PAIR 19TH-CENTURY FRENCH ORMOLU-MOUNTED KINGWOOD & MARQUETRY SIDE TABLES. UPDATE: THESE WERE UNSOLD
Viewing gets underway in Durrow today for the re-scheduled Paradigms and the Unexpected auction by Sheppards from March 18-20. The auction was to have been held this week but it was postponed after the unexpected death of Sheppards director Philip Sheppard. Pictured here is lot 331, a pair of 19th century French side tables. They are estimated at €4,000-€6,000. More than 1700 lots will come under the hammer and the catalogue is online.
A pair of George III Waterford mirrors. UPDATE: THESE MADE 9,000 AT HAMMER
A pair of George III Waterford oval mirrors of a type prized by collectors with alternating blue and clear crystal faceted cabochons will feature three days of sales at Sheppards in Durrow from March 18-20. True collectors items like this don’t come cheap and the estimate is €15,000-€25,000.
Viewing for the Paradigms and the Unexpected sale gets underway in Durrow on March 15. The most expensively estimated of over 1700 lots is a south Dublin collection of luxury watches headed by a recently serviced Rolex day date president with square cut diamonds representing the hour marks (€25,000-€35,000). There is a similar estimate on a Franck Muller conquistador watch. Both of these will come up on Wednesday, the mirrors on Tuesday afternoon.
The most expensive paintings in the sale, with top estimates of €15,000, are Sea Green Mood by Nano Reid, Boats in the Bay, Greatmans Bay, Galway by Charles Lamb and Bathers by the Pier, Waterfoot, Antrim by James Humbert Craig. Among the many artists represented are Sean Keating, John Behan, William Crozier, Gerard Dillon, Anthony Scott, Grace Henry, Kenneth Webb, Mainie Jellett, Percy French and there is a complete set of Malton Views of Dublin.
A private collection of guitars will include Canadian rocker Fred (C.F.) Turner’s 1968 Fender Precision green bass guitar (€5,000-€8,000). Other collectibles include a 1999 Late Late Show music script signed by Gay Byrne on his last show (€1,500-€2,500) and an Everlast boxing glove signed by Mohammad Ali, Joe Frazier, Larry Holmes, Ken Norton, Riddick Bowe, Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield, Lennox Lewis and George Foreman (€4,000-€6,000) and selections of Chinese and Japanese ceramics.
Among a large selection of furniture is a Black Forest hat and coat tree, a Killarney work table, Dublin furniture by Hicks, Art Deco mirrored pieces, a signed Maple and Co. kneehole desk, a 17th century Tibetan monastery trunk and an Irish Vernacular tree dugout cabinet.
Black Forest hat and coat tree. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
A pair of parcel gilt and painted elbow chairs. UPDATE: THESE MADE €2,300 AT HAMMER
A neoclassical marble chimney piece, a pair of parcel gilt elbow chairs, a Georgian lacquered longcase clock and an 18th century brass door knocker are among the treasures to be found at Sheppard’s Gems in the Attic sale in Durrow on February 4. The date has been re-scheduled due to adverse weather and telecommunications issues.
On offer are works of art from the attics, stables and storerooms of important clients of Sheppards. The 663 lots – ranging in estimate from €20-€40 (for a bottle of Chateau Pessan St. Hilaire 1992) to €4,000-€6,000 for the neoclassical marble chimney piece – are not at all typical of the half-forgotten contents of your average attic storage space.
There is everything from a 16th century gold thread and silk embroidery of the Virgin and the Angels (€500-€800) and a mixed media of The Old Claddagh, Galway by John Behan (€600-€800) to a Tibetan turquoise encrusted box and cover (€50-€80), a Berber wall hanging (€200-€300), a Dublin 19th century side table (€1,400-€1,800), a pair of Art Deco belt buckles (€100-€150) and a pair of 19th century lacquered panels €1,400-€1,800).
Collectibles include a Chinese celadon double gourd vase, a tapestry of Nefertiti, a 19th century travelling chess set, a Baule mask from Africa, a 19th century ormolu and champleve enamel casket, a Meissen bowl, a c500 BC Greek pottery ewer, two ostrich eggs on wooden stands, a green jade foo dog, a 19th century Italian glazed pottery relief plaque and a pair of 19th century Japanese ceremonial chairs.
The sale is now on view in Durrow and the catalogue is online.
