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Mark O’Neill (b.1963) – Sunlight in the Old Town, Nice (2010). UPDATE: THIS MADE 8,000 AT HAMMER
This oil on board by Mark O’Neill is at Morgan O’Driscoll’s current Irish art online auction which runs until September 15. The estimate is €4,000-6,000. The auction offers a wide variety of artists, from Graham Knuttel and Mr. Brainwash to Sir William Orpen and Sean Scully. The catalogue is online.
A tutti frutti gem set bracelet at Morgan O’Driscoll’s inaugural jewellery sale. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
Sparkling September is practically upon us and in newly minted wealthy Ireland this means that some magnificent jewels will soon come to the auction block. Even though economists argue that GDP – which ranks us among the wealthiest countries in the world – gives a false picture because multinational profits are repatriated, Ireland’s wealth and healthy budget surplus shows.
At a time decades ago when regular antique furniture was falling out of favour many of the smaller auction houses turned to art to keep their turnover afloat. It worked. Jewellery is adding to the money mix now and regularly boosts turnover at sales around Ireland. Art and jewellery are not by any means the trappings of a country where wealth is absent.
A Cartier diamond and gold necklace, a sapphire and diamond ring and signed
pieces by Vourakis, Buccellati, Marina B. and Tiffany & Co. will highlight Morgan O’Driscoll’s inaugural jewellery sale on September 8. With a renowned art auction business developed over the past 30 years the Skibbereen based auctioneer has launched a brand new jewellery department led by Colin Weldon.
Certified by the GIA (Gemological Institute of America) Weldon is a seasoned jewellery specialist with a track record of sourcing and selling exceptional pieces. GIA certification is an assurance of the quality of a diamond and enhances resale value. Morgan O’Driscoll’s jewellery department will specialise in vintage, antique, and contemporary pieces, with designs from iconic jewellery houses, rare gemstones, and private collections from around the globe.
At this online sale, which will be on view at Buswell’s Hotel in Dublin from September 5 – 8, feature lots include a ruby and diamond cluster ring (€40,000-€60,000), a tutti frutti gem set bracelet (€40,000-€60,000), an ornate 17th century stomacher pendant (€30,000-€40,000) and a diamond necklace by Cartier (€27,500-€35,000).
A pair of fancy intense yellow diamond earrings at Morgan O’Driscoll. UPDATE: THIS LOT WAS UNSOLD
Among the other offerings are an emerald and diamond cluster ring (€20,000-€25,000), a sapphire and diamond ring (€20,000-€25,000), a pair of fancy intense yellow diamond earrings (€17,500-€25,000), a cabochon ruby and diamond cluster ring (€15,000-€20,000), a multi coloured tourmaline and diamond necklace (€15,000-€20,000), a South Sea pearl necklace (€12,500-€17,500), a 1997 Rolex submariner watch (€5,000-€7,000) and a Hermes Kelly handbag (€7,000-€9,000).
This 1940 Kashmir sapphire and diamond ring made a hammer price of €550,000 at James Adam in Dublin in May.
Demand for fine jewellery is growing globally. A retro tank Kashmir sapphire and diamond ring from the 1940’s made a hammer price of €550,000 at James Adam in Dublin in May over a top estimate of €250,000. The next jewellery sale at Adams, on September 9, features two early 20th century prized Kashmir sapphire pieces, a c1900 brooch with an 8.24 carat stone (€200,000-€300,000) and a c1905 brooch with a 6.53 carat stone (€150,000-€250,000).
Who would have thought that a landslide in the Himalayas in 1880 would reverberate through a Dublin salesroom in 2025. The landslide exposed an unusual type of rock from which blue stones protruded. Mining began in 1882 and by 1887 the supply had been exhausted. A new mine found in the valley below was quickly exhausted as well and no other deposits have been found. Kashmir sapphires possess a distinctive tint known to experts at blue velvet.
A c1900 Kashmir sapphire and diamond brooch at Adams in Dublin on September 9. UPDATE: THIS MADE €550,000 AT HAMMER
With a distinguished Irish American provenance the Kashmir stones at Adams will attract international attention. Gifted by Benjamin and Amy Sands of New York to their daughter May on her marriage in 1908 to the Hon Hugh Melville Howard, younger son of the 6th Earl of Wicklow they were inherited by their daughter Katherine Frances Howard (1910-1990) of Shelton Abbey, Co. Wicklow and Ounavarra, Co. Wexford, godmother to the present owner.
The fine jewellery and ladies watches sale at Adams will be on view in Dublin from September 5-9.
Markey Robinson (1918-1999) – SUMMERTIME. UPDATE: THIS MADE 2,600 AT HAMMER
Summertime by Markey Robinson leads Morgan O’Driscoll’s off the wall online art auction which runs until August 5. The gouache on board with an Appollo Gallery Dublin label verso is estimated at €3,000-€5,000. More than 400 affordable lots including work by John Morris, Alan Kenny, Liam Treacy, Majella O’Neill Collins, Oisin Kelly and Louis le Brocquy are in the sale. The catalogue is online.
