antiquesandartireland.com

Information about Art, Antiques and Auctions in Ireland and around the world
  • ABOUT
  • About Des
  • Contact
  • Posts Tagged ‘Michael Collins’

    COLLECTIBLES LEAD THE CHARGE AT UPCOMING AUCTIONS IN IRELAND

    Saturday, April 26th, 2025

    Mahogany and brass mounted country house letter box at Adams. UPDATE: THIS MADE 1,700 AT HAMMER

    Lots and lots of all types of lot will come under the hammer in Ireland next week with rare collectibles leading the charge.

    With everything from a mahogany and brass mounted country house letter box that would not be out of place at Downton Abbey to a vintage alligator Gladstone bag the annual library collection sale at James Adam in Dublin on April 29 offers a selection of 344 lots with something of interest to most of us.

    An old AA road sign at Victor Mee. UPDATE: THIS MADE 330 AT HAMMER

    Vintage road signs are popular collectibles and feature at several sales.  There is bound to be local interest in an old AA mileage sign for Blarney and Cork at Victor Mee’s sale at Belturbet on April 29 and 30.  The online only auction offers advertising materials and a mix of nostalgic items. Among them are enough Irish carnival and fairground pieces from Warrenpoint in Co. Down and Buncrana in Co. Donegal to keep any keen restorer busy for months.

    A vintage Italian bar at de Veres. UPDATE: THIS MADE €1,800 at hammer

    A 1970’s vintage chrome and gilt Italian bar is not something you come across everyday.  This one, complete with tinted mirror front and stainless steel counter, is at de Veres timed online design auction which runs until April 29.  The auction is a mix of classic design pieces by Eileen Gray, Arne Jacobsen, Gianfranco Frattini and Gianni Versace and art by John Shinnors, Albert Irvin, Cecil King, Tony O’Malley, Felim Egan and Mark Francis.

    A full length portrait photograph of Michael Collins with moustache on a balcony in London will create interest at Fonsie Mealy’s rare book and collectors sale in Castlecomer on April 30 and May 1.  More than 700 widely varied lots will come under the hammer here over two days.  These range from rare sporting memorabilia like Kerry’s first All Ireland football championship winners medal from 1903 to a limited edition illustrated volume of The Vatican Frescoes of Michelangelo and a scarce limited edition copy of Squarings, Twelve Poems by Seamus Heaney with four lithographic prints by Felim Egan signed by both author and artist.

    There are all sorts of highlights at these sales.  The Dedication of the Temple of Solomon by Franz Ludwig Hermann at Adams is monumental and depicts a fantastical view of the temple. Sacrifices to mark the dedication are said to have included 22,000 bulls and 120,000 sheep. A painting by George Mounsey Wheatley Atkinson depicts a crowded harbour with paddle steamers.

    A child’s carousel ride at Victor Mee will evoke many memories along with several antique puppets and a 1970’s tinplate fairground motorcycle.

     A full length portrait photograph of Michael Collins in London by La Fayette at Fonsie Mealy. UPDATE: THIS MADE €600 AT HAMMER

    A prototype of the Liam McCarthy cup, by tradition the sample maker Edmund Johnston of Grafton St. in Dublin presented to the committee for the Liam McCarthy, is at Fonsie Mealy. In the event a variant was chosen. Choices here include is a first (1955) edition of Moonraker, the third James Bond novel by Ian Fleming; a painting of George Best in action by the British artist Tom Croft, approved by Best and originally intended to be made into a limited edition print run, a plan that was abandoned when Best fell ill;  five volumes of The Georgian Society records of 18th century domestic architecture in Dublin and an official Adidas Argentina team jersey signed by Diego Maradonna.  Treasures abound everywhere….

    RARE COLLECTIBLES IN A HOT MARKET AT WHYTE’S SALE IN DUBLIN

    Saturday, April 5th, 2025

    The revolver that fired the first shot of The Rising. UPDATE: THIS MADE 10,500 AT HAMMER

    On March 21 1916, a day after Capt. Peadar Bracken fired a pinfire revolver during an attack by the RIC following a meeting of Irish Volunteers in Tullamore, Padraig Pearse said: ‘the first blood has been spilled and the first blow struck in defence of the Volunteers right to carry arms’.

