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This Gibson Flying V electric guitar formerly owned by Johnny Marr and used by Noel Gallagher during The Monnow Valley sessions prior to the final recording of Oasis’ 1994 debut album ‘Definitely Maybe’ at Sawmills Studio is at Sotheby’s inaugural Popular Culture sale which runs until September 12. Lot 45 is estimated at £60,000-£80,000. There are 64 lots on offer in a sale of artefacts from the worlds of music, film and celebrity.
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.
“Apex” — A Mounted Stegosaurus Skeleton
Apex, a stegosaurus skeleton discovered in Colorado in 2022 sold for $44.6 million at Sotheby’s in New York last night to become the most valuable fossil ever sold at auction. It was bought by Ken Griffin, the Citadel hedge fund founder. Measuring eleven feet tall and 27 feet long the fossil exceeded its pre-sale estimate of $4 – $6 million by more than eleven times at the Natural History auction. There were seven bidders in the hunt. Apex was discovered by professional fossil hunter Jason Cooper. He named it Apex because it would have been the most formidable predator in its environment. It is virtually complete, with 254 fossil bone elements (of an approximate total of 319), with additional 3D printed and sculpted elements. Evidence of arthritis indicate that it lived to an advanced age.
ALEXANDER CALDER – UNTITLED SOLD FOR $57,600
A gouache and ink on paper by Alexander Calder from a Kildare collection sold for $57,600 at Sotheby’s Contemporary Discoveries sale in New York on July 16. It was from the estates of Dr. John and Mary Esther O’Driscoll of Kildare. Notable art collectors, they acquired it at the Crane Kalman Gallery in London in 1974. Long Painting No. 2 by Tony O’Malley from their collection sold at Sotheby’s Irish Art sale in Paris last year for €5,080.
T.E. Lawrence | Seven Pillars of Wisdom, 1926, Cranwell Edition, Col. Pierce Joyce’s copy. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £33,600
This copy of T.E. Lawrence’s Seven Pillars of Wisdom – an autobiographical account of his participation in the Arab Revolt – comes up at Sotheby’s in London on July 11 with an estimate of £26,000-£35,000. It is accompanied by a letter from Lawrence – subject of the film Lawrence of Arabia – to Galway born Colonel Pierce Joyce, expressing his relief that Joyce’s copy of Seven Pillars had reached him, expressing his own feelings about his book’s success, discussing Joyce’s recent retirement as military advisor to King Faisal of Iraq and move home to Ireland, mentioning his own Irish roots (“…We actually come from Killua, in Meath…”).
Col. Pierce Charles Joyce (1878-1965) had joined the Egyptian Army in 1907 and was a key figure in the British support of the Arab Revolt against the Ottomans from its outbreak in 1916. He was commanding officer of Operation Hedgehog, the British military mission to the new Arab army, meaning that for some time Lawrence was nominally under his command. In reality their work ran parallel, with Lawrence advising Emir Feisal – King of Iraq from 1921 to 1933 – on the Bedouin irregulars, and Joyce on the Arab Regulars. Joyce, like Lawrence, led operations against the Hejaz Railway; he also captured the Crusader Castle at Shobak, was responsible for logistical planning for the Allied advance northwards into Palestine, and commanded the armoured cars and artilllery that supported the Arab army in the second half of 1918.
The watercolour illustration for the first edition of JK Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone has become the most valuable Harry Potter item ever sold. It made $1.9 million at Sotheby’s sale of the library of Dr. Rodney P. Swantko in New York after a four way bidding battle. It had been estimated at $400,000 and $600,000 – the highest pre-sale estimate for a Harry Potter-related work.
The artist Thomas Taylor used concentrated watercolours with black pencil outlines. He was only 23 in 1997 when he made the iconic image of Harry Potter standing in front of the Hogwarts Express and it took him two days.
Barry Flanagan – Lament. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR £180,000
Barry Flanagan’s bronze sculpture Lament (2007) at Sotheby’s Modern British and Irish evening auction in London on June 6 is a late exemplar of perhaps the artist’s most celebrated series of works. Cast only two years before Flanagan’s death it combines figuration and abstraction, whimsy and sorrow. The hare becomes anthropomorphic, its arms raised in a theatrical gesture. The hare is captured in a moment of expressive exultation or anguish, as the contorted and twisted body appears to be fluctuating on the verge between the two. Number 1 from the edition of 8, plus four artist’s casts, it is estimated at £150,000-£250,000.
The Allnatt, a fancy vivid yellow diamond of 101.29 carats at Sotheby’s, Geneva. UPDATE: THIS WAS NOT SOLD
Kashmir sapphires, Burmese rubies, Colombian emeralds and lots and lots of diamonds – what’s not to like? Traditionally this is the month for sales which bring a global audience of very rich buyers to Geneva for eye watering jewels with all sorts of exotic provenance and stories histories.
The collections of modern and historic jewellery at sales like these are fascinating. Some lots make millions. But passion for fine jewellery is not the exclusive preserve of the super rich. There will be plenty of pickings for the rest of us at sales on May 14 at both James Adam in Dublin and Matthews in Kells and O’Reilly’s in Dublin on May 15 with no shortage of choices across all price levels.
