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This 17th century Tibeto-Chinese meteorite iron phurba made a hammer price of €140,000 over a top estimate of €30,000 at Sheppard’s Gentleman’s Library sale in Durrow today. The phurba is a peg or stake deeply rooted in Indo-Tibetan Buddhist traditions and used extensively in various rituals. It is believed to have transformative power. Often made of brass or iron, meteoric iron is particularly prized. The auction continues today and tomorrow.
THIS decorative card table, described as Irish by Sheppards, made a hammer price of €3,600 at the opening session of the three day Legacy of the Big House sale at Sheppards in Durrow today. It had been estimated at €3,000-€5,000. A platinum five stone ring made €18,000; an Irish brass bound peat bucket made €1,900; a Donegal carpet made €4,200 and a Donegal runner made €1,900; a Mappin and Webb plated oil lamp made €1,700; a pair of 19th century wingback armchairs made €2,400, a 1941 painting of Horses in a Parade Ring by the German artist Otto Dill made €3,200; a 19th century French kingwood commode made €2,800 and an Art Nouveau sterling silver punch bowl made €2,600.
A collection of ten artworks by Percy French sold for various prices from €3,400 to €12,000 (2). A French Empire bronze and gilded mantel clock made €6,500 and a Sevres and ormolu mantel clock made €7,000 and a late 17th century lacquered cabinet on stand made €5,500. The sale of around 1,500 lots, with 500 on offer each day, is continuing.
House contents auctions are always brimful of appeal so Sheppards offering from Knocksaintlour House, Cashel, Co. Tipperary and other clients in Durrow on August 15 is bound to be a draw. The top lots are a French Empire style marble specimen table (€5,000-€8,000), a French gilt metal marquetry cylinder bureau, a fine Kirman rug and a large 20th century bronze sculpture of a boy and girl on a bench all estimated at €4,000-€6,000. The selection ranges from a pair of 19th century Marley horses and handlers after Cousteau to a Regency banjo barometer, a designer carved wood log box, a Venetian pier mirror and a pair of ruby glass baskets. There are tables of various types including card tables, chairs, Tiffany style lamps, desks, centrepieces, conservatory armchairs, some silver, a barograph, compact antique furniture pieces and garden furniture including moulded stone lions, a trough and a blacksmith forged steel gate.
The sale of 360 lots is on view at the house in Cashel today and tomorrow (August 12 and 13) and the catalogue is online.
This Chinese lacquered palace folding screen with 12 gilded panels comes up at Sheppards four day sale of contents from Pouldrew House, Co. Waterford and other clients in Durrow from May 9-12. Decorated with exotic birds among blossums Lot 25 is estimated at 3,000-5,000. It is from the collection of the late Dr. Jan Mohamed. Around 2000 lots are to be offered, with 500 coming under the hammer on each day. The catalogue is online. Viewing in Durrow gets underway on May 6 and the catalogue is online. UPDATE: THIS MADE €2,900 AT HAMMER
This 18th century Irish penal cross comes up at Sheppards Irish Vernacular Part II sale on March 28. It is dated 1729 with a well figured corpus among a skull and crossbones. Sheppards will offer 368 lots in a private collection of Irish ceramics, furniture and metalwork. The catalogue is online and there will be viewing in Durrow from March 25-27. The cross is estimated at 2,000-3,000.
This type of auction is developing as more and more collectors opt for rare and unusual collectibles. Auctioneers James Adam will hold their first Irish vernacular sale in Dublin on April 12. This is a new category for Adams.
THE collection of film director Sir John Boorman – whose many credits include Point Blank, Deliverance, Excalibur and Hope & Glory – will be included at Sheppards three day sale in Durrow on February 28, March 1 and 2. Sheppards say the diverse group of works on offer exhibit a lifetime emphasis on beauty and a keen eye for quality. Exceptional collectibles range from vernacular pine to period furniture and two and three dimensional works of art. The sale includes an assemblage of exceptional jewellery, diamonds and other stones from private collections including a 15 carat yellow diamond with an estimate of €250,000-€350,000. There are a number of brilliant cut diamonds of over three carats each and a variety of rings. An interesting collection of silver including a rare pair of Limerick serving spoons by Maurice Fitzgerald (€3,000-€5,000), a Cork silver sugar bowl by Daniel McCarthy (€1,500-€2,500) and a large, heavy silver soup ladle by the Cork maker Carden Terry (€2,500-€3,500). This section offers 73 lots in total.