    Just over one month later on April 24 the Rising began. Though no one realised it at the time that shot heralded the beginning of the end of the British Empire. The gun from which it was fired is at Whyte’s Eclectic Collector online auction which ends from 2 pm on April 6.  Lot 144 is estimated at €8,000-€10,000.

    Articles of Agreement from 1921 signed by Eamon de Valera and Michael Collins. UPDATE: THIS MADE 68,000 AT HAMMER

    A 1921 agreement to postpone the Sinn Fein Ard Fheis in order to avoid a split – signed by Eamon de Valera, Michael Collins, Austin Stack and Arthur Griffith – is another real rarity (€70,000-€90,000).  An archive of 12 cans of restored 1916-1923 films of The Rising, The War of Independence and the Civil War is the most expensive lot (€80,000-€100,000).  There are about four hours of films.

    The market for collectibles is hot and it is predicted to grow.  Objects that are collectible come and go but historic and verified rarities like will always be sought after.  The timed online sale of 482 lots includes historical artefacts, documents, photographs, books, militaria, medals, weapons, advertising, sport, coins and banknotes. The timeline ranges from 5000 BC (a very large piece of bog oak) to gold coins issued in the year 2000.

    There is a letter from Liam Lynch to his godmother in Co. Limerick; the archive of an Irish soldier who fought for Franco in the Spanish Civil War; the archive of a British army officer who served in the Auxiliary Division of the RIC and material from The Northern Ireland Troubles including prisoner art, weapons, rubber bullets and a telephone from Long Kesh.

    A 1965 US tour book signed by all four Beatles

    A 1965 US Tour Book signed by all four Beatles is estimated at 4,000-€6,000 and the sale includes five letters written by W B Yeats and his father John Yeats (€1,500-€2,000) and a signed first US edition of The Wind Among the Reeds (€1,200-€1,500). A 1775 document relates to Elvis Presley’s Irish ancestor William Presley of Counties Wicklow and Carlow who later emigrated to America (€1,000-€1,500). Collectible posters include an early 20th century Great Southern Railways poster featuring Connemara along with advertising material from Aer Lingus, CIE and Guinness.

    An early 20th century Great Southern Railways poster featuring Connemara. UPDATE: THIS MADE 950 AT HAMMER

    The collection of Liam Rapple, former president of Bohemians AFC and FAI honorary secretary includes the jersey worn by Stanley Matthews in an England v Ireland match, other jerseys from the 1940’s and ’50’s and an array of football programmes.  A ticket to the infamous Bloody Sunday match between Tipperary and Dublin at Croke Park in November 1920 is estimated at €6,000-€8,000.

    There is a good selection of banknotes including Ploughman notes and with gold in demand right now there will be much interest in gold coins  including Krugerrand, Sovereigns and US dollars.  Viewing continues today at Whyte’s on  Molesworth St. in Dublin and the catalogue is online.

    BIRDS AND MANY OTHER RARITIES AT FONSIE MEALY AUCTION

    Saturday, December 7th, 2024

    An illustration from William Lewin. UPDATE: THIS MADE 30,000 AT HAMMER

    The wise and slightly indignant looking old owl which graces the catalogue cover for Fonsie Mealy’s two day Christmas rare book and collectors auction next week offers a clue to something special within.  The rarest of all English bird books, one of just 60 sets of the first edition of William Lewin’s The Birds of Great Britain with their Eggs, leads the sale.

    Complete with 323 original watercolour illustrations by Lewin of birds and eggs in gouache some heightened with gum Arabic this outstanding work of ornithology is in seven volumes. The estimate for this very fine copy is €17,500-€25,000.

