comes up at Hegarty’s timed online auction of antiques and interiors which runs until January 5. The estimate for this outdoor Rococo scene is €80-€120. The auction offers more than 200 lots of furniture, art, silver, jewellery and collectibles.
An abstract artwork by Michael Hales at Aidan Foley’s sale UPDATE: THIS MADE 500 AT HAMMER
A small pencil sketch of a country fair by Jack B. Yeats is similar in size to one Aidan Foley sold recently for €2,000 at Sixmilebridge. It comes up among about 180 lots of art at Foley’s sale on August 14 including work by Mark O’Neill, Arthur Maderson, John Morris, Markey Robinson, John Kingerlee and the British born Co. Tipperary based Michael Hales. The appetite for art at auction in Ireland is undiminished and paintings will be to the fore at Foley’s sale at Kilcolgan, Co. Galway and at Hegarty’s in Bandon on August 17. Both sales are online.
Michael Hales, whose abstract art is gathering a growing band of admirers, has his studio at Emly and cites Bridget Riley, Gerhard Richter and Sean Scully as influences. His work can be seen as part of a group show at the Kenmare Windows exhibition until August 28 where exhibitors are displayed in the windows of local businesses and Kenmare Butter Market as well as the Carnegie Arts Centre. He has had various shows around Tipperary, at Cahir, Cashel and Tipperary Town and was recently at the Royal Ulster Academy’s 140th annual exhibition.
If art is hot the same cannot be said for much of the antique furniture that surfaces at sales like Aidan Foleys. The auctioneer is offering a mahogany four drawer chest tomorrow that would fit in any house or apartment. It will, he predicts, go for €100 or less. Demand for lots like Georgian drop leaf tables, a cross banded Victorian pembroke table, cheval mirrors and rosewood card tables, all of which feature in the sale tomorrow, remains weak even though antique furniture is the ultimate buy for those who want to go green and save the planet.
The Mill by Samuel Prout at Hegarty’s UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
Noted for the naturalness of his drawing and his play on light and shade the British watercolourist Samuel Prout (1783-1852) is credited with elevating the art of architectural drawing to new heights. Among his pupils was the critic John Ruskin who once remarked: “Sometimes I tire of Turner but never of Prout”. A definitive collection of over 60 works by Prout as well as by his son Samuel Gillespie Prout (1822-1911) and his nephew John Skinner Prout (1805-1876) will kick off the sale at Hegarty’s on Wednesday. One of the more expensively estimated works by Samuel Prout is The Mill, a watercolour which depicts a house and watermill overlooking a stream. It is estimated at €2,500-€4,500. There are many less expensively estimated works by the Prout family from €300 up. A Quayside Scene by Samuel Prout is estimated at €300-€600 and a watercolour of Ratisbon Cathedral (modern day Regensberg) by Samuel Gillespie Prout is estimated at €500-€700. The Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery holds a collection of work by Samuel Prout. Among other lots of note at Hegarty’s is a portrait of a young female by John Butler Yeats (1839-1922) from the Yeats family collection. It is thought to be of his daughter Lily who often sat for her father and is estimated at €1,000-€2,000. Poppies in Sunlight by Kenneth Webb is estimated at €3,000-€5,000. Kenneth Webb is to be the subject of an exhibition at Gladwell and Patterson, Beauchamp Place, London next month.
Pauline Bewick (1935-2022) – Sleeping Beauties at Morgan O’Driscoll (€800-€1,200). UPDATE: THIS MADE 3,200 AT HAMMER
The height of the holiday season has not deterred two west Cork based auctioneers from planning sales for Tuesday August 2. The evening art sale by Morgan O’Driscoll next Tuesday can be viewed in Skibbereen today, on Monday and on Tuesday. The selection is impressive and among the artists featured on the catalogue are Sean Scully, Louis le Brocquy, Felim Egan, Basil Blackshaw, Letitia Marion Hamilton, Colin Middleton, Mary Swanzy, William Crozier, Cecil Maguire and Pauline Bewick who died on Thursday at her home in Co. Kerry, with sculpture by Helen Walsh, Ray Delaney, Oisin Kelly and John Behan.
In Bandon Hegarty’s August fine interiors sale features a selection of over 200 lots of furniture, art, silver, jewellery and collectibles. An 18 carat Columbian emerald and diamond cluster ring is estimated at €11,000-€12,000. Among the other highlights is a pair of black cast iron benches (€1,000-€1,200), a mixed media on canvas by Philippe Aird (€800-€1,200), a stone bust on pillar of Mark Anthony (€400-€600) and a bronze bust of Diane of Poitiers (€300-€600). The catalogues for both sales are online.