Argor-Heraeus Switzerland Fine 999.9 100 Gram Gold Bar Encapsulated. UPDATE: THIS MADE 6,350 AT HAMMER
All that glisters or just gold? The choice is yours at Matthews annual two day holiday auction online on December 29 and 30. There will be viewing in Kells on December 28 and 29 for a sale that includes gold bars and sovereigns, Kruggerands and various coins and medals along with jewellery and silver and antiques and art. Prime lots include this 100 gram gold bar (€5,000-€8,000) and a pair of 1920’s old European cut diamond set earrings weighing 2.2 carats each (€12,000-€18,000). Gold hit new highs in 2024 and the forecast price for 2025 looks positive, though that could change.
Pair of 1920’s old European cut diamond set earrings. UPDATE: THESE MADE 12,000 AT HAMMER
A full sized Irish silver replica of the Ardagh Chalice is among the highlights at Matthews two day auction of jewellery and antiques in Kells on November 26 and 27. The Ardagh Chalice is one of the greatest treasures of the early Irish church and represents a high point in early medieval craftsmanship. It was found in Co. Limerick in the 19th century and is on display at the National Museum. This replica by Weir and Sons is hallmarked Dublin 1909 and the estimate is €5,000-€8,000. The Sam Maguire Cup is modelled on the Ardagh Chalice.
Diamond Set Platinum Cluster Ring UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR 3,400
This diamond cluster ring mounted on a 14 carat yellow gold band comes up as lot 134 at Matthews annual two day holiday auction online on December 30 and January 1. With an estimate of €3,500-5,500 it is among the most expensively estimated items in this auction totalling 1615 lots. The catalogue is online. The sale on December 30 is of lots 1-757 and comprises jewellery, gold, silver and collectibles. The sale on January 1 covers antique, modern and designer furniture, part house clearances and collectibles. The sale is on view in Kells from noon to 5 pm on December 28 and 29 and from 11 am to 2 pm on December 30.
Soleil en foret (Sunlight in the forest) by Roderic O’Conor at Fonsie Mealy. UPDATE: THIS MADE 40,000 AT HAMMER
A Regency cheval mirror with satinwood crossbanding is among the lots of interest at Matthews sale of the entire contents of Rath House in Dundalk online from Kells, Co. Meath on March 20. The sale of 1,117 lots includes antique furniture, paintings, silver and collectibles. There are tables, sets of chairs, chests of drawers, bookcases, Oriental porcelain, Waterford Crystal, Victorian landscapes and portraits and all sorts of collectibles among a wide variety of lots. Viewing is now underway and the auction will be online.
The sale is a prelude to a number of auctions next week and the week after. Purcell Auctioneers in Birr will offer a 1908 limited edition Collected Works of W.B. Yeats (update – hammer 2,400) in verse and prose as a highlight of their sale of Irish and world interest books on March 23. A very rare Treatise on the Art of War by Roger, Earl of Orrery from 1677 comes up too (update – this made 1,250 at hammer). Works by Richard Brydges Beechey, Roderic O’Conor and William Orpen’s portrait of James Hugh Smith-Barry will highlight Fonsie Mealy’s sale of Irish and International Art on March 23. There are 236 lots on offer. A 48 hour timed online auction of jewellery by O’Reilly’s of Francis St. in Dublin runs from March 23-25.
Topaz and Diamond Ring Mounted on 18 Carat Yellow Gold Band. UPDATE: THIS MADE 670 AT HAMMER
This topaz and diamond ring comes up at Matthews online auction of jewellery, gold, silver, antiques and collectibles on February 8. Lot 23 in this sale of 752 lots is estimated at 600-900. The sale offers lots from executor and solicitor instructions, private clients and unredeemed pawnbrokers pledges.
A military despatch from Michael Collins written on August 19, 1922 comes up as lot 838 at Matthews single owner collection sale on November 30. Just three days later, on August 22, 1922, the Irish revolutionary Commander in Chief was shot dead at Beal na Blath in Co. Cork. Matthews believe this military despatch to be his last written words. From the collection of the late Donall O Morain, former chief executive of Gael Linn and chairman of the RTE Authority It is estimated at €7,000-€12,000. It had been given to him by his uncle Finian Lynch, who served as an assistant secretary to the Treaty Delegation with Michael Collins in London and was Minister for Education in the First Dail. Lot 937 is an original copy of the 1916 Proclamation and is estimated at €120,000-€180,000.
The Military Despatch signed by Michael Collins. UPDATE: THIS MADE 7,100 AT HAMMER
Silver dish ring at Matthews. UPDATE: THIS MADE 920 AT HAMMER
This antique Irish silver dish ring comes up as lot 78 at Matthews two day live online auction from Kells, Co. Meath with jewellery silver, gold and collectibles on November 2 and antiques and collectibles on November 3. It is estimated at 1,000-1,500. Lots 1-571 will be sold from 6 pm on November 2 and lots lots 601-1126 come up at 2 pm on November 3.