    A c1885 copy of the Shrine of the Bell of St. Patrick. UPDATE: THIS MADE 9,500 AT HAMMER

    Among the more unusual offerings is a c1885 copy of the Shrine for the Bell of St. Patrick. The original A c1885 copy of the Shrine of the Bell of St. Patrick at Fonsie Mealy.shrine from which this cast was taken – made to contain a bell reputedly owned by St. Patrick – dates to around 1100 and is in the National Museum of Ireland.  There is a copy at the Metropolitan Museum in New York.  This one is estimated at €6,000-€8,000.  In the 1860’s the South Kensington Museum (now the V and A) campaigned for copies of artefacts to be made so that knowledge could be spread widely and by 1867 no less than 15 European heads of state signed a convention for international exchange. 

    Fermoy escaped the very worst ravages of famine in Ireland, but it had a narrow escape.  Among 1170 lots on offer in Castlecomer on December 11 and 12 are two manuscript books for the poor rate in Fermoy in 1847, when hunger was at a peak, and 1859. 

    A collecting book for the Poor Rate, Fermoy 1847. UPDATE: THIS MADE 950 AT HAMMER

    The 1847 book is signed by William Cooke-Collis, chairman of the board of guardians and  Roderick O’Flanagan, clerk of the union and others. In his book about the famine in North East Cork published in 1986 by Eigse Books the historian Edward Garner observes: “It will have to be said that, had the Fermoy Poor Law Union not possessed the Board it did, then it would have joined the ranks of Skibbereen and Bantry. Fermoy escaped by the skin of its teeth.”  Lot 706 is estimated at €600-€800.

    A 1939 copy of Finnegan’s Wake signed by James Joyce is estimated at €3,000-€4,000 and Eleven Poems signed by Seamus Heaney is estimated at €2,500-€3,500.

    The Westport House copy of the 1789 sole edition of Surveys of the Harbours by William O’Brien Drury including Blacksod, Valentia, Bear Haven, Corke and Waterford is another prize lot.  This one is estimated at €3,000-€4,000.

    A pair of handcuffs said to have been used by Michael Collins. UPDATE: THESE MADE 1,600 AT HAMMER

    Collectibles include a set of heavy steel handcuffs said to have been used by Michael Collins (€1,000-€1,500), a lady’s Blueshirt uniform (€2,000-€3,000) and a gold 1904 All Ireland hurling championship medal won by Tullaroan, Kilkenny (€4,000-€6,000).

    There is an Irish library of fishing books, a private collection of illustrated and hand coloured volumes, the library of Nelson Bell of The Bell Gallery, Belfast and  part one of the Dr. Phillip Murray collection of Seamus Heaney. There will be viewing in Castlecomer on December 9 and 10. The catalogue is online.

    HANDKERCHIEF WAS IN THE POCKET OF MICHAEL COLLINS WHEN HE DIED

    Saturday, September 21st, 2024

     A framed linen handkerchief on Michael Collins at the time of his death at Hegarty’s. UPDATE: THIS LOT WAS WITHDRAWN AND SOLD PRIOR TO THE AUCTION

    As the autumn season moves into high gear an impressive selection of highly collectible lots is available to collectors up and down the country next week.  The  range on offer right now includes everything from a rediscovered painting by Frank O’Meara at Adams, a Rolls Royce Silver Spirit at Sheppards and a linen handkerchief which Michael Collins had in his pocket when he died at Hegarty’s in Bandon.

    When the autumn art selling season kicks off at Adams in Dublin on the evening of September 25 there will be much interest in A Knitting Shepherdess painted in 1880 by Frank O’Meara.  This small scale transitional work by a short lived though renowned Irish artist, unknown to researchers, has been in an Irish private collection for decades. It is estimated at €10,000-€15,000.

