A Chinese celadon vase made a record hammer price of 1.2 million at Sheppards online sale in Durrow, Co. Laois today. It had been estimated at 800-1,200. Bidding started at 500. There was a number of serious underbidders, the first of whom dropped out at 130,000. Two bidders quickly chased it all the way to the final price. It was bought by a collector based in Taiwan. The Yongheng vase measures just 54 cms and came from a private collection. It is not known how the 300 year old piece came to Ireland. The sale was based on contents from Castlehyde, home of Michael Flatley on the River Blackwater, but the vase was not part of his collection. The vendor did have some idea that it was possibly worth a lot of money and before the sale a number of potential bidders had registered a serious interest.
Michael Flatley’s clearout of Castlehyde near Fermoy to prepare for a refurbishment offers something for collectors across the board – even those who might be into a spot of cannibalism. Pride of place in the sale, to be held online at Sheppards in Durrow on November 26-27, is the mask worn by Anthony Hopkins when he played Hannibal Lecter, the fictional forensic psychiatrist who liked to eat his victims. Signed by Hopkins and co-star Julianne Moore it is estimated at €80,000-€120,000.
UPDATE: THE HANNIBAL LECTER MASK MADE 85,000 AT HAMMER
AN INTERIOR VIEW OF CASTLEHYDE
Not the usual stuff of country house sales, but the Lord of the Dance, who has poured millions into the restoration of the Palladian mansion on the banks of the River Blackwater, is in the realm of collectors who are more extraordinary than ordinary. He is planning a major overhaul of the interior so these pieces are surplus to requirements.More than 700 items collected during the past 20 years will come under the hammer. Period pieces include a pair of 19th century French marble console tables (€8,000-€12,000), a pair of large gilt bronze figures of nymphs each holding a torch (€5,000-€8,000), a Victorian console table and mirror (€5,000-€8,000) and a pair of Edwardian satinwood wing armchair (€1,400-€1,800). There are medieval style suits of armour (€500-€800 each) which are reproduction. So are the Graeco Roman busts displayed in the dining room (from €500-€1,200). There is a Louis XVI desk (€4,000-€6,000), a full size billiard table (€3,000-€5,000), a hide covered Chesterfield (€1,000-€1,500) and some French Rococo style sofas.When he retired from dancing Michael Flatley took to art. One of his pieces, entitled Finishing Line, is at €40,000-€60,000, the second most expensively estimated item in the auction. UPDATE: THE FINISHING LINE ARTWORK MADE 37,000 AT HAMMER
19th century billiard table. UPDATE: THIS MADE 4,600 AT HAMMER
AN opportunity to submerge those lockdown sorrows arises at Sheppards wines and accessories online auction in Durrow on October 22 and 23. The sale of over 800 lots is broken up into three sessions and the catalogue is online.
A profile by Daniel O’Neill sold for a hammer price of 8,500 over a top estimate of 6,000 at Sheppards sale of The O’Mahony Collection in Durrow on March 24. The auction of a diverse range of works from across the globe moved to an online only sale and proved to be highly successful with no shortage of internet bidders. On Tuesday Sheppards repeated the experience of auctioneers Matthews of Oldcastle, Aidan Foley of Doneraile and Hegarty’s of Bandon, all of whom held successful sales over last weekend. All these auctions changed to online only at the eleventh hour.
The sale of the private collection of Tim O’Mahony in Kilkenny at Sheppards on March 24 is accessible online. Absentee bidding is available, along with telephone bids. This is an auction of 592 lots of decorative arts, paintings and fine furniture. There is everything from malachite postal scales, a shagreen compact and Mughal School miniatures to an 18th century mahogany snap top table, a 19th century specimen table, Staffordshire ware, antique Irish glass and an Iznik octagonal centrepiece.
This silver gilt Viennese enamelled cup is estimated at 300-500. UPDATE: THIS MADE 400 AT HAMMER
As of now most of the auctions planned in Ireland will go ahead. A couple of have been postponed or re-scheduled but most sales are online and online platforms are open and in business. Mullens of Laurel Park is live on The Saleroom today. The sale of The O’Mahony Collection at Sheppards in Durrow on March 24 will go ahead though in-person viewing and attendance has been suspended.
A statement from Sheppards said: “Regrettably, due to the COVID-19 virus outbreak, and our highest priority being the health and well-being of our employees and clients, Sheppard’s has made the unprecedented and difficult decision to suspend in-person attendance at the O’Mahony Collection preview and auction. Clients may participate remotely in the O’Mahony Collection sale. Sheppard’s offers online and mobile browsing and remote bidding by telephone, online, or proxy bid.”
Those planning to travel to view or bid at sales should check their auctioneers websites first. Internationally both Bonhams and Sotheby’s have announced that their auctions will continue and Christie’s is working through a re-structuring of its sales schedules.
A Mughal School illustration at Sheppards. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
An advertising print featuring New York and Chicago baseball players estimated at €80-100 sold for a hammer price of €17,500 at Sheppards in Durrow today. The print, for E and J Burke Finest Pale Ales and Extra Foreign Stout depicted the two players drinking companionably, one with ale from a barrell, the other with stout.
The brothers Edward (1827?-1887) and John Burke (1829-1892) were Irish distillers, brewers, bottlers and importers, cousins of Benjamin Lee Guinness and grandsons of the first Arthur Guinness. The company they founded in. 1847 was in business in New York City from 1874 to 1953. A six story brick warehouse at 616 W 46th St. served as headquarters and storage from 1913-1922.
A Chinese Qing hardwood and silk throne screen with six embroidered panels made €42,000 at hammer. It had been estimated at €30,000-60,000.
A round of applause greeted the sale of a rare Chinese moon flask discovered at a routine valuation at Blarney Castle for a hammer price of 610,000 at Sheppards in Durrow today. It had been estimated at 80,000-120,000. Unusually Sheppards had imposed a special condition of no internet bidding on the piece and registered bidders were required to pay a deposit. The blue and white flask, Bianhu, from a Co. Cork collection was discovered at a valuation by Sheppards at Blarney Castle in September.
(See post on antiquesandartireland.com for September 2, 2019)
The Rescue by Arthur Wardle (1864-1949) was among the top lots on the opening day at Sheppard’s Legacy of the Big House sale in Durrow today. It made a hammer price of 11,000. A pair of 19th century ebony pier cabinets made 9,000 at hammer; a pair of 19th century walnut and marquetry plinths sold for 7,500; a pair of 18th century Gainsborough chairs made 5,600; a 19th century Sevres urn made 5,000 and a pair of 19th century Vienna porcelain ewers made 4,400. The auction continues tomorrow.
This rare Ming vase turned up at a charity antique valuation dayat Blarney Castle. It is believed by auctioneers Sheppards to most likely be a Ming blue and white flask dating from the Yongle Period,1402 – 1424. The flask is extremely rare and has a preliminary minimum estimated value of €40,000 – 60,000. It goes under the hammer at a specialist Masterworks sale at Sheppard’s Irish Auction House in Durrow, Co. Laois next November 7. It was brought in by a county Cork family.
