DIAMOND SINGLE-STONE RING The central marquise-shaped diamond weighing 5.41 carats. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
This impressive D coloured diamond ring is lot 116 at the James Adam sale of Fine Jewellery and Watches in Dublin on December 7. The lot is accompanied by a report from the GIA laboratory in America stating that the diamond is internally flawless. With an estimate of €180,000-€220,000 it is the top lot of the sale. The sale of 177 lots features sapphires, rubies, emeralds and other gemstones set in necklaces, earrings, brooches, bangles, watches and pendants. Many different price ranges are catered for. The lot with the lowest estimate is a pair of enamel ‘ATTELAGE BERLINE’ pendant earrings by Hermes. They are estimated at €150-€200.
This intricately carved Hongmu side table with drawers made a hammer price of €140,000 over a top estimate of €6,000 at the James Adam Asian art sale in Dublin today. The late Qing Dynasty table was formerly the property of Ferdinand Viscount Lesseps (1805-1894), the French developer of The Suez Canal and renowned diplomat. A Blue de Hue Dragon, Qilin and Thanh Tho porcelain plate also made €140,000 at hammer. It had been estimated at €6,000-€8,000.
An important group of 17 paintings from the collection of Sir Michael Smurfit is at the core of Sotheby’s sales of Modern British and Irish Art and Irish Art online in London on November 23. Then 17 works carry a pre-sale estimate of €1.3 million – €2 million. Overall Sotheby’s estimate that more than 70 Irish works, from the 19th century to the present day and ranging from paintings to sculpture to ceramics, will make €3 million – €4.6 million. Sotheby’s has run a global campaign in support of these sales which feature Ireland’s most famous painters, Jack B. Yeats, Sir John Lavery, Sir William Orpen, Paul Henry, Louis le Brocquy and Gerard Dillon as well as contemporary artists like Jack Coulter. Most of these works have emerged from private collections and many are making their first appearance at auction. The most expensively estimated Irish painting in the auction is a 1936 oil on canvas by Yeats entitled A Nor’ Western Town (€412,000-€650,000). From a private collection in Ireland it was exhibited at a Yeats one man show in London in 1936 and at the National Gallery in 1942. Two Paul Henry’s, Connemara Landscape (€177,000-€236,000) and West of Ireland Landscape (€142,000-€212,000) are from a private US collection.A Welcome and South Pacific, both by Yeats and from the Smurfit collection, are estimated respectively at €177,000-€295,000 and €236,000-€354,000. Other highlights from Smurfit include Morning Tangier by Sir John Lavery and Image of W.B. Yeats by Louis le Brocquy. An oil on board by Gerard Dillon from a private collection in Northern Ireland is entitled Across from Inishlacken and estimated at €94,500-€142,000.The online sale features a 1949 Yeats entitled The Face of Victory (€83,000-€119,000) and The Newly Married Man by Sean Keaing from 1919 (€71,000-€95,000), both from a UK collection. The Artist’s Studio by Roderic O’Conor (€95,000-142,000) and Sir William Orpen’s Portrait of Grace (€59,000-€83,000). are both from the Smurfit collection. On the contemporary side there is a bronze by Rowan Gillespie entitled Are You There? (€47,300-€71,000) and Heaven is a Place on Earth by the Belfast artist Jack Coulter. Both of these works were made this year.
Rowan Gillespie – Are You There? at Sotheby’s. UPDATE: THIS MADE €107,100
Outstanding Irish art at de Veres will come under the hammer next Tuesday evening. This is a very good sale with top lots by Paul Henry estimated at €200,000-€300,000 and works by Roderic O’Conor and William Orpen each estimated at €150,000-€250,000. At Bonhams sale of Important British and Irish art at Bond St. in London on November 24 there are important works by William Scott, Paul Henry and John Luke. Bonhams Modern British and Irish art sale in Knightsbridge on Tuesday features a number of Irish artists as well.
On November 29 Whyte’s may yet steal the show this art selling season with a large scale late Yeats painting. Shouting, at €1.5 million – €2 million, is the most expensively estimated Irish artwork ever to come to auction. And James Adam will have a great sale on December 8.
This portrait of a young lady with a blue scarf is the catalogue cover lot for the James Adam sale of Fine Asian Art in Dublin next Tuesday (November 23). It is by Vu Cao Dam (1908-2000) who graduated from the fine arts school of Hanoi in 1931, in which year he participated in the Paris International Exhibition. He settled in France where he was mostly known for his sculpture. Influenced by Fauvism and the Paris School his creations lie on the edges of Asian traditions, particularly Chinese and Vietnamese art. This c1950 portrait is estimated at €30,000-€50,000. The sale of 440 lots is split into four sections, Arts of China and Himalaya, Arts of Vietnam and South-East Asia, Asian Painters and Arts of Japan and Korea.