This Irish School portrait of Robert Rochfort (1661-1727) features the Great Irish Mace, which represented the authority of the English King in the Irish House of Parliament. The portrait is lot 2453 at Matthews four day online sale from June 19-22. The Great Irish Mace, over five feet in length, had finely chased floral designs with rose of thistle and fleur-de-lis motifs. Matthews attribute the portrait to George Morphy (1655-1715). King James II is believed to have melted down the mace to help pay his war debts.
Portrait Robert Rochfort (1661-1727). Attorney General of Ireland and Speaker in the Irish House of Commons 1692-1703. UPDATE: THIS MADE 30,000 AT HAMMER
Something about house contents auctions brings on the urge to rummage. Drawn from no less than four house clearances the catalogue for Matthews auctions in Kells, Co. Meath on May 22 and 23 offers plenty of scope for rummaging among everything from an antique dinner gong to gilded mirrors, garden fountains, silver mounted mirrors and brushes, an Edwardian cake stand, boxes of books, porcelain and antique furniture. The past year has demonstrated that much of what we do in real time can be done virtually and an online rummage through a catalogue with 1,000 lots might prove fruitful. Matthews will follow this sale with an auction of gold, silver, jewellery and collectibles on the evening of May 25.
The ricochet effect of the pandemic in our beckoning post lockdown world is a cause for speculation. Many new online buyers at auction houses are tech savvy youngsters. This much needed infusion is a sign of hope for the future of the trade. Whether they incline to online buying post lockdown, or turn up in person to bid is anyones guess. Auction action online is now normal, as distinct from new normal, and collectors can and do expect to range far and wide in pursuit of more variety and price points in any given week than ever before. So what next? In the immediate future there is more than enough art, antique furniture, collectibles and historical memorabilia at auction in Ireland to keep us all occupied and out of trouble.
Image of August Strindberg by Louis le Brocquy at Morgan O’Driscoll. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
An oil by Arthur Maderson (€6,000-€8,000) and a set of Cork 11 bar dining chairs (€1,500-€2,000) are among the highlights at Woodwards sale in Cork on April 17. More than 300 lots will come under the hammer. Among them are a Louis XV bonheur du jour (€1,000-€2,000), a George II card table (€750-€1,500), a Queen Anne walnut chest on stand (€1,000-€1,600), a five piece cast iron garden suite (€1,600-€2,200) and a Georgian walnut card table (€700-€1,500).
The range of antique furniture at Woodwards includes a walnut davenport, an Edwardian bow fronted sideboard, a William IV rosewood card table, a Regency tip top table, a Georgian drop leaf dining table, a three tier dumb waiter, an Edwardian knife box and a selection of cellos and violins. There is a silver owl pepperette by George Richards, an ormolu figured mantel clock, a mariners brass theodolite, an Art Deco dancing figure and a Cork Distillers Irish Whiskey sign.
A George II walnut chest on stand at Woodwards.
The April version of the new monthly timed online auction at Hegarty’s features over 300 lots and closes on April 11. Highlights this time include a coloured limited edition lithograph by Mark Chagall of a stained glass window, a Royal Humane Society Award given in 1904, an oil of the Great Mosque, Cairo by Peter Sunderland, a collection of antique optometry equipment and an electric machine for nervous diseases patented in 1854.
Among the 196 lots that Morgan O’Driscoll will offer at his Irish and International online art sale on April 19 are two major head studies by Louis le Brocquy of August Strindberg and William Shakespeare from 1980 and 1981 respectively. Each one is estimated at €100,000-€150,000. In a catalogue note Peter Murray recounts how, one day in 1964 at a time when the artist was feeling dissatisfied and unable to find a way forward, he chanced to visit the Musee de l’Homme in Paris was inspired by a selection of Polynesian painted skulls. The Celts visualised the head as a kind of magic box housing the spirit and le Brocquy was directed towards the idea of encapsulating a lost human presence rather than a living portrait subject. A three day house clearance auction by Matthews of Kells gets underway online at noon today. On offer are contents from the Co. Louth home of the late Professor Kieran Taaffe, head of international affairs at Dublin Institute of Technology and a lifetime collector. More than 2,100 lots will be sold including Irish and International art, old silver, antique furniture, rugs, gilded mirrors, books, oriental items and collectibles.
Meantime the Co. Cavan auctioneer Victor Mee will offer a selection of 1,206 lots at an online Easter interiors and historical sale on Aril 13 and 14.