An important Irish William IV side table heads up more than 300 lots of furniture and is estimated at €10,000-€15,000. A large neo classical marble chimney piece is estimated at €8,000-€12,000 as is a George III breakfront library bookcase. There are plate buckets, centre tables, chests of drawers, butlers trays, chairs, couches, nests of tables, bookcases, desks including an unusual 19th century campaign brass bound desk and mirrors in various woods and lacquers on offer. A 19th century Killarney arbutus wood miniature cabinet depicts Ross Castle and Muckross Abbey on two panel doors which open to a series of drawers. An Audemars Piguet Royal Oak wristwatch is estimated at €30,000-€50,000. It heads up a selection of fine wristwatches at this sale.
A 1932 Austin Six Saloon, an exceptional pair of Buhl pier cabinets and a set of chairs once in the collection of the Dukes of Leinster at Leinster House are among the delights awaiting collectors at auctions around the country in the coming week. The Chatsworth autumn fine art sale by Fonsie Mealy in Castlecomer next Tuesday and Wednesday will run concurrently with three days of sales from Hatherton House, Dartry, Dublin and other clients by Sheppards in Durrow on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Meantime Aidan Foley’s three day antique and home interior sale at Sixmilebridge gets going tomorrow.
The Austin Six at Fonsie Mealy is petrol driven and estimated at €10,000-€15,000. The sale includes a George III breakfront bookcase by Thomas Graham of Clonmel once in the collection of the Villiers-Stuart family (€6,000-€8,000) and a set of 18th century giltwood armchairs in the manner of John Trotter (€4,000-€5,000). The provenance here relates to the Dukes of Leinster at Leinster House and Carton.
Sheppards will offer more than 300 lots of furniture, 100 lots of Chinese ceramics, hundreds of paintings, mirrors and some architectural salvage. Appetising antique furniture includes a pair of exceptional 19th century Buhl pier cabinets (€5,000-€8,000). A Chinese blue and white Leys jar is estimated at €8,000-€10,000. More unusual lots include a pair of Balinese hardwood windows and shutters, and a Balinese door. Library bookcases, Persian rugs, Victorian sideboards and ga
Beached Boats at Brighton, a painting attributed to one of Britains most enduringly popular artists John Constable (1776-1837), is the top lot at Shepards three day Great Irish Interiors sale from May 24-26. The oil on board in a gilt frame is estimated at 20,000-30,000. From a private family collection at Littlehamton in Sussex Sheppards say it is likely to have come from one of the sales at Fosters who sold the contents of Constable’s studios on behalf of his family from 1838 to 1875. The tiny work measures just three and a half by four and a half inches. The sale of 1,204 lots features art, antique furniture and a wide variety of collectibles. The catalogue is online and viewing gets underway in Durrow tomorrow.
This rare Parnell commemorative fender with central amorial cartouche depicting Parnell and Erin go Brach inscribed beneath, framed by scrolling shamrocks and flanked by Irish harps comes as lot 219 at Sheppards sale of Irish vernacular objects on March 29. It is estimated at 300-500.
The sale features a medieval carved wood Mether or communal drinking vessel and a 19th century penny farthing bicycle, each estimated at €4,000 – €6,000. The private collection of ceramics, metalwork and furniture assembled over three generations ia on view in Durrow. There is everything from a 18th century Kildare rush light, a Gibson hedge chair and a 19th century model shop front to an Irish elk skull and antlers. The catalogue for this auction of 403 lots is online.
THE harp that once is commemorated in this bog oak piece which comes up as lot 63 at Sheppards Irish Vernacular sale on March 29. Unrivalled symbols of Ireland the harp and the shamrock are deeply associated with celebrations marking St. Patrick’s Day. The ballad by Thomas Moore (1779-1852) symbolises an Ireland that was still under British domination and begins:
The harp that once through Tara’s halls
The soul of music shed
Now hangs as mute on Tara’s walls
As if the soul were fled
A 1930 version sung by Count John McCormack is available on You Tube. Sheppards sale offers 403 lots. The catalogue is online and the bog oak harp is estimated at 200-300. Happy St. Patrick’s Day.
