JACK BUTLER YEATS RHA (1871-1957) NEAR THE DOCKS (1945)
Near the Docks, a small oil on panel by Jack B. Yeats, made a hammer price of €110,000 at the James Adam sale of Important Irish Art in Dublin this evening. An oil on board by Gerard Dillon, Norah and Johnny Conneely restirng, made €95,000 on the hammer, Girl with a Ruff Collar by Dan O’Neill made €40,000, Morning by John Shinnors made €38,000, Portrait of Paddy Moloney by Edward McGuire made €35,000, Gantries on a Sunday, Belfast by Harry Kernoff made €28,000, Peace II by Rowan Gillespie made €28,000, Sleeper in Spare Room by Gerard Dillon made €24,000, Dargle, Moonlight and Ruin by James Arthur O’Connor made €22,000 and Valley Walk II by Donald Teskey made €17,000.
LARGE 19TH CENTURY MEISSEN PAINTED PORCELAIN FIGURE OF A STANDING HERON IN BULLRUSHES. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
This Meissen heron leads the James Adam sale in Dublin on May 24. Chaffinches, thrushes, sparrow hawks, partridges, starlings, bullfinches, magpies, eagles, pheasants, wrens et al abound in the afternoon sale, colourfully titled A Meissen Aviary. There are 93 lots in total. The exceptionally large heron here is estimated at €8,000-€10,000. Viewing for the auction continues today and the catalogue is online.
This diamond dress ring by Castlebar based master jeweller Nigel O’Reilly will come up as lot 177 at Adams fine jewellery and watches online sale on May 16. With a central rose cut diamond of 3.28 carats and a mount setting with pave diamonds it is estimated at €8,000-€12,000. O’Reilly’s work has been included at exhibitions in Los Angeles and at Bergdorf Goodman in New York. He is the first Irish high jewellery master to have work featured at Sotheby’s Important Jewels sale in New York and is included in Sotheby’s haute joaillerie collection. Viewing is underway in Dublin and the catalogue features a number of pieces selected and modelled by Sarah Greene. The Cork actress has just completed filming Sexy Beasts for Paramount Plus, plays in the upcoming Irish thriller In the Land of Saints and Sinners with Liam Neeson, Ciaran Hinds and Kerry Condon and in Terrence Malicks new film The Last Planet. UPDATE: THIS MADE 9,000 AT HAMMER
Alpha, a cast and fabricated unique bronze by renowned Irish sculptor Eilis O’Connell made a hammer price of €2,400 at the James Adam timed online Mid-Century Modern sale in Dublin today. It had been estimated at €1,200-1,600. The sculpture was used as the invitation image for the 2015 exhibition Eilis O’Connell: Khôra at Hillsboro Fine Art, Dublin, An armchair by Eileen Gray made €3,400, a set of four rosewood chairs by Nils Otto Muller made €2,600, a 2003 oil on canvas, Transverse by Mark Francis, made €13,000, Interior with Wine Jar by Stephen McKenna made €11,000 and a chaise longue by le Corbusier made €2,400.
GAETANO PESCE (B.1939) – ‘Up-5 Donna’ armchair with ‘Up-6 Donna’ ottoman. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
Originally designed in 1969 this arresting armchair and ottoman by Gaetano Pesce comes up as lot 37 at Adams Mid-Century Modern sale on May 9. It is estimated at 4,000-6,000. Viewing for this timed online auction gets underway in Dublin today and continues over the weekend. The catalogue is online.
Pair of Regency wingback armchairs. UPDATE: THESE MADE 4,800 AT HAMMER
Cicero wrote that if you have a garden and a library you have everything you need. Many readers will find the words penned by the Roman statesman and philosopher as apposite today as when they were first written more than 2000 years ago. The concept of a sale devoted to furniture and collectibles associated with the libraries of grand houses in Ireland is seductive. Some pleasing and unique treasures that lie hidden within will emerge at the James Adam library sale next Wednesday April 26. Even if in 2023 many of us choose to do so online we must recognise that in our contemporary world no substitute exists for the quiet, understated comfort and tranquil atmosphere of the library of old. Rooms like that cannot be realistically recreated in most modern homes but a quiet corner can be set up, a space for contemplation where ideas and actions can be formulated and advanced and the imagination can soar. There is quite literally no limit to the areas of interest that can be pursued in a library. A really good chair is essential. It is a mystery to me why anybody would manufacture, let alone buy, a chair that is uncomfortable to sit in or difficult to get out of. Adams has a fine example of a pair of Regency hide covered wingback armchairs. The estimate of €5,000-€7,000 is steep enough but they are pretty much guaranteed to be a comfortable and stylish investment. Other chairs like a Georgian style wingback armchair together with a Victorian lady’s armchair in olive green leather are, at €600-€800, more affordable. An oak library armchair attributed to Strahan in the 19th century Mannerist style has an estimate of €1,500-2,000 and there is plenty of other examples to choose from.