JIM DINE – TWO RED BOOTS ON A BLACK GROUND UPDATE: THIS MADE 8,0O0 AT HAMMER
In Dublin there is viewing from 1 pm to 5 pm today and tomorrow, from 10 am to 5 pm on Monday and from 10 am to noon on Tuesday for the James Adam Mid-Century Modern sale which kicks off online at 2 pm on November 2. The centrepiece of this sale is Lilium II by Joseph Walsh. Too large for the auction room and too pricey for most of us it will be on view instead at the Throne Room in Dublin Castle. This marvellous intricate ash piece is estimated at €100,000-€150,000. The AdamsLive platform can be used for bidding at a sale which includes a good selection of mid 20th Century furniture by well known Italian and Danish makers, modern and contemporary paintings, lamps, mirrors, armchairs, desks and tables.
JOSEPH WALSH (B.1979) Lilium I, 2014. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
JOHN FERNELEY SNR (1782-1860) Mr Hugh Dick’s Favourite Mare and Pointer outside Humewood House, County Wicklow
This oil on canvas by John Ferneley Senior, the catalogue cover lot for the James Adam Country House Collections sale, made a hammer price of €95,000 on day two of the sale today. It had been estimated at €40,000-€60,000. The absence of a native school of equestrian painting has long surprised art historians, especially given Ireland’s close association with the turf. However, this lacuna is in part made up for by the fact that one of the finest of all English sporting painters, John Ferneley, enjoyed close links with Ireland. This work has an interesting provenance. It was commissioned by Hugh Dick Esq. MP, in July 1809 at a cost of 15 guineas; by bequest to his sister Charlotte Anna, who had married Captain William Hoare Hume of Humewood; with Leggat Brothers, London, from whom acquired by Mrs. Edward Shearson, (née Flora Josephine Shea) New York (her posthumous sale, New York, Parke-Bernet Galleries, November 6, 1955, lot 48); Jane Engelhard (1917-2004), New York philanthropist and owner of the great racehorse Nijinsky which was trained at Ballydoyle by Vincent O’Brien; by gift of Mrs Engelhard to a US private collector.
The gracious neo-classical mansion that is Townley Hall near Drogheda offers a fitting backdrop this weekend for viewing the annual James Adam country house collections sale. Irish Georgian furniture is a strong point of this auction along with classical Irish art, silver and collectibles like a 19th century cold painted model of a tiger by Bergman of Vienna. Fine English furniture including a pair of giltwood console tables in the manner of William Kent will also feature strongly in this sale.Ahead of a busy upcoming week of auctions there is viewing at Townley today and tomorrow. If you can’t make it to Townley Hall the catalogue is online. Adams sale is online from Dublin on Monday and Tuesday.
JOHN FERNELEY SNR (1782-1860) An Egyptian Pony, ‘Whisperer’ with Two Irish Terriers and a Goat by a Stream in an Irish Landscape at Adams. UPDATE: THIS MADE 38,000 AT HAMMER
The sale of Irish art and design at de Veres on October 20 – highlighted by an iconic egg chair by Arne Jacobsen from 1958 – caters to a different taste. No matter. The eclectic style now in vogue allows much mixing and matching in any interior. Classical pieces from different eras sit comfortably side by side in many stylish contemporary homes. At de Veres there are chairs by Jacobsen, Mies van der Rohe, le Corbusier and the Norwegian Sigurd Ressell and a gilt metal table identical to one at Chanel’s apartment at 31 Rue Cambon. There are some highly collectible art pieces headed by Donald Teskey’s Cork Landscape (€20,000-€30,000) with work by Louis le Brocquy, Sean McSweeney, Martin Gales and 30 works from the studio of Reginald Grey, a portrait artist who was best man at Brendan Behan’s wedding.
Cork landscape by Donald Teskey at de Veres. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 20,500 AT HAMMER
This 19th century French boulle desk comes up as lot 728 on day two of Adams Country House Collections sale on October 18 and 19. The auction is open for viewing at Townley Hall near Drogheda today, tomorrow and on Sunday. The online is at St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin. This is a showcase of some of the finest pieces of Irish Georgian furniture and important Irish Old Master paintings consigned from many fine old country houses, many of the lots never having been on the auction market before. UPDATE: THIS MADE 1,800 AT HAMMER
(See posts on antiquesandartireland.com for October 9 and October 5, 2021)
The wonderful surroundings of Townley Hall near Drogheda will be the viewing venue for Adams annual Country House Collections sale on October 18 and 19. Viewing will take place at the Francis Johnston designed neo-classical masterpiece on October 15, 16 and 17. The live and online auction with around 700 lots will take place at the St. Stephen’s Green saleroom on October 18 and 19. The sale will showcase fine Irish Georgian furniture and Irish Old Master artworks.
A PAIR OF 19TH CENTURY GEORGE III STYLE GILTWOOD CONSOLE TABLES, in the manner of William Kent. UPDATE: THESE MADE 18,000 AT HAMMER
Coloured Rain by Basil Blackshaw made a hammer price of 96,000 over a top estimate of 50,000 at the James Adam sale of Important Irish Art in Dublin on September 29. The highlight of the auction was Salute/Farewell to Rosses Point by Jack B Yeats which made 140,000 at hammer against an estimate of 120,000-160,000. Connemara Cottages by Paul Henry was withdrawn from the sale.
