This c1780 pair of Louis XVI gilt console tables made a hammer price of €14,000 at Sheppards today. Sheppards four day sale of the Cronin Collection of Seafield House, Donabate continunes on December 9 and 10.
The hectic pace of 2021 continues as the auction world zooms into December. A number of stunning sales in the offing next week in Ireland offer collectors a wide range of stellar choices in the fields of antiques, art and collectibles. Fonsie Mealy’s Christmas Rare Books and Collectors sale is at the Talbot Hotel, Stillorgan on Tuesday and Wednesday, four days of sales with amazing contents from the Cronin collection at Seafield House, Donabate, Co. Dublin get underway at Sheppards in Durrow next Tuesday and the Outstanding Irish Art sale at James Adam on Wednesday evening will follow a strong sale of fine jewellery and watches at Adams on Tuesday. And Aidan Foley will offer more than 2,000 lots at three days of online sales from tomorrow with viewing in Sixmilebridge today.
A full size replica in silver plate of the Liam McCarthy Cup at Fonsie Mealy. UPDATE: THIS MADE 9,000 AT HAMMER
Among more than 1,000 lots at Fonsie Mealy is a prized first edition of Ulysses by James Joyce and full replicas in silver plate of both the Liam McCarthy Cup and the Sam Maguire Cup There will be international interest in.an original engraved facsimile copy of the American Declaration of Independence issued by Order of Congress in 1823 when it was noted that the ink on the original document was fading. This particular copy has direct provenance by family descent to Charles O’Connor, the Irish American democratic lawyer who in 1872 became the first catholic to be nominated for a US Presidential election. With everything from the antiquities of Ireland to Monty Python this auction is on view at the Talbot Hotel, Stillorgan on tomorrow and Monday.
One of a pair of museum quality late nineteenth century satinwood bookcases at Sheppards. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD.
Sheppards have a pair of museum quality 19th century satinwood bookcases from the collection of Cork businessman Liam Cronin. There is a Mannerist Mannerist painting of The baptism of Christ by John the Baptist, once owned by Augustine Roche, Lord Mayor of Cork. His dispersal sale by Marshs, Cork in 1916 had to be postponed from April to July because of the Easter Rising. This is an online sale of 1,637 lots with everything from a Chinese Meiping vase to a 19th century neoclassical overmantle. The auction is on view in Durrow on today, tomorrow and Monday.Adams will offer lots of diamonds, as well as rubies, sapphires, emeralds and all sort of gemstones at their fine jewellery sale in Dublin at 4 pm next Tuesday. Viewing for this dazzling sale is now underway in Dubin.
The Adams sale next Wednesday is particularly strong in mid 20th century art. Through the Streets to the Hills by Jack Yeats from 1950 is a view of Fitzwilliam St., Dublin where Yeats lived from 1919 until he retired to the Portobello Home. It is estimated at €100,000-€150,000. There will be much interest too in a contrasting work, Portrait of Lucian Freud in Patrick Swift’s Hatch St. (€20,000-€30,000) which depicts the young artist in Dublin.Other Modernist works include Edward McGuire’s Barn Owl (€6,000-€8,000) and How Many Miles to London Town (€30,000-€50,000), Trojan Horse (€15,000-€20,000) and Abstract with Toy Train (€20,000-€30,000) all by Colin Middleton.
19TH-CENTURY CHINESE LACQUERED WEDDING CABINET. UPDATE: THIS MADE 1,300 AT HAMMER
This Chinese lacquered wedding cabinet kicks off Sheppards two day sale at Barrettstown House, Newbridge, Co. Kildare online on November 2 and 3. There will be viewing at Barrettstown this weekend. Lot 1 of 788 has a fall front inset with foliate and figural panels, above a signed elongated ornithological panel. It opens to a series of shelves and is furnished with heavy brass carrying handles. The estimate is 1,400-1,800.