Harry Kernoff – Clare Island from Foynes on the River Shannon (1929) UPDATE: THIS MADE 2,700 AT HAMMER
John Shinnors, Patrick Scott, Sir William Orpen, Harry Kernoff and Dan O’Neill are amongst the stellar line up of Irish artists featured at Morgan O’Driscoll’s Irish art online auction which runs until July 28. Don Quixote (Self-Portrait) by Dan O’Neill (€6,000-€9,000) was in the collection of the late Gerald Goldberg, former Lord Mayor of Cork. It featured in the sale of contents from his Rochestown Road residence by Mealy’s back in 2004.
Market Place at Cany by Sir William Orpen, once in the Orpen Family collection, was shown at the Orpen Centenary Exhibition at the National Gallery of Ireland in 1978. The mixed media work is estimated at €3,000-€4,000. An oil on board by Harry Kernoff, Clare Island from Foynes, Co. Limerick on the River Shannon dates to 1929 and is estimated at €3,000-€5,000. Falling, an oil on linen by John Shinnors dates to 2000-01 and has an estimate of €8,000-€12,000. The catalogue is online.
James Brohan – Harvest Time. UPDATE: THIS MADE 3,800 AT HAMMER
Self Portrait – Baked Bean Boy by Paul Hewson (Bono) at Whyte’s. UPDATE: THIS MADE 1,050 AT HAMMER
The Irish art market reflects global trends and right now these trends are particularly favourable to online sales of the type that Whyte’s will hold on June 30 and Morgan O’Driscoll on July 1.
Auctions of affordable art by popular Irish and international artists are where the market is at. The value of art sold last year went down but the number of transactions grew because of greater activity at lower levels. Even as the market remains in a state of flux the interest in acquiring art is on the up. In Ireland and around the world more and more people are prepared to buy online at lower prices even as global uncertainty contributes to a situation where fewer records are being broken at the top.
Celebrity sells and Whyte’s will have offerings by Bono (a self portrait though not one that you recognise him in) and Damien Hirst among their offerings. The screenprint by Bono – Self Portrait – Baked Bean Boy – is estimated at just €300-€400. Heart Spin, the acrylic by Damien Hirst, is among the most expensive offerings in the auction with an estimate of €2,500-€3,500.
Seaside Day by Brian MacMahon at Morgan O’Driscoll. UPDATE: THIS MADE 850 AT HAMMER
Among the art at the Morgan O’Driscoll sale is a poster by Tracey Emin and a preparatory design by Mainie Jellett for The Stations of the Cross. The latter artist is currently on show at the National Gallery where The Art of Friendship exhibition featuring paintings, stained glass and preparatory drawings by Mainie Jellett and Evie Hone continues until August 10.
With estimates from €80 and €100 up at both Whyte’s and Morgan O’Driscoll there should be more than enough to tempt newcomers to the exciting world of Irish art auctions. They will join a growing band of seasoned collectors.
One of a set of six prints from the Irish animal series by Pauline Bewick at Whyte’s. UPDATE: THIS MADE 3,200 AT HAMMER
Choices from 286 lots at Whytes include work by Gerard Byrne, Cecil Maguire, Desmond Carrick, Susan Webb, Peter Curling, Banksy, Pauline Bewick, John B Yeats, Tom Nisbet, Harry Kernoff and Joseph Sloan.
The were will be 430 lots at Morgan O’Driscoll’s sale with work by Graham Knuttel, Donald Teskey, Brian MacMahon, Gretta O’Brien, Ken Hamilton, Bridget Flannery, Ivan Sutton, Annemarie Bourke, Louis le Brocquy, Arthur Armstrong, Maria Simonds-Gooding and Maurice Desmond.
On Watch by Graham Knuttel at Morgan O’Driscoll. UPDATE: THIS MADE 1,500 AT HAMMER
Donald Teskey RHA (b.1956) – Kerry Seascape, lithograph – number 36 from an edition of 100. UPDATE: THIS MADE €950 AT HAMMER
Fresh from the success of an online auction on June 23 where Muingelly V (2023), and oil on canvas by Donald Teskey made a hammer price of €11,000, Morgan O’Driscoll will offer a lithograph by the same artist in his Irish art online auction which runs until July 1. The limited edition Kerry Seascape lithograph pictured here is estimated at just €400-600. The off the wall sale, with over 400 lots of affordable art, will be on view in Skibbereen on June 27 and 30 and on July 1. Desire of the Moon (1990) by William Crozier was the top lot at the June 23 auction. It made €17,000 at hammer. A unique bronze Mayo Famine Ship by John Behan made €6,800.
William Crozier (1930-2011) – Desire of the Moon (1990). UPDATE: THIS MADE 17,000 AT HAMMER
Desire of the Moon by William Crozier leads Morgan O’Driscoll’s current Irish art online auction which runs until June 23. The oil on canvas is estimated at €15,000-25,000. There is a similar estimate on Muingelly V, an acrylic on paper by Donald Teskey. With estimates from €200 up there are 204 lots on offer. The sale offers paintings and etchings by Sean Scully, Charles Tyrrell, Elizabeth Cope, Arthur Maderson, Graham Knuttel, James Humbert Craig and Pauline Bewick, sculpture by John Behan, Michael Foley and Sandra Bell and many more artists. The catalogue is online.