A pair of Art Deco silver and mother of pearl belt buckles. UPDATE: THESE MADE €90 AT HAMMER
18TH-CENTURY MAHOGANY CONSOLE TABLE. UPDATE: THIS MADE €1,300 AT HAMMER
This 18th century console table with gadrooned rectangular top comes up at Sheppards Gems in the Attic sale on February 4. The estimate is €1,500-€2,500. The auction is on view in Durrow from February 1. There are 667 lots in total and the catalogue is online.
19th-century ormolu-mounted marquetry Boulle cabinet. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
This historically important Irish cabinet is one of a pair that will highlight Sheppards three day sale of contents from Grange Manor, Kilkenny and other clients on November 26, 27 and 28. Research indicates that the ebony, pewter, brass and tortoiseshell marquetry cabinets were sold as separate lots at the Kilkenny Castle dispersal sale in 1935 as lots 311 and 312. One of the cabinets was sold for 37 pounds and ten shillings then. Almost 90 years later the estimate for the pair of €100,000-€150,000. There is a photograph by Robert French showing them in the Long Gallery at the castle in 1865.
Each sports a rectangular shaped top above two glazed leaf scroll inlaid doors flanking a bacchic mask and ram’s head. There is a decorated central panelled door between fluted brass inset columns. These magnificent cabinets stand on gadroon moulded bases fronted by lion masks terminating on turned toupie feet. The auction will be on view at Grange Manor from November 23-25 and the sale will be in Durrow and online.
These chairs are from a set of 12 plus two carvers which Sheppards will offer at their Legacy of the Big House sale in Durrow from September 24-26. Described as 19th century stately home chairs each one has a gadrooned crest rail above an upholstered panelled show framed back, and an upholstered seat, raised on turned and fluted legs to the fore. The estimate for lot 1162 is €5,000-€8,000. More than 1600 lots will come under the hammer. The catalogue for the auction is online and there will be viewing in Durrow from September 21 – 23. UPDATE: THESE WERE UNSOLD
This Empire style pier table made €160 at Adams in June.
Beautiful, green, sustainable and unwanted …. good antique furniture continues to offer spectacular value to consumers. Armed with just €100 euro you can pick something up at many sales. The choice widens considerably with €300, €500 or €1,000. Disinclined to believe me? There are lots of examples from auctions in the first half of the year in Ireland as follows:
An Empire style circular pier table with brass sphinx head capitals sold for a hammer price of just €160 at the last At Home sale at James Adam in Dublin in June. At the same auction a 19th century circular convex mirror surmounted by an eagle with outstretched wings made €320, a Victorian walnut and parquetry games table made €130 and a Victorian mahogany hall chair made €170.
This George III bureau made €150 at Sheppards in May.
At Sheppards Great Irish Interiors sale in May a 19th century pine pedestal plant stand made €50 at hammer, an Irish 19th century drop leaf kitchen table made €90, a George III mahogany wash stand made €160 and a George III writing bureau sold for €150.
At Woodwards in Cork in April an Edwardian occasional table on tripod base made €40, a Victorian Sutherland table made €90, a Victorian chest on stand made €120 and a Victorian lowboy with herringbone crossbanding made €140. At Marshs in June a two tier centre table made €40, a French escritoire made €120 and a Victorian lady’s work table made €160.
This Victorian lowboy made €140 at Woodwards in April.
An Edwardian oak hall stand made €90 at Lynes and Lynes in April, a Victorian dressing table made €100, an antique side table made €160, a Victorian circular dining table made €50 and a Victorian dumb waiter made €140.
An Edwardian four tier waterfall what not sold for €40 at Fonsie Mealy in February, while at an auction in Castlecomer in May a Georgian glazed bookcase made €210, a Pembroke table made €170 and a Victorian walnut lady’s work table made €180.
The late Cork auctioneer Joe Woodward once remarked that: “There is a bargain at every auction”. That was then and this is now. When it comes to good serviceable antique furniture that has already given years of service and is ready for much more many bargains can be found at every sale nowadays. The prices quoted here are hammer prices and do not include auctioneers fees, but fees on €100 euro do not amount to much. Some auctioneers will even refuse to accept some furniture for sale. Who can blame them? When pieces do not attract any bids and are unsold they must be returned and carriage costs money.
This Victorian dining table made €50 euro at Lynes and Lynes in April.
Not everything is unwanted. Some furniture is sought after and some particularly good pieces make lots of money. Just last October a pair of c1760 George II carved giltwood armchairs, one with a Strahan label, made $152,400 (€139,949) at Sotheby’s in New York. It helps when something is exceptional, with impeccable provenance and preferably a celebrity owner or two.
A 17th century Tibeto Chinese meteorite iron phurba, or dagger.