    Frank O’Meara (1853-1888) – A Knitting Shepherdess at Adams. UPDATE: THIS MADE 24,000 AT HAMMER

    The Bog Pool by Paul Henry is at €120,000-€160,000, the most expensively estimated lot in this auction of 150 lots which features work by Jack B Yeats, Paul Henry, Colin Middleton, Louis le Brocquy, Sean Keating, Frank McKelvey, Gerard Dillon and Lilian Davidson.  On the contemporary side there is a large work painted in 2008 by Hughie O’Donoghue – No. 37, Stuttgart 7 Hours 20 Minutes 24.7.44 – of a Lancaster bomber during the Second World War setting the night sky ablaze (€30,000-€50,000).  Painting and sculpture by Neil Shawcross, Colin Harrison, Edward Delaney, Melanie le Brocquy, John Behan and many others add enormous interest to this sale.

    The petrol driven 1984 Rolls Royce at Sheppards Legacy of the Big House auction of more than 1600 lots on September 24, 25 and 26 in Durrow is estimated at €20,000-€30,000.  A west Cork collection assembled in Ireland, Europe and America has a strong emphasis on 17th and 18th century furniture.  An Irish 17th century leather bound marriage trunk with metal and stud decoration and domed lid, inscribed 1693, is certain to create interest. The estimate is €4,000-€6,000.

    An Irish 17th century leather bound marriage trunk at Sheppards. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD

    An Italian 18th century carved gilt console table with marble top is estimated at €3,000-€5,000. There are Regency tables, an Irish oak rent table, a Grand Tour marble specimen table, a 17th century walnut and crossbanded chest, a Cork Regency carved giltwood mirror and a pair of early 19th century Viennese salon chairs among an appetising selection.

    Curiosities include a 19th century Cork ebony and ivory octant and a bronze model of a Venetian Lion of St Mark.  There is a collection of fountain pens,  jewellery from Atelier Jacobi, Stuttgart and art by James Arthur O’Connor, Guido Reni, Norah McGuinness, James Humbert Craig and others. Viewing starts in Durrow today.

    A framed white linen handkerchief which Michael Collins had with him on the evening of his death on August 22, 1922 comes up at Hegarty’s sale in Bandon on the evening of September 25.  It is accompanied by a manuscript letter in pencil signed by Collins’ brother Sean O Coileain dated August 31 to General Sean MacMahon asking him to: ‘accept enclosed as a souvenir of Michael – in his pocket at time of death’ .  The estimate is €10,000-€20,000.  The provenance of the handkerchief is General Sean MacMahon and thence by descent.

    The online sale features antique furniture, art, silver and jewellery including a  Victorian emerald and diamond shamrock bar brooch.

    A Cork Regency carved giltwood mirror at Sheppards. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD

    LOTS OF CHOICE AT FONSIE MEALY RARE BOOK AND COLLECTORS SALE

    Saturday, July 27th, 2024

    The US-European shipping archive of The Widow Bermingham & Sons. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD

    A lock of Michael Collins hair, a large Tara brooch, the first edition of the 1843-44 Ordnance Survey Atlas of Co. Limerick, a Historic Guide to the White House, 1963 signed by John F. Kennedy, a 1912 Louth All Ireland football winners medal, a first printing of de Valera’s new Constitution signed by the cabinet and a rare lady’s blue shirt uniform all feature at Fonsie Mealy’s rare book and collectors sale in Castlecomer on July 28 and 29.

    Sales like this offer all kinds of everything, from Jack B Yeats illustrations to rare Harry Potter editions, a heavy Webley .44 revolver believed to have belonged to John MacBride, an Irish 20 pence trial piece coin from 1985 and a collection of long playing records signed by Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole, Roy Rogers and Frankie Laine.

    A lock of Michael Collins’s hair. UPDATE: THIS MADE 4,400

    The early US/European 19th century maritime shipping papers of the St. Sebastian Basque trading company for The Widow Bermingham & Sons is, at €7,000-€10,000, the most expensively estimated lot.  The Berminghams were a prominent Galway family, some of whom emigrated to San Sebastian to establish a shipping agency. These original, unresearched papers from 1800-14 provide details of the issues faced by early shipping entrepreneurs during the Napoleonic Wars and the Barbary War.