Constructs of the Mind by Martin Finnin. UPDATE: THIS MADE 800 AT HAMMER
Evie Hone, Percy French, Arthur Maderson, Charles Harper, Graham Knuttel and Martin Finnin are among the artists featured in Morgan O’Driscoll’s off the wall art auction of affordable Irish art. The catalogue is online and the sale draws to a close from 6.30 pm on May 19. The early summer sales of important Irish art in Dublin at Whyte’s, de Veres and James Adam get underway at Whyte’s on May 26.
Evie Hone HRHA (1894-1955) – Study for Stained Glass Window. UPDATE: THIS MADE 850 AT HAMMER
This gouache on paper study for a stained glass window by Evie Hone is at Morgan O’Driscoll’s current Off the Wall online auction which runs until May 19. From a private collection it is estimated at €500-750. The sale offers a wide variety of art from Arthur Maderson and Graham Knuttel to Percy French and Kenneth Webb. The catalogue is online.
Maria Spilsbury – Portrait of Jane Bryan of Cong at Adams. UPDATE: THIS MADE 8,000 AT HAMMER
Art from Irish old masters to the contemporary will take centre stage at auctions by Morgan O’Driscoll on May 12, Sheppards on May 14 and Adams on May 15.
The catalogue cover lot for the Irish Old Masters evening sale at Adams is an arresting portrait of Jane Bryan of Cong by Maria Spilsbury (€8,000-€10,000). The London born artist relocated to Ireland in 1813. Her work is represented in major institutional collections like the National Gallery of Ireland, the British Museum, Tate Britain and the Museum of Methodism in London. Spilsbury painted portraits, genre scenes and religious work. Her depiction of Patron’s Day at the Seven Churches, Glendalough c1816 at the National Gallery is regarded as one of the most significant visual records of early 19th century devotional life in Ireland.
The most expensively estimated painting in the sale is Figures by the Temple in the Park at Mount Merrion by William Ashford (€50,000-€80,000). The auction offers a choice of Irish landscapes by artists like James Arthur O’Connor, Thomas Roberts, George Mullins, William Sadler and George Barret. There are portraits by Hugh Douglas Hamilton, Nathanial Hone, Robert Hunter and others along with seascapes by Edwin Hayes, Richard Brydges Beechey and John Thomas Serres. The sale kicks off with six etchings and engravings by James Barry, offers a set of Malton’s Views of Dublin and a preparatory scheme for the mythological murals at Lyons, Co. Kildare by Gaspare Gabrielli among 66 lots.
Ya Tsai Chiu (1949-2013) – Female Profile at Morgan O’Driscoll. UPDATE: THIS MADE 32,000 AT HAMMER
Two names from the east stand out in Morgan O’Driscoll’s current online auction. Ya Tsai Chiu paints gracefully elongated figures that, though different, somehow recall Modigliani while the sensitive female subjects of Zhao Kailin are endowed with a wistful, enigmatic quality. Both artists have wide appeal and thriving market records.
The auction offers highly collectible work by Peter Curling, Donald Teskey, Michael Flatley, Evie Hone, Mr Brainwash, Dan O’Neill, Conor Fallon, Sean Scully and many other artists. A study of The Grey Mare, Renvyle was painted in 1933 by Harry Kernoff. A le Brocquy tapestry titled Shimmering Light was woven by Donegal Carpets in 1956 and George Campbell’s affectionate study of flamenco performers has all the elan of a man who could play the guitar and well as wield the brush.
Graham Knuttel – Still Life Table Top at Sheppards. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
An Aubusson tapestry, Garlanded Goat by le Brocquy, leads the Irish and International art auction at Sheppards with an estimate of €80,000-€120,000. Emer, a unique life sized bronze horse by Anthony Scott, is a significant example of Irish contemporary bronze sculpture. Scott’s sculpture dedicated to the champion racehorse Sea the Stars was unveiled at the National Stud by the late Queen Elizabeth during her State visit to Ireland. Sheppards estimate this one at €30,000-€50,000.
Among 166 lots In Memory by Daniel O’Neill was last at auction at The Irish Sale at Christie’s in 2007. It is now estimated at €20,000-€30,000. A rare Still Life with Jug and Shapes by William Crozier, painted in oil on a tin metal tray, is estimated at €2,000-€3,000. There is a similar estimate on a Taurus watercolour by Pauline Bewick. With art by Markey Robinson, Arthur Maderson, Evie Hone, Fr. Jack Hanlon, Mark O’Neill, Henry Healy, Roderic O’Conor, Melanie le Brocquy, Michael Mulcahy, John Doherty, Michael Hales, Hughie O’Donoghue, John Luke and many more renowned Irish artists this sale has much to hold the interest.
Howard Helmick – Whiskey by the Hearth at Adams. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
