The complete bar from Kiely’s of Mount Merrion at Aidan Foley’s sale. UPDATE: THIS MADE 2,600 AT HAMMER
The complete bar from Kiely’s of Mount Merrion or a De Sede white modular sofa first launched in 1972 – the choice is yours at upcoming auctions by Aidan Foley and James Adam this month.
The sofa would have been very much out of place in a traditional setting like Kiely’s but would make itself very much at home in any large luxurious contemporary space. Designed by Eleanoa Peduzzi-Riva, Ueli Berger, Klaus Vogt and Heinz Ulrich it is complete with 22 sections with which multiple compositions can be created. At their Mid Century Modern sale in Dublin on May 21 Adams estimate it at €10,000-€15,000.
The bar at Kiely’s is a real deal throwback, laden with memory. It is a highlight at Aidan Foley’s online auction in conjunction with Niall Mullen at Oldcastle on May 21 and 22. All sorts of pub memorabilia will come under the hammer and the catalogue is online. The estimate on the complete bar is a mere €1,000-€2,000.
DS-600 modular sofa in white leather at James Adam. UPDATE: THIS MADE 14,000 AT HAMMER
Étretat, 1939 by Tristram Hillier (1905-1983). UPDATE: THIS MADE 75,000 AT HAMMER
Quality and diversity are the hallmarks of the Library Collection sale at James Adam in Dublin on May 1. With everything from an historic American collection, fine paintings, and lots collected during a Grand Tour to silver, bookcases, desks and collectibles this auction of 347 lots will richly reward a long curious look.
The collection of 80 lots of furniture, clocks, porcelain, glass and decorative effects from ‘Dawesfield’, a c1728 Pennsylvania farmhouse built by Abraham Dawes, is fascinating. The farmhouse served as George Washington’s headquarters during the battle of Germantown in 1777 and is on the National Register of Historic Places. The connections between émigré Irish cabinet makers working in Philadelphia, such as Joseph Barry and Henry Connelly, is particularly apparent in a Federal mahogany sofa (€3,000-€5,000) with typically Irish rope twist legs. A Chippendale corner cabinet (€2,000-€3,000), a Federal dining table (€700-€1,000), a set of eight dining chairs (€1,500-€2,000) and a c1775 four poster bed (€3,000-€5,000) are all from this collection. A c1775 oak schrank or South German style wardrobe might have been used by Washington during his stay and is estimated at €6,000-€10,000. By descent through the female line these pieces have been in Ireland for three decades and have never been on the market before.
Carved Siena marble architectural models of the Temple of Castor and Pollux and the Temple of Vespasian. UPDATE: THESE MADE 10,000 AT HAMMER
Siena marble carved models of the Roman ruins of the Temple of Castor and Pollux and the Temple of Vespasian are typical of the prized objects collected during a Grand Tour. The architectural models date to the 19th century and are estimated at €10,000-€15,000.
The most expensively estimated lot is a 1939 Surrealist oil on canvas by Tristram Hillier of Étretat in Normandy (€40,000-€60,000). An 18th century capriccio landscape of Dunmoe Castle, Co. Meath by Robert Carver is estimated at €30,000-€50,000 and an 18th century view of the Grand Canal in Venice from the School of Canaletto is estimated at €10,000-€15,000. There is a similar estimate on a pair of George II candleabrae and on the most expensively estimated furniture lot, a Louis XV satinwood, kingwood, tulipwood, parquetry and ormolu mounted writing table by Claude-Charles Saunier (1735-1807).
A set of 23 c1700 etchings of the Invalides in Paris last came to auction in 1925 at the Carton House sale. Estimated at €1,000-€1,500 they are from the library at Carton, for 700 years home to the Dukes of Leinster and Earls of Kildare. The estate was lost to the Fitzgeralds when the third son of the sixth duke sold his birthright to Lord Brockett to pay off immense gambling debts. Viewing gets underway this afternoon and the catalogue is online.