    The Blueshirts – the paramilitary organisation of the Irish Free State many of whose members went on to fight for the nationalists in Spain – did not have women on board. Membership was subsequently opened to those who had not served in the armed forces but the woman’s blue shirt with elasticated waist, Fine Gael badge and Army Comrades insignia is an extremely rare item (€3,000-€4,000). 

    The lock of hair was given after the death of Michael Collins to his friend Felix Cronin and is estimated at €5,000-€7,000.  A veteran of the War of Independence and the Civil War he married Kitty Kiernan three years after the death of Collins in 1922.  Lot 634 is a collection of eight Irish army brass uniform buttons complete with a letter from Michael Collins Powell to General O’Duffy dated 27/1/33 asking for a receipt for the enclosed: “found in Michael’s pocket, August 22nd, 1922”. Mary Collins Powell was a sister of Michael Collins. The estimate is €7,000-€10,000.

    A large Tara Brooch in 18 carat gold  UPDATE: THIS MADE 6,000

    A large Tara brooch in 18 carat gold by Hopkins and Hopkins, Dublin is estimated at €5,000-€6,000.  It belonged to Alice Milligan, poet and playwright and founder of the influential Shan Van Vhoct periodical.

    A copy of Some Experiences of an Irish R M and other books by Edith Somerville and signed by her in 1948 are estimated at €120-€180.  Collectors interested in travel will be interested in an 1825 book entitled The Pleasure Tours in Ireland (€160-€220), an 1812  book of Illustrations of the Scenery of Killarney and the Surrounding Country (€150-€200),  Vanishing Dublin by Flora Mitchell (€200-€300), Life in the West of Ireland by Jack B. Yeats (€400-€600) and a good album of 300 original postcards of Cork city, Bandon, Queenstown, Crosshaven and Ballycotton (€600-€800).

    The catalogue with 831 lots is online and there will be viewing in Castlecomer from 1 pm to 5 pm tomorrow and from 10 am to 5 pm on Monday.  Sales are at 11 am sharp on Tuesday and Wednesday.

     A first Australian edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. UPDATE: THIS MADE 1,150 AT HAMMER

    A GENTLEMAN’S LIBRARY SALE AT SHEPPARDS

    Sunday, October 29th, 2023
    A signed handwritten letter by Michael Collins. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD

    With everything from a signed January 1922 letter written by Michael Collins to a set of ten armorial side chairs from Fota House, a Killarney wood library table and an Egyptian New Kingdom amulet the Gentleman’s Library sale at Sheppards in Durrow on November 7 and 8 is brimful of interest. It offers an exceptional array of fine library furniture, lighting, early Irish cartography, Irish and European art, Pre-Colombian art, sculpture, Egyptian and Roman artefacts, vintage wine, rare whiskeys and books including a collection of 84 broadsides by Jack B Yeats and recently discovered manuscript letters from Michael Collins and Padraig Pearse.

    The Collins letter, written on Gresham Hotel embossed note paper, is dated 2/1/1922 and estimated at €4,000-€6,000. Dated  27/6/12 the letter signed by Padraig Pearse is estimated at €3,000-€5,000. A fine Killarney wood arbutus library table is estimated at €15,000-€25,000 and a set of 10 Fota House Armorial side chairs has an estimate of €8,000-€12,000.