A portrait of Henry Boyle by Robert West. UPDATE: THIS MADE 9,500 AT HAMMER
The auction is strong in fine antique furniture and there is no shortage of stimulating pieces from silverware, books, porcelain, maps, paintings, prints, and collectibles like a small brass signal cannon or a brass binnacle with compass. There are wine coolers and cellarettes, canterburys and music stands, benches and metamorphic library steps, a hide covered chesterfield sofa and an early 19th century folio or map stand.A chalk on grisaille portrait of leading Irish politician of his day Henry Boyle (1682-1764) by Robert West (1710-1770) is estimated at €6,000-€10,000. The Knight of Glin and Professor Anne Crookshank posited that this is the only known work by West whose Drawing Academy led to the creation of the Dublin School. Boyle, whose estates were centred at Castlemartyr, Co. Cork, was Earl of Shannon and Speaker of the Irish House of Commons. A portrait of an unknown young lady by Garret Morphy (1655-1715), one of Ireland’s finest Georgian portraitists, is estimated at €8,000-€10,000.
A c1780 side table attributed to William Moore UPDATE: THIS MADE 8,000 AT HAMMER
A collection of 16th and 17th century seal spoons, used to seal letters and important documents and a map of Ireland by Abraham Ortelius was published in 1579 will interest collectors. A c1780 Irish inlaid side table, attributed to William Moore, is estimated at €10,000-€15,000. Mirrors, desks, oil lamps, Oriental rugs, Donegal carpets and a collection of African, Australasian, Pacific Islands, Inuit and other ceremonial masks and figures put together by Paddy McEntee S.C. all figure. The most expensively estimated piece out of a total of 444 lots is a set of Great Irish deer antlers and skull (€25,000-€35,000). Lot 172 is a death mask of Patrick Kavanagh by Seamus Murphy, signed and dated 1967. The poet and sculptor were contemporaries and first met in Cork in 1943. It is one of only three casts known to exist, with one at the Kavanagh Centre in Co. Monaghan, the other in the Dublin Writen’s Museum. The estimate is €3,000-€5,000
Irish blue limestone fire surround. UPDATE: THIS MADE 15,000 AT HAMMER
An Irish blue limestone fireplace with a frieze pediment, carved shamrocks and a Sile na Gig will lead the James Adam Irish vernacular sale in Dublin on April 12. This category is new to the Adams calendar and reflects the changing tastes and eclectic collecting habits of Irish auction goers. This is an auction with something for collectors seeking treasures from a broad range of sources from film buffs to architectural historians to Irish country life enthusiasts.
An early 19th century dresser from the set of The Banshees of Inisherin. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
There is a focus on traditional country made furniture, pottery, metalwork, treen and collectibles like an early 18th century Irish Penal Cross carved from yew wood (€5,000-€7,000). The sale will feature original furniture from the sets of the Oscar nominated film The Banshees of Inisherin, as well as paintings by Irish artists with traditional interiors and objects. Wonderful Irish craftsmanship is demonstrated in both glassware and silverware. An early 19th century painted pine dresser with a moulded cornice, three shelves and a fiddle front base is at €3,000-€4,000 the most expensively estimated piece from the film set. Among other lots from the film are a 19th century painted pine knife box, a wooden salt box, a settle bed and an early 19th century settle press, a compact painted pine cupboard, a pine rack, a set of merchant/library steps, a dowry chest, a low stool, a pair of naive landscapes, a marriage dresser, spongeware potato bowls, a kitchen seat and a cupboard. Many are painted in strong tones of blue, brown, red and green.