This Qing polychrome dish with poetry inscriptions and the seal mark of Qianlong to the base comes up as lot 36 at Sheppards two day sale of contents from Woodfield House, Broadford, Co. Clare online on August 17-18. More than 900 lots are to be sold in four sessions over two days. The auction will include the entire contents of the house, gardens, stables and outoffices, as well as lots from other clients. There will be viewing at the house in accordance with Covid guidelines from August 14-16. The online sale will take place from Castlecomer and the dish pictured here is estimated at 1,500-2,500. UPDATE: THIS MADE 1,800 AT HAMMER
This Regency rosewood sofa table comes up at Sheppards two day sale of from Woodfield House, Broadford, Co. Clare and other clients on August 17 and 18. There will be viewing at the house from August 14-16. The sale will be online from Castlecomer, Co. Kilkenny. More than 900 lots will come under the hammer in an auction which Sheppards has broken up into four separate sessions for the convenience of bidders. The sofa table is lot 24 and estimated at 1,500-2,500. The catalogue for the sale is online.
A large untitled iron sculpture by John Burke, exhibited outside the Crawford Gallery for many years, comes up at Sheppards annual Glantelwe Gardens sale in Durrow on June 30. The catalogue is online and in person viewing gets underway today. One of the most significant figures in the history of sculpture in Ireland the pioneering John Burke, who died in 2006, introduced the use of steel and welding process into an Irish world of sculpture dominated by carved marble and cast bronze. Like any artist ahead of his time his work is not always understood. Two of his best known pieces are the Red Cardinal at the Department of Health in Dublin and the large untitled piece at the Wilton Roundabout in Cork. A native of Clonmel, John Burke studied at the Crawford in Cork and the Royal Academy in London and travelled widely before setting up a workshop and studio near Blarney. He taught at the Crawford and numbered acclaimed artists like Vivienne Roche, Eilis O’Connell and Maud Cotter among his pupils. He made large and small pieces which are held in public and private collections. It is rare to see his work coming up at auction and this piece is estimated at €80,000-€120,000.
Gardens have become much more important in the lives of many of us during lockdown and in this sale Sheppards has no less than 522 lots of architectural ornament, garden statuary and about 30 lots of floral themed jewellery. There is something for every garden and every budget from a half life size bacchanal fountain by Robin Buick (€25,000-€35,000) to a 19th century terracotta chimney pot (€100-€150).
John Burke – Untitled. UPDATE: THIS MADE 110,000 AT HAMMER
A signed watercolour by Lin Fengmian will highlight Sheppards sale of Fortlands House, Charleville, Co. Cork – the home of Mary O’Connor – and other clients on May 19 and 20. Mary O’Connor is well known throughout Ireland as a lady who ran a successful antique business from Fortlands for many years. Lot 572, a watercolour portrait by Lin Fengmian (1900-1991), shows a young girl looking at her hat seated beside a vase of flowers. The face in this portrait by a pioneering artist known for blending Chinese and western styles recalls the style of Modigliani. While in Germany Lin became interested in the teachings of Schopenhauer, who conceived the notion of philosophical pessimism. Schopenhauer recognised certain similarities in Western and Eastern philosophy and suggested that aesthetic contemplation could be an escape from human suffering. This resonated deeply with Lin whose mother was sold when he was seven years old. He never saw her again. Back in China he fell foul of the Cultural Revolution and chose to destroy all his paintings to prevent them being used against him. He was imprisoned for four and a half years. His paintings are highly valued and very rare. This one is estimated at €80,000-€120,000.
