Irish 19th Century mahogany Bureau stamped J.Kerr & Co., No. 68931. UPDATE: THIS MADE 9,500 AT HAMMER
THIS Irish bureau with an estimate of €1,000-€1,500 sold for a hammer price of €9,500 at Fonsie Mealy’s sale in Castlecomer today. The high price achieved was driven by a celebrity connection to Sir Winston Churchill. By family tradition it was gifted by Churchill to Sir Bindon Blood. Churchill had served under Blood at the North West Frontier in 1897 and dedicated his first non-fiction book – The Story of the Malakand Field Force – to him.
(See post on antiquesandartireland.com for February 19, 2025).
19th century giltwood mirror by R.W. Clarke, Cork. UPDATE: THIS MADE 440 AT HAMMER
With everything from a circular giltwood mirror by Clarkes of Cork, an Irish bureau gifted by Winston Churchill and a set of lithographs of Egypt and Nubia to antique pottery from the Della Robia Studio, Birkenhead, a modern home bar and an ebonised Italian dining set Fonsie Mealy’s two day sale in Castlecomer on March 5 and 6 is of wide appeal. UPDATE: THE SALE HAS BEEN RE-SCHEDULED TO MARCH 18-20.
More than 700 lots will come under the hammer over two days. The 19th century bureau (€1,000-€1,500) was, by family tradition, a gift from Churchill to General Sir Bindon Blood. Churchill served under Blood at the North West Frontier in 1897 and dedicated his first non fiction book – The Story of the Malakand Field Force – to him. There will be local interest in a 19th century circular leaf decorated mirror and original plate by R W Clarke of Cork (€200-€300) and collectors will be taken by three terracotta blue and white relief panels attributed to the Harold Rathbone Della Robia Studio in Birkenhead (€800-€1,000).
Collectors of a different sort have lots to choose from like a modern formica glazed and padded home bar, matching shelves and four high stools (€500-€700); a five piece ebonised Italian dining set by Molteni (€1,500-€2,000); four leather armchairs by Rolf Benz (€800-€1,000) and a modern L shaped designer couch (€500-€600).
The excitement surrounding the discovery of the tomb of King Thutmose II in the Valley of the Kings – the first finding of a Pharaoh’s tomb since Tutankhamun over a century ago – adds interest to lot 542, a set of 20 lithographs of Egypt and Nubia (€800-€1,200). These are by Louis Haghe, maple framed in landscape and portrait form and dated 1838. The selection of art includes work by Sean Keating and Fergus O’Ryan and there is a selection of antique furniture and collectibles,
Viewing continues in Castlecomer next Monday and Tuesday from 9.30 am to 5 pm on each day and the catalogue is online.
A modern J shaped home bar. UPDATE: THIS MADE 420 AT HAMMER
Irish 19th Century mahogany Bureau stamped J.Kerr & Co., No. 68931. UPDATE: THIS MADE 9,500 AT HAMMER
By family tradition this bureau was a gift from Sir Winston Churchill to General Sir Bindon Blood. It comes up as lot 576 at Fonsie Mealy’s sale in Castlecomer on March 5 and 6 with an estimate of €1,000-€1,500.
Churchill served under Blood on the North West Frontier in 1897 and dedicated his first non-fiction book – The Story of the Malakand Field Force – to him. Churchill’s dedication reads: “Major-General Sir Bindon Blood, K.C.B., under whose command the operations therein recorded were carried out; by whose generalship they were brought to a successful conclusion; and to whose kindness the author is indebted for the most valuable and fascinating experience of his life”.
Born in 1842 Blood attended The Royal School, Banagher, Co. Offaly, Queen’s College, Galway and the Addiscombe Military College before being commissioned in the Royal Engineers in 1860. After service in Egypt, Afghanistan, India and South Africa he retired to London in 1907. He was made colonel commandant of the Royal Engineers in 1914 and worked to recruit soldiers for the First World War. He was aged 94 when he was made Chief Royal Engineer in 1936. He died in 1940.