A Louis XV writing table by Claude-Charles Saunier at Adams. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
A Federal mahogany sofa with typically Irish rope twist legs. UPDATE: THIS MADE 2,600 AT HAMMER
The Irish furniture connections between émigré cabinet makers working in Philadelphia, such as Joseph Barry and Henry Connelly, is particularly apparent in this Federal mahogany sofa which comes up as lot 100 at the James Adam Library Collection sale in Dublin on May 1. It is estimated at €3,000-€5,000. Amongst the highlights of the sale is the collection of over 80 lots of furniture, clocks, porcelain, glass and decorative effects from ‘Dawesfield’, an iconic Pennsylvania farmhouse built by Abraham Dawes c1728. The property is on the US National Register of Historic Places because the house served as General George Washington’s headquarters after the Battle of Germantown from October 20 to November 2, 1777 during the revolutionary wars. This collection, never previously on the market, has come down by descent through the generations of the female line, and has been in Ireland for the last three decades or so.
It includes a Chippendale corner cabinet, lot 106 (€2,000/3,000), a Federal dining table, lot 126 (€700/1,000), a set of eight dining chairs,lot 125 (€1,500/2,500) and a Chippendale four poster bed c1775, lot 130 (€3,000/5,000). An unusual oak Schrank (a wardrobe of traditional southern German design), lot 129 (€6,000/10,000) is likely to have been used by George Washington during his stay in Dawesfield in 1777. Also from Dawesfield is a collection of books from the library of Dr Thomas James who was married to Hannah Morris, a descendant of Abraham Dawes.
A Federal dining table from Dawesfield. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
A 19th century painted pine settle bed. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
There is scope for a unique and special Irish look at the Vernacular auction James Adam on April 16 at 11 am. On offer is a selection of settle beds, pine dressers, kitchen and farmhouse tables, cauldrons, deer antlers, dowry chests, rush lights, a folk model diorama of a three masted barque, hedge and sugan chairs, food cupboards, meal bins, chests and turf buckets, all more than reminiscent of the way we lived in Ireland long ago.
The term vernacular covers a multitude and this auction of 254 lots offers an interesting and collectible selection of art with work by, among others, James Dixon, Frank McKelvey, Markey Robinson, Ellen Connolly, Maurice Wilks and Charles Henry Cook. A c1800 Kilkenny black marble fireplace (€5,000-€8,000), silver dish or potatoe rings, Celtic Revival silver bowls and even a replica of the Ardagh Chalice enhance the Irish feel of this specialist sale. Among a selection of settle beds is a 19th century painted pine version with a moulded top (€800-€1,200) and a 19th century settle used as a prop in the film The Banshees of Inisherin.
A FINE IRISH SILVER REPLICA OF THE ARDAGH CHALICE. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
This Irish silver replica of the Ardagh Chalice comes up as lot 40 at the Irish Vernacular sale by James Adam in Dublin on April 16. Viewing for the auction gets underway today. The replica – of traditional design with applied Celtic decoration – was made in Dublin around 1915 by Sharman D Neill and is estimated at €6,000-€8,000. The Ardagh Chalice dates to the 8th century and is one of the greatest treasures of the early Irish church. In the collection of the National Museum it is part of a hoard found in the 19th century by a young man digging for potatoes near Ardagh, Co. Limerick. The catalogue for the sale is online.
Adams will offer 254 lots headed by an oil painting of the Cutty Sark by the Tory Island artist James Dixon in their Irish Vernacular auction on April 16. There is art including an oil on card of an Irish Farmer by the Bandon artist Charles Henry Cook, silver, country furniture including a settle bed, a set of Irish deer antlers, some Carrigaline pottery and many other items of interest to collectors. Viewing gets underway in Dublin on April 12 and the catalogue is online. UPDATE: THIS MADE 36,000 AT HAMMER
Patrick Collins HRHA, (1911-1994) – Spring Morning (1957). UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
The atmospheric quality is evident in this semi abstract work by Patrick Collins, a key figure in Irish Post War art whose work is acclaimed in this country. Spring Morning from 1957 comes up as lot 30 at the James Adam sale of Important Irish Art which takes place on March 27 at 6 pm. Estimated at 30,000-50,000 it was once in the collection of Sir Basil Goulding. Viewing is now underway at Adams, and continues every day until 4 pm on March 27.