Lin Fengmian. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
The two day sale offers a selection of highly affordable lots from furniture and silver to ceramics and collectibles including swords and shillelaghs. There is a plentiful selection of jewellery including a diamond line bracelet (€10,000-€15,000) and Chinese and Oriental ceramics and bronzes, an Edwardian vanity set, modern bookshelves and a foxes head brass door knocker (€100-€150).Lot 209 is a 19th century French marquetry writing desk (€800-€1,200) and there is a similar estimate on a circular Regency dining table. A Victorian mahogany pedestal sideboard is estimated at a mere €300-€500, a Victorian dining table is estimated at €2,500-€3,500 and a Georgian breakfront bookcase at €2,000-€3,000. Given that Sheppards, more than any other Irish auction house, has been successful in selling precious Oriental objects back to collectors in China it seems likely that they will succeed in getting away lot 588 – a Chinese Qing white jade Imperial seal with an estimate of €80,000-€120,000. Of more local interest is a selection of cast iron garden pieces, staddle stones and benches. There is also some country furniture such as a famine chair, a brass bound noggin, a double fish oil light and a pair of elm benches. The auction takes place over four online sessions and the final session on Thursday afternoon will be entirely devoted to silver and plate.
Fletchers Shamrock Table from 1852 and a magnificent contemporary table set by Joseph Walsh – both masterpieces made in Cork – are among the highlights at Sheppards two day Great Irish Interiors online sale next Wednesday and Thursday (April 28-29).
Shamrock table. UPDATE: THIS MADE 69,000 AT HAMMER
John Fletcher was a cabinet maker at 71 Patrick St. in Cork in the 19th century. His remarkable nationalist table is shaped like a shamrock with a central inlaid motif of a female figure of Erin in flowing robes leaning on a harp. It is composed of 13 different woods. When it was sent to America after failing to sell at the Irish Industrial Exhibition of 1852 the Cork poet Daniel Casey wrote a lament. The table – now estimated at €80,000-€120,000 – was exhibited to acclaim at the New York Exhibition of 1853.
Joseph Walsh Prism table and figure of six chairs. UPDATE: THIS MADE 60,000 AT HAMMER
The art of contemporary maker Joseph Walsh is exhibited regularly to similar acclaim these days in America and everywhere else. The work of Joseph Walsh is in the Permanent Collections of The Metropolitan Museum and The Cooper Hewitt in New York, The Centre Pompidou in Paris, our own National Gallery and many other prestige collections. His Prism round dining table and six Figure of Six chairs is estimated at €40,000-€60,000.
With everything from an African Ashanti headrest to a Clonmel longcase clock to crystal chandeliers, a 19th century Irish cased brass theodolite, antique furniture, art and a papier mache and leather artwork of James Joyce seated in a chair by Graham Knuttel the sale at Sheppards is brimful of interest. The catalogue is online.
This pair of Dublin Chippendale carvers come up at Sheppards online auction of contents from Eyrefield Lodge Stud at The Curragh, home to Sir Edmund and Lady Susan Loder, on March 11 and 12. The c1900 chairs are estimated at 1,500-2,500 and come up as lot 95. There are 860 lots from Eyrefield Lodge and other clients and for the convenience of bidders the sales are broken up into four sessions of around 200 lots each.
A triptych portrait of cervical cancer campaigner Vicky Phelan sold for a hammer price of £46,500 at Sheppards in Durrow today. Sold for Heroes Aid, a newly registered charity dedicated to healthcare workers during the pandemic, it is by the Tullamore based artist Vincent Devine. Vicky Phelan’s narrative is conveyed as past, present and future acted out on Doonbeg beach in the west of Ireland. The left-hand panel is dominated by a powerful assemblage of equine flesh and bone whose forward motion is suddenly halted. The sitter engages directly with the viewer in the centre panel. Events, both joyful and traumatic are rendered symbolically. Her outstretched right hand supports a bird, a young crimson rosella, representative of her daughter; on her left hand, her son as a sapling oak. Beneath her left foot, a colonnade represents a legal triumph while shamrocks close to her heart are emblematic of the continuous support she has received from the people of Ireland and beyond. In the right-hand panel a horse is looking backwards and a flickering candle reminds the viewer of the fragility of life itself. The portrait was unveiled on the Late Late Show in January. Vicky Phelan is currently trialling a new cancer drug in the US.
