Louis Le Brocquy HRHA (1916-2012) – Eden (1952). UPDATE: THIS MADE 28,000 AT HAMMER
Eden is the title of the 1952 tapestry by Louis le Brocquy from the sale of Important Irish Art at James Adam in Dublin this evening (September 27). Lot 12 is estimated at €25,000-€35,000. According to the catalogue note the artist was approached by Edinburgh Tapestry Weavers in 1948. They wanted him to design a tapestry. Interested in how colour could convey emotion and the pure colour of tapestry could convey this he complied. He created his own detailed, precisely colour-coded patterns, or linear templates, a pre-Renaissance technique learned from Jean Lurçat. Le Brocquy created several series of tapestries with Edinburgh and with Aubusson in France andthe Eden series spans both studios. The woman’s heel on the upper right refers to the divine pronouncement that the serpent, blamed by her for her fall from grace, will bruise her heel – though she will crush it.
In his catalogue note Aidan Dunne states: “The dazzling, twisting form of the snake suggests that the artist takes a more uplifting view of the possibilities presented by the tree of knowledge, and the dawning of human consciousness and imagination, than religious judgement might decree.” This tapestry is from an edition of nine by Atelier Tabard Frères & Soeurs.
Maurice MacGonigal PPRHA (1900 – 1979) – Autumn Fair Day, Clifden, Connemara (1972). UPDATE: THIS MADE 3,600 AT HAMMER
Anyone of a certain age would not have too much difficulty dating this oil on board by Maurice MacGonigal. The short skirts, the cars, the tarpaulin sheets are all aids to placing this charming painting redolent of its own time sometime in the late ’60’s and early ’70’s. It comes up as lot 29 at the James Adam sale of Important irish Art on the evening of September 27. Viewing gets underway at St. Stephen’s Green on September 22 and the catalogue is online.
This diamond ring is at Adams next Tuesday with an estimate of €10,000-€15,000. UPDATE: THIS MADE 15,000 AT HAMMER
The James Adam catalogue contains an eye watering selection of jewellery and watches from an Art Deco diamond bracelet designed by Austrian Imperial jewellers Kochert in 1929, later re-designed as a tiara by Bulgari in Rome in the 1950’s, to necklaces, bracelets, rings, dress rings, pendants, brooches and watches by makers from Rolex to Breitling. The fine jewellery and watches sale takes place on September 12 and is now on view in Dublin. The catalogue is online.
UPDATE: The top lot of the sale was an Art Deco diamond bracelet designed by Erwin Lang. It made €95,000 at hammer.
Two fine sleepers emerged from the James Adam At Home sale in Dublin yesterday. This pair of 19th century marquetry side tables, estimated at €1,500-€2,500, made a hammer price of €10,000. Attributed to Edwards and Roberts a trade label showed the tables had been with David Zork, Chicago and were once in the collection of Rear Admiral F R Harris, New York.
An English School watercolour tondo portrait of a young woman also made €10,000 at hammer. The c1900 work was estimated at just €300-€500.
ENGLISH SCHOOL c1900 – Portrait Study of a Young Woman
Still life with Flowers by Lily Williams (1874-1940) UPDATE: THIS MADE 1,200 AT HAMMER
f you seek to add beauty and interest to your surroundings the timed online At Home sale at James Adam in Dublin on September 4 is a good place to start. The appetising selection of large and small pieces across various price points ranges from conversation pieces like a French Art Deco figure of a young woman in a green dress to mirrors, desks, antique furniture, silver, lanterns and even a cast iron garden bench modelled with oak boughs. The catalogue cover lot is a Still Life with Flowers by Lily Williams ARHA (1874-1940) the artist and Republican who fell out with her Unionist family during the Easter Rising. Work by Williams, who designed the Cross of Cong postage stamp used in Ireland from 1922-1968, does not turn up very often at auction. The oil on board is estimated at €1,000-€1,500. Among other art lots are miniature portraits from an Irish collector and a painting of Sunset over a Churchyard by the English artist Daniel Sherrin. The highly collectible silver on offer includes a pair of serving spoons by the Cork maker John Toleken, an 18th century butter dish by Paul Storr and a fruit basket by the English silversmith Hester Bateman (1708-1794) renowned both for her flatware and ornamental work. The Arts and Crafts Movement features in the sale with lots including a secretaire with classic decorative motifs by George Montgomery Ellwood (1875-1955), large copper chargers, an oak dresser and an oak chest. There are examples of 19th century French furniture in Kingwood and marquetry including a marble topped credenza and a secretaire in the Louis Quinze taste along with a good choice of useful domestic antique furniture pieces from curio tables to chairs, teapoys and a circular burr walnut tilt top table. There is a selection of overmantles and mirrors, as well as various types of lighting from chandeliers and a brass standard lamp to a hexagonal hall lantern and an unusual pair of brass and polychrome enamel column lamps. English, European and Oriental porcelain on offer includes dinner and tea services and there is a range of carpets, kilims and rugs.
