antiquesandartireland.com

Postcards offer a fascinating and enduring pictorial record in a way that social media is unlikely to achieve.  More than 100,000 postcards from the collection of late Dubliner Seamus Kearns will come up at Whyte’s in Dublin on January 26.  There are cards from the length and breadth of Ireland in a collection that includes topographical views, historic events, advertising, comic cards and greeting cards.  The worldwide collection features German Gruss Aus (Greetings from) cards, examples of Art Nouveau and Art Deco and glamour cards.

A founder of the Irish Picture Postcard Society Seamus Kearns (1929-2014) began collecting stamps in the 1930’s and fell in love with old postcards in the 1950’s when he started amassing this collection.  He provided many exhibitions around the country including a show at the Guinness Hopstore in 1994. The main value is in Irish topographical and historical Irish cards.  There are views of villages and towns from the early 1900’s to the 1950’s.  Historic events like the 1916 Rising are covered.  Every county is represented with views which show a transition from muddy roads and horse drawn vehicles to tarmac, trams, buses and motor cars. Auction estimates range from 50 to 3,000.  The collection has been broken up into 500 lots with a total estimated value of 50,000-70,000.  The number of cards per lot varies from ten to over 3,000.  A collection of 110 cards of Belfast is estimated at 50,  a collection of Irish advertising cards is estimated at 3,000.  The catalogue is online and the sale can be viewed at Whyte’s from January 23.