Irish Claddagh shawl. UPDATE: THIS MADE 2,000 AT HAMMER
Craft design is showcased by textiles like woollen blankets and tweed. A magnificent Claddagh shawl is featured as lot 90. In Derek Hill’s Still Life Study with Artist’s Materials on a Chair a painted pine Irish kitchen chair is depicted against a creamy background with artist’s brushes and paraphernalia on the seat. Hill is most associated with the Tory Island group of painters. Giant Muldoon at the West End Village, Tory Island by James Dixon is the catalogue cover lot for the auction. Other artists include Markey Robinson, Cecil Maguire, Maurice Wilks, Marjorie Henry and an evocative 1889 work by Tom Mitchell titled “The Eviction” in which a seated elderly man awaits the arrival of the bailiffs with a shotgun in his hand. There is a Tara brooch, Irish dish rings, triple neck ring glass decanters from the 17th and 18th century, a c1785 Irish silver sugar bowl by John Warner of Cork, a spinning wheel, milk crocks, Carrigaline Pottery, a bog oak carved brooch of Blarney Castle and advertising material like old enamel signs.
This rare early Irish penal cross carved in yew wood dates to 1716. During a period of economic, social, and religious oppression of catholics in Ireland, known as the Penal Laws, Catholics found solace in portable, tangible relics of worship. Among these devotional artifacts were the Penal Crosses, simple wooden crosses with a figure of Christ carved in high relief at the center, and symbols representing the Passion of Christ around the central figure. Today, Penal Crosses serve as important cultural and historical artifacts, reminding us of the hardships faced by Irish Catholics during the Penal Laws, and their devotion to their faith during a time of great persecution. This one comes up as lot 10 at the James Adam Irish Vernacular sale on April 12 with an estimate of €5,000-€7,000. Viewing gets underway at St. Stephen’s Green today.
Derek Hill HRHA (1916- 2000) – Still Life Study with Artist’s Materials on a Chair. UPDATE: THIS MADE 4,200 AT HAMMER
Still Life Study with Artist’s Materials on a Chair by Derek Hill comes up as lot 142 at the James Adam Irish Vernacular auction on April 12. The sale will be on view at Adams on April 7, 8 and 11 and the catalogue is online. This oil on canvas is estimated at €4,000-€6,000.
A 17th/18th century birthing chair at Sheppards. UPDATE: THIS MADE 4,800 AT HAMMER
The growing market for collectibles and memorabilia is reflected in an increasing number of sales by auctioneers across the board. A 17th/18th century Irish yew wood birthing stool will lead Sheppards Irish Vernacular Part II sale in Durrow on March 28. This rarity has an estimate of €5,000-€8,000. An 18th century Irish Penal Cross has a well carved figure with a skull and crossbones at the base and is estimated at €2,000-€3,000, as is an 18th century Irish mether, the sort of four handled Celtic friendship drinking vessel on which the design of the Liam McCarthy Cup is based. At Sheppards you can take your pick between an Irish jaunting side car or a classic Honda 50 cc motorcycle. Among the earlier examples of Irish life are an 18th century sycamore hedge chair, a cock fighting dugout stool and a dugout chair. All are conversation pieces.
There are flour bins, griddle pans, copper measures, a one legged milking stool, a metal bound milk churn, pine dressers and tables, bookshelves, plate racks and even an early Irish dugout food cupboard. More and more collectors are opting for objects like these, laden with memory and redolent of a vanished lifestyle or homeplace. Sheppards will offer 368 lots online from Durrow.
A home bar styled as a VW camper van front at Aidan Foley’s sale. UPDATE: THIS MADE 480 AT HAMMER
Further up the country, at Blacklion, Co. Cavan there is viewing today and tomorrow for a retirement sale at McNean antique and salvage which Aidan Foley will conduct online only on March 27 and 28 The catalogue, with 1,232 lots, is online and features lots of enamel signs, road signs, street signs, vintage car parts, pub signs, garden furniture and Victorian mahogany furniture. With everything from a home bar styled like the front of a VW camper van to a decorative dug out canoe to a larger than life unique sculptural carved teak figure of a bull this sale will be a draw. Part one of the auction at McNeans last year drew enormous interest from right around Ireland.
The top lot this time round is a 1970 Rover 3.5 litre V8 (€8,000-€10,000). There are enamel signs advertising Player’s Please and Will”s Capstan cigarettes, once ubiquitous in Ireland. A London Underground Boston Manor sign might do it for all the Irish who once lived in west London and managed to make it home, an antique cast iron clothes wringer might still function and save money for someone energetic and if you feel so inclined you could light up a dark corner with an Esso petrol pump globe. The selection on offer is memory jogging for all sorts of reasons and the market likes it.
In Dublin James Adam plan to hold their first Irish Vernacular sale on April 12. This is a new auction category for Adams and the sale will feature original furniture featured on the set of The Banshees of Inisherin.