Irish auctioneers Sheppards of Durrow are likely to be propelled into tv stardom thanks to the Country House Auction, a series of four one hour programmes on Channel 4. The show, which is about to be broadcast, captures all the suspense and excitement of a live sale Sheppards conducted at Castle Durrow early last November.
While Sheppards, Durrow and its castle are the stars of the show a sacred Tibetan meteorite iron Phurba, which made €140,000 at hammer over an estimate of €20,000-€30,000, is the star of the auction and the opening episode. There is much excitement around a Neoclassical chimneypiece in Carrara marble, a gold Cartier collar, a guitar signed by the Rolling Stones and a five stone diamond ring. There is focus too on the owners of 18th century Castle Durrow opening their doors to a public auction for the first time in an opening episode gorgeously narrated by Hattie Morahan which show Durrow and its world renowned auction house in a most beautiful light. The first episode is on August 13 at 9 pm.
A Palitoy Star Wars vinyl cape made a hammer price of €18,500 over an estimate of €8,000-€12,000 at Sheppards in Durrow today. The vintage original carded figure with vinyl cape and laser gun measures two and a quarter inches. It was part of a collection of Star Wars Palitoy toys on offer in the three day auction of contents from St. Austins, Gorey, Co. Wexford taking place in Durrow. Palitoy was a British toy manufacturer which made Star Wars action figures and vehicles on the release of the original trilogy, Star Wars in 1978, The Empire Strikes Back in 1980 and Return of the Jedi in 1983 along with The Power of the Force in 1985. The company also made Action Man and Care Bears but the Star Wars franchise became Palitoy’s biggest seller and original Star Wars figures are highly collectible nowadays. A Palitoy Star Wars Jawa with a cloth cape made €2,800 at hammer at Sheppards today. Other Palitoy Star Wars lots made hammer prices from €520 to €950. The auction of contents from St. Austins continues at Sheppards tomorrow.
19th century gilt framed overmantle UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
A contents auction is always a draw so it would be wise to anticipate plenty of bidders and buyers to see treasures aplenty at elegant 18th century St. Austin’s, Coolgreaney, Co. Wexford.
More than 1,390 lots from this beautifully restored and modernised two storey over basement period home dating to 1763 will come under the hammer at Sheppards in Durrow on July 16, 17 and 18. There will be viewings at the house, located between Gorey and Arklow, today, tomorrow and next Monday from 10 am to 5 pm on each day.
A pair of 18th century console tables UPDATE: THESE MADE 4,000 AT HAMMER
Art and furniture highlights include Achill Island by Grace Henry last sold at Sotheby’s in 2007 (€8,000-€14,000), On the Liffey and The Monastery Wall by Letitia M Hamilton and Gathering Turf by James Humbert Craig (all €5,000-€8,000), a pair of 18th century parcel gilt console tables (€5,000-€8,000), a 19th century large carved giltwood overmantle mirror and an 18th century Dublin longcase clock by William Edwards (both €3,000-€5,000), a c1820 French Restoration ormolu and bronze mantle clock (€1,500-€2,500) and a large Cork Regency brass fender (€1,400-€1,800).
The property which has been sold was home for over 30 years to Alan and Aine Deacon, who had lived in Hong Kong for some time. This is reflected in an eclectic collection of Irish, European and Oriental art and furniture as well as early Irish cartography and collectibles. Much of the furniture, of which there is lots, was acquired from the sale of the original contents when St. Austin’s was home to Major and Mrs. H M E Grogan.
Chinese Famille Jaune table lamp UPDATE: THIS MADE 360 AT HAMMER
Included is a collection of Bordeaux wines, rare whiskeys, kitchenalia, contents of the stables, out offices, garden furniture and statuary. There are some rare edition Snaffles prints (€6,000-€8,000) and the most expensively estimated lot is a white gold Art Deco target ring with sapphires and a three carat diamond (€25,000-€35,000). A Dun Emer Donegal Phoenix carpet, a Mughal hand woven carpet, a Sarouk Tree of Life Carpet and a Persian Kirman carpet are all estimated at €5,000-€8,000.
The garden selection includes urns, furniture, planters, lighting and ornaments. Irish vernacular lots include a settle bed, chairs, stools and some pewter and metal tankards. There are two Japanese silk embroidered wedding kimonos (€100-€150 each), a good selection of various sorts of lighting, 33 lots of wines and spirits, two vintage telephones, 37 lots of arms and armour and a selection of antique boxes. Sales, broken into five sessions for the convenience of bidders, get underway in Durrow and online at 10 am on Tuesday.
One of a pair of large neo-classical garden urns UPDATE: THESE MADE 3,400 AT HAMMER
