SHERATON REVIVAL SIDE CABINET. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
This attractive Sheraton Revival inlaid satinwood side cabinet is lot 404 at Adams online only At Home sale on June 11. The rectangular breakfront form has a central panelled door inset with a circular painted plaque decorated with a mother and child. It is flanked by a pair of astragal glazed panel doors and turned independent columns and turned legs. The estimate is €2,000-3,000. More than 500 lots will come under the hammer. Viewing is at St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin from June 7 – 10 and the catalogue is online.
Pictured here is one of a rare pair of mid 18th century carved limestone Medici lions which made a hammer price of €42,000 at Adams house to garden sale in Dublin today. The Medici Lion, with its striding pose and paw resting upon a sphere, became a widely adopted sculptural type in eighteenth-century Britain and Ireland, particularly within the context of the Palladian revival. The model derives from a Roman marble of the second century AD and a pendant carved in 1598 by the Roman sculptor Flaminio Vacca (1538–1605), commissioned for the Villa Medici in Rome by Ferdinando I de’ Medici (1549–1609), Grand Duke of Tuscany. By the mid-18th century, British and Irish sculptors and masons were producing carved stone interpretations for architectural and landscape settings, particularly as gate or terrace ornaments. The pair had been estimated at €50,000-€70,000. A monumental neo classical white marble fountain made €18,000, a carved Dublin William IV doorcase made €11,000, a 19th century Scottish terracotta balustrade by Garnkirk made €11,000, a cast lead figure of Orpheus made €9,000, a pair of composite stone figures of seated hounds made €8,500, a large statuary and Sienna marble chimneypiece, an 18th century marble bust of Domitian Caesar and a reconstructed Portland Stone neoclassical doorcase all made €8,000.
LARGE IONIC COLUMN PORTICO. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
One of the more unusual lots of architectural salvage at the James Adam House to Garden sale on May 20 is this ionic column portico from Mote Park House in Co. Roscommon. The disassembled unit comprises four columns and capitals, a dentil frieze and some steps. The pillars were a major part of the refurbishment designed by architect Sir Richard Morrison (1767-1849) in the mid-19th Century for the Crofton family. The Croftons have been in residence around the Mote region of Roscommon since at least 1579 when John Crofton was appointed Auditor General of Ireland by Queen Elizabeth I. When the family eventually dispersed in the 1950’s the house fell into disrepair and it was demolished by the Irish Land Commission in 1959. The portico was salvaged by Fr. Brian Hanley prior to the demolition and placed on display at his own home Kedagh House, Galway, where it then entered the public sphere after his passing in 2012. It is estimated at €50,000-€70,000.
This retro tank design Kashmir sapphire and diamond ring from the 1940’s sold for a hammer price of €550,000 at the James Adam Jewellery sale in Dublin today. It had been estimated at €150,000-250,000. The ring is centred on a cushion-shaped sapphire weighing 6.22cts, between old brilliant and tapered baguette-cut diamond shoulders and baguette-cut diamond borders, mounted in 18 carat gold. The diamonds are approximately 2.00 carats in total.
In 1880 a landslide in the Himalayas revealed an unusual type of rock previously buried under layers of soil from which blue stones protruded. Mining began in 1882 and by 1887, despite the intensely hot summers, the mine had been exhausted. With the assistance of British geologists a new mine was found in the valley below but this too was quickly depleted. No other deposits have since been found. Kashmir sapphires command a high price because they contain a top-quality specimen. You may come across other blue sapphires, Burmese or Ceylonese, but only those from Kashmir possess a distinctive tint. Experts call it blue velvet.
See post on antiquesandartireland.com for May 3, 2025
Kashmir sapphire and diamond tank ring. UPDATE: THIS MADE 550,000 AT HAMMER
A retro tank design sapphire and diamond ring will lead Adams sale of fine jewellery and ladies watches in Dublin on May 13. Sapphires from Kashmir have a distinctive tint known to experts at blue velvet which makes them particularly valuable. The cushion shaped sapphire in this ring weighs 6.22 carats and the lot is estimated at €150,000-€250,000. A total of 307 lots are on offer but there will be no internet bidding allowed on this one.
IRISH GEORGE III CARVED GILTWOOD WALL MIRROR. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
This Irish George III carved giltwood wall mirror is at The Library Sale at Adams in Dublin on April 29. Fitted with plain glass and complete with a depiction of a castle within a scroll cartouche flanked by opposing ho-ho birds it is estimated at €10,000-€15,000. The auction will be on view in Dublin from April 25 and the catalogue is online.