    A set of ten Fota House armorial side chairs. UPDATE: THESE MADE 7,500 AT HAMMER

    Any library would be set off by a 19th century hide upholstered roll back settee or an Edwardian brass and hide upholstered club fender, each estimated at €1,400-€1,800. A George III Irish breakfront bookcase and an 18th century carved giltwood console table are each estimated at €4,000-€6,000.There is a selection of early Irish cartography in the form of four c1610 engraved and hand coloured maps of Munster, Leinster, Ulster and Connaught by John Speed.  Each one is estimated at €500-€800. An Extensive landscape with travellers and cattle by James Arthur O’Connor has an estimate of €25,000-€35,000 and an untitled oil on envelope laid on board by John Constable is estimated at €15,000-€20,000. Art by George Barret, Hugh Douglas Hamilton and Dan O’Neill is among the highlights. Lots on offer from around the world include an Egyptian New Kingdom faience amulet (€3,000-€5,000), a 16th century Peruvian ceramic character ewer (€500-€800), a  Roman bronze mask (€800-€1,200) and a c1680 Flemish tapestry (€2,000-€3,000).  Silver includes two bright cut Limerick serving spoons by Maurice Fitzgerald (€3,000-€5,000) and an 1893 Russian Imperial silver and rock crystal urn (€800-€1,200).  The wine selection includes a 2010 case of Chateau Lafite-Rothschild and there is a bottle of Midleton Very Rare Whiskey from 2000.  The sale will be on view in Durrow from November 4 and the catalogue is online.

    A Killarney library table. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD

    TWO DAY HOTEL INTERIORS AUCTION IN DUBLIN

    Friday, August 25th, 2023

    This life size Black Forest sculpture of a standing bear is among the top lots at Aidan Foley’s two day hotel interiors auction at Prussia St. in Dublin on September 4 and 5. A total of 1,260 lots will come under the hammer. Among the main ones there is art by Marie Carroll, Markey Robinson, Ann Marie Bourke, Graham Knuttel and a pencil drawing by Jack B Yeats, there is a bronze bust of Michael Collins, some old whisky distillery mirrors and a big selection of hotel furniture and fittings at very reasonable estimates. The Black Forest bear is estimated at €1,200-€1,600 and the catalogue for the sale is online. Viewing in Dublin gets underway on September 1. UPDATE: THIS MADE 1,200 AT HAMMER

    A FILM POSTER DEEMED TOO MILITANT FOR IRELAND

    Thursday, June 15th, 2023

    If it seems ridiculous now that the poster used in the United States to promote Michael Collins – the film directed by Neil Jordan –  was deemed too militant for Ireland at least it shows that Irish politics has moved on a little.  It depicts Liam Neeson playing Collins brandishing a rifle above his head while addressing a group of people.  Timing is everything and this was in 1996, two years before The Good Friday agreement created the conditions for the beginning of some sort of normalisation.  In Ireland a tamer image of Collins campaigning for The Treaty was used.  A copy of the US cinema poster comes up today as lot 325 at Mullen’s Collector’s Cabinet auction of history, militaria and collectibles at Laurel Park in Bray on June 17.  The poster is estimated at €200-€300. UPDATE: THIS MADE 200 AT HAMMER.

    BIBLE OWNED BY MICHAEL COLLINS AT WHYTE’S ECLECTIC COLLECTOR SALE

    Saturday, May 13th, 2023
    Michael Collins bible, with him when he died. UPDATE: THIS MADE 12,500 AT HAMMER

    The pocket bible carried by Michael Collins, with him when he died, comes up at Whyte’s Eclectic Collector timed online auction in Dublin today. Collins would have received a copy of this Protestant version of the scriptures when working as a post office clerk in London from 1907-1910. Lot 269 is estimated at €3,000-€5,000.  The sale, which ends from 2 pm, has a wide variety of political, sporting and historic collecibles from ancient Celtic stone heads to a signed Beatles photograph and a Rory Gallagher archive.

    CUTLERY USED BY MICHAEL COLLINS FOR HIS LAST MEAL AT MULLEN’S

    Saturday, March 4th, 2023

    A knife, fork and spoon, stitched to a silk shamrock and framed with a photograph of Michael Collins, form a curious lot at  Mullen’s Collector’s Cabinet auction on March 11. This was the cutlery used by Collins at his last meal in the Eldon Hotel in Skibbereen on August 22, 1922, just hours before the ambush at  Béal na mBláth later that day. It was later presented to Kitty Kiernan, who gave it to her sister Maud.  Maud married Gearóid O’Sullivan, the Irish Volunteer who raised the flag over the GPO during the Easter Rising. It is estimated at €1,500-€2,000. UPDATE: THIS MADE 6,500 AT HAMMER