George III rectangular kneehole desk. UPDATE: THIS MADE 800 AT HAMMER
REV. C.B GIBSON – History of the County and City of Cork published by Thomas Newby, London 1861. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
This 1861 History of the County and City of Cork is the most expensively estimated lot at the James Adam timed online only Books and Works on Paper sale which runs until August 1. The first volume begins with an account of the rivalry of the MacCarthy and O’Brien Gaelic clans, the 12th century Norman conquest and the creation of the Earldom of Desmond, centuries of Gaelic rebellion and the defeat of the Gaelic Irish at the Battle of Kinsale. The second volume covers the 17th century Civil War, the Cromwellian invasion, the Williamite Wars and the 1798 rebellion. The remainder of the second volume describes the government of the county Cork , its baronies and parishes, their histories, notable family dynasties and residences. The estimate is €1,000-2,000.
The catalogue is online. Viewing gets underway in Dublin today at Adams warehouse in Rathcoole for which the postcode is D24 DY77.
FELIM EGAN (1952 – 2020) – Untitled. UPDATE: THIS MADE 4,200 AT HAMMER
This oil on canvas by Felim Egan comes up as lot 5 at the James Adam online picture sale on June 28. Felim Egan is one of Ireland’s leading contemporary artists. He exhibited across Europe and was the subject of major shows at the Whitworth Art Gallery in Manchester, the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA) and the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. He represented Ireland at the Paris Biennale in France in 1981 and at the Sao Paulo Biennial in Brazil in 1985. The estimate for this piece is €3,000-€5,000. The catalogue for the auction is online.
A plate from the Wedgwood Frog service. UPDATE: THIS MADE 170 AT HAMMER
Limited edition Wedgwood plates with views commissioned by Catherine the Great are among the lots at the James Adam At Home sale in Dublin on June 14. Catherine, who reigned as Empress from 1762-1796 after overthrowing her husband, greatly extended the borders of Russia and annexed Crimea (old habits die hard). She corresponded with Voltaire for 15 years and the magnificent Hermitage Museum started out as her personal collection. The Frog dinner and dessert service with 50 settings and 944 pieces was commissioned from Wedgwood and completed in 1774. Most of it is now at The Hermitage. Nine modern limited edition Frog service plates by Wedgwood with six Coalport strawberry plates and six Limoges crescent vegetable dishes form lot 433 at Adams with an estimate of €100-€200.
They are among lots of interesting pieces at timed online sales at James Adam in Dublin and Sheppards in Durrow next week. Adams will hold back to back online sales with the At Home auction starting to close from 11 am on June 14 with a smaller sale of jewellery and watches closing from 11 am on June 15. Sheppards will offer the Chinese jade and snuff bottle collection of the late Dr. Jan Mohamed of Pouldrew House, Co. Waterford on June 15 from 10 am. The extensive collection from Pouldrew House at Kilmeaden was auctioned over four days early in May.
George I burr maple desk bookcase UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
More than 500 lots will come up at the At Home sale, which offers a large selection of silver including Irish Georgian pieces and a three piece tea service by renowned London maker Paul Storr. Among a number of dinner services are fine examples of Herend porcelain and a Limoges service by Dior based on buldings designed by Palladio.A George I burr maple desk bookcase (€7,000-€10,000) is the top lot in the sale. Other prime lots of antique furniture include an overmantle mirror (€3,000-€5,000) once in the collection of designer Sybil Connolly, a Georgian revival bottle tray (€600-€800), a walnut and marquetry inlaid table (€800-€1,200) and an early Georgian sideboard (€1,000-€1,500). Art includes The Slopes of Ben Venue by Alfred de Breanski junior (1,500-€2,000) and Dublin Bay with the ship Eclipse by Joseph Sempill (€1,200-€1,600). Antique, vintage and designer jewellery and watches come to auction at Adams on the following day. Highlights include a tutti frutti design gem set and diamond bracelet (€7,000-€8,000), diamond rings, watches, Victorian and early 20th century jewellery and some novelty brooches.
Chinese green jade scholars stand. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
Novelty in the form of Chinese jade can be found in abundance at Sheppards on Thursday. The late Dr. Mohamed was a distinguished collector, renowned for his passion for and knowledge about Chinese antiquities. This is a singular opportunity for collectors, connoisseurs and enthusiasts to acquire unique and exquisite pieces, a once off offering of a large collection of jade carvings, pendants, puzzle balls, amulets, necklaces, seals, plaques, masques and brush washers. Colour ranges celadon and spinach jade to white. Most of the 251 lots are estimated at between €50 and €80, with similar estimates on the snuff bottles.
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.