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
The Trinity by Sean Keating. UPDATE: THIS MADE €13,000 AT HAMMER
There is no shortage of spectacular vernacular at the next James Adam timed online auction which draws to a close from 11 am on April 16. The title of the auction – Irish Vernacular – might suggest ordinary common or garden lots but nothing could be further from the truth.
The sale is a celebration of very fine Irish skill and creativity down through the centuries. The artist Sean Keating gives us a different take on a well worn subject. In The Trinity – at €10,000-€15,000 the most expensively estimated lot – the traditional figures have been substituted with three ordinary people from the west of Ireland. The arched canvas is reminiscent of traditional altar pieces but the figure in the centre, the position most often associated with Christ, is a woman in a tartan shawl standing in front of a donkey and cart.
18th century Irish limestone chimneypiece from Tipperary. UPDATE: THIS MADE 2,600 AT HAMMER
Among other leading lots are a c1750 Irish silver dish ring made in Dublin but lacking a maker’s mark, an 18th century Irish limestone chimney piece from Tipperary with its original carved sandstone inset, a Roscommon grey limestone chimney piece with moulded top, a c1940 Celtic Revival silver tray, an 18th carat gold antique Claddagh ring, a 19th century painted pine settle bench and an Irish naturalistic log bucket.
Two large Carrigaline Pottery jugs UPDATE: THESE WERE UNSOLD
Irish Vernacular covers as multitude, from a cased diorama of a three masted schooner in full sail on choppy seas, a painted timber model of a currach and another of a Galway Hooker to three Irish limestone specimens on stands, a cast iron weather vane with a silhouette of a hunter and his hound in pursuit of a rabbit, a milking stool, a carved duck decoy, wrought iron gates and a Tara brooch.
The auction offers opportunities to pick up something for a song that with just a little imagination could be turned into a conversation piece or converted to a more modern decorative use. An Irish Victorian green painted footbath, stamped Maguire & Catchell, Dublin, is estimated at €100-€200, a limestone duck trough at €300-€400, a timber butter paddle and mould at €50-€100 and a black painted cast iron pot at €80-€120.
There is a selection of pine and painted pine cupboards, an oak linen press, an Irish oak cradle, an oak wall cabinet, wash stands, kitchen tables and desks. chairs, stools, boxes and wall hangers. An Irish lustre ware ceramic bowl, pottery jugs from Arklow and Carrigaline, mugs and hot water jugs will stimulate collectors with an eye to nostalgia.
A small selection of bygone advertising material includes an Admiral brand famous rum sign by John Daly and Co., Cork, a Perry’s Ale mirror and a Jacob’s Cream Crackers sign. There is art by Markey Robinson, Maurice MacGonigal, Rowland Hill, Erskine Nicol among a total of 260 lots.
An Admiral brand advertising sign by John Daly and Co. Cork. UPDATE: THIS MADE 110 AT HAMMER
A PAINTED TIMBER MODEL OF A GALWAY HOOKER. UPDATE: THIS MADE 1,300 AT HAMMER
This painted timber model of a Galway hooker is at Adams timed online Irish Vernacular sale on April 16. A total of 260 lots will come under the hammer, including Irish silver, oak and pine furniture, lustre ware, wrought iron gates and duck decoys. The catalogue is online and the auction will be on view from April 12.
Ghost Ship by Dorothy Cross. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
There is a sense in which a highly original fin-de-siecle work by the Cork artist Dorothy Cross bookends the radical creativity that characterised the 20th century. A luminescent pigment print of a ghost ship by the artist at Adams Mid Century Modern timed online auctions which runs until April 8 will jog many memories.
In 1999 IMMA ran an open submission for an artwork to be located non-permanently in the Dublin area. Cross borrowed the decommissioned lightship which used to mark Daunt Rock off Cork Harbour, painted it in phosphorous paint and moored in Dublin Bay where it glowed and faded eerily each night for months. The print edition at Adams, number 22 out of 75, is estimated at €3,000-5,000.
Art by Fernand Leger, Felim Egan, Suzanne Valadon, Guggi, Stephen McKenna, A.R. Penck and Sean Scully with furniture by Eileen Gray, Charles and Ray Eames, Johannes Anderson and Edmondo Palutari can be found among the leading lots at the auction.
A pair of non conformist chairs by Eileen Gray UPDATE: THESE WERE UNSOLD