The Rebuilding of Monte Cassino (1951) by Patrick Hennessy at Adams. UPDATE: THIS MADE 9,000 AT HAMMER
In Dublin viewings get underway on March 22 for upcoming sales of important Irish art at both James Adam and de Veres. The sale at James Adam on March 27 features some of Ireland’s best loved artists with estimates of from €500 to over €60,000 for The Bog by Paul Henry (€60,000-€80,000).A number of paintings by Patrick Hennessy and Harry Roberston Craig from the collection of Pamela and George Fegan, a Dublin couple who were friends of both artists and bought directly from them, will feature. The catalogue cover lot is a 1951 painting by Patrick Hennessy, The Rebuilding of Monte Cassino, located about 130 kilometres south east of Rome and site of a major Second World War battle in 1944. This work, which has not been on the market before, is estimated at €10,000-€15,000.
Eliza Doolittle in Dublin by Sean Keating (€50,000-€70,000) is the most expensively estimated lot at de Veres sale on March 26. Based on Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw the 1965 work depicts a daffodil seller against a background of Georgian buildings and thunderous clouds. Sean Keating, along with many others, was vociferous in his condemnation of the destruction of Georgian Dublin which got underway in the 1950’s. Among the other highlights at de Veres are John B Vallely’s Heading for the Final Sprint with a pack of cyclists in full flight and Letitia Hamilton’s Wind Blown Tree, Killary. There is a collection of works on paper by Mainie Jellett. All catalogues are online now.
Eliza Doolittle in Dublin by Sean Keating at de Veres. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
A Famille Verte “Lady with Children” Kangxi charger. UPDATE: THIS MADE 18,000 AT HAMMER
A c1920 synthetic sapphire and diamond bracelet with an estimate of €7,000-€8,000 is the most expensively estimated lot at The Jewellery Box sale at James Adam on March 11. A Famille Verte Lady with Children charger (€8,000-€10,000) takes that honour at a sale entitled The Awakening Dragon on March 12. It all adds up to a busy week for the Dublin firm, which will follow up on March 13 with an online picture sale to include a number of works to be sold without reserve. The most highly estimated art lots are Figures with Two Cottages by Markey Robinson and a bronze of Three Galloping Horses by Siobhan Bulfin, each estimated at €3,000-€5,000.
Along with a great selection of highly desirable lots in categories from antique furniture, art and collectibles the At Home sale at James Adam in Dublin on February 27 comes with a message of sustainability. The venerable auctioneering firm is setting out in 2024 to highlight how the purchase of antique furniture and furnishings at auction contributes to sustainability. Each year in Ireland the Environmental Protection Agency calculates that 1.2 million re-usable bulky items, mostly furniture, are consigned to landfill. Not unlike fast fashion the constant production and consumption of new items contributes to a rapidly growing waste problem.
In an attempt to counter this trend Adams is encouraging those of us who love antique furniture to spread the message that sustainability starts at home and help new buyers appreciate the benefits of acquiring affordable, well made quality items that are built to last. A selection of stylish and affordable furniture is on the catalogue for this auction. A c1790 George III demi lune commode veneered in flame mahogany is estimated at €1,000-€1,500. Walnut was the most prized wood for furniture making from the end of the 17th century to the middle of the 18th century. The attractive grain and colour of the wood is well demonstrated in lot 327, a Georgian walnut side table with distinctive cabriole legs, hinged top and compartmented interior. This piece is estimated at €1,000-€1,500.
19th century oak Welsh dresser. UPDATE: THIS MADE 1,300 AT HAMMER
The catalogue cover lot is a riverbank scene at Veneux les Sablons by the French artist Pierre Eugene Montezin (1874-1946) who once remarked to the critic Louis Vauxcelles that: “The subjects of the landscape painter are less in front of the artist’s eyes than in his heart”. In 1932 Montezin received the Medal of Honour at the Salon des Artistes Francais and he was an office of the Legion d’Honneur. The painting is estimated at €5,000-€7,000. The proceeds from the sale of another painting, a 19th century Breton market scene, will be donated to the Irish Cancer Society. The artist is unknown and the work is estimated at €1,000-€1,500. The auction kicks off with a selection of garden statuary, campagna urns, plant holders, patio furniture and a circular millstone mounted on a granite base as a table. There is a selection of lighting, rugs, chairs and and collectibles.
A millstone mounted on a granite base as a table UPDATE: THIS MADE 3,200 AT HAMMER