An exceptional pigeon’s blood ruby and diamond ring at Christie’s. The 5.03 carat ruby originated in Burma (Myanmar). UPDATE: THIS MADE 1 MILLION CHF AT HAMMER (€1.02 MILLION)
On the international scene yellow diamonds are the flavour of the month this month. Christie’s will offer The Yellow Rose in Geneva on May 15, an unmounted rare fancy intense yellow pear modified and brilliant cut diamond of 202.18 carats. Like most intense yellow diamonds it is from South Africa where deposits are rich in nitrogen.
Sotheby’s claim to have one of the world’s most significant fancy vivid yellow diamonds as a highlight of their magnificent jewels sale in Geneva on May 14. The Allnatt – named for its first recorded owner Major Alfred Allnatt, renowned British racehorse owner, philanthropist and patron of the arts – weighs in at 101.29 carats and is celebrated for its richly saturated gold colour, older cutting style and elegant 1950’s mounting by Cartier. It too originates in South Africa and the estimate is 5.6 million – 6.5 million Swiss francs (€5.74 million – €6.67 million).
Both sales are distinguished by one of a kind pieces and historic and modern jewellery from houses like Harry Winston, Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Tiffany, JAR and many others.
Turquoise, lapis lazuli and diamond bracelet at Adams. UPDATE: THIS MADE 19,000 AT HAMMER
Meantime in Ireland viewing is underway both in Dublin and in Kells for the jewellery sales on May 14 at Adams and Matthews and the regular monthly jewellery and silver sale at O’Reilly’s of Francis St. in Dublin takes place on Wednesday. Top lots at Adams include a c1960 Serpenti bracelet watch and a ruby and diamond ring both by Bulgari. Each is estimated at €40,000-€60,000. A rare turquoise, lapis lazuli and diamond bracelet by Fred, Paris c1960 is estimated at €20,000-€30,000.
A Trinity bangle by Cartier is estimated at €6,000-€8,000 while a Trinity ring by the same maker (€700-€900) is one of a selection of lots available at under €1,000 in a catalogue with 268 lots in total.
A vintage diamond and enamel ring by David Morris hallmarked London 1975 is the top lot at O’Reilly’s with an estimate of €58,000-€65,000. It comes with a gold rope link and black enamel surround. A total of 234 lots will come under the hammer.
A selection of lots from Matthews
In Kells the auction at Matthews will offer silver and gold from various executor instructions, pawnbrokers unredeemed pledges and lots from private clients. The top lot is a Toi et Moi diamond ring (€12,000-€18,000). There is much to choose from in a wide selection of rings, brooches, bracelets, earrings, pendants and wristwatches. Happy hunting….
The Italian Version of Popeye Has no Pork in His Diet by Jean-Michel Basquiat at Christie’s. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR $32 MILLION
The Italian Version of Popeye Has no Pork in His Diet, a lawn being sprinkled, a haunting portrait of a lover and muse, scientific literature and Irish and Mexican myth getting the surreal treatment all feature at the big art sales at Christie’s and Sotheby’s in New York this month.
The 20th/21st Century series at Christie’s and masterworks spanning more than a century of production at Sotheby’s underline the glorious diversity of Modern, Contemporary and Post-War Art and the boundary pushing art of now.
Jean-Michel Basquiat’s arresting 1982 work The Italian Version of Popeye has no Pork in His Diet will be a highlight at Christie’s 21st Century evening sale on May 14. Peppered with figures, numbers, shapes and crossed out words it mixes symbols, text and portraiture and is estimated to achieve around $30 million (€28.03 million). It is part of a series featuring tied together wooden supports on which a canvas has been mounted.
In a market that is weaker than latter years Basquiat continues to exert strong pulling power. A highlight at Sotheby’s Contemporary Auction in New York on May 13 is one of the most significant paintings created jointly by Basquiat and Andy Warhol during their famed period of collaboration from 1983 – 1985. “Andy would start one and put something very recognizable on it, or a product logo, and I would sort of deface it” Basquiat said once, while Warhol credited Basquiat with getting him into painting differently. Untitled (1984), a large scale example of this collaborative series, is estimated in the region of $18 million (€16.82 million).
Now aged 86 David Hockney continues to make great art today (he says he does not feel his age when in the studio). Hockney’s mesmerising A Lawn being Sprinkled at Christie’s dates to 1967 and is estimated at $25 million – $35 million (€23.36 million – €32.7 million). It is from the Los Angeles collection of legendary screenwriter, producer and activist Norman Lear and his wife Lyn Davis Lear.
Portrait of George Dyer Crouching by Francis Bacon at Sotheby’s. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR $27,735,000
Francis Bacon’s Portrait of George Dyer Crouching at Sotheby’s Contemporary evening auction on May 13 dates to 1966 and is the first of a cycle of ten monumental portraits of Dyer created between 1966 and 1968. It offers a haunting glimpse of Dyer – who died from a drugs and drink overdose in Paris two days before the opening of the Francis Bacon Retrospective at the Grand Palais in 1971 – both as hero and a figure of vulnerability. The estimate is $30 million – $50 million (€28.03 million – €46.72 million).
Les Distractions de Dagobert by Leonora Carrington at Sotheby’s. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR $28,485,000
Born in 1917 to an upper class Catholic family in rural north west England Leonora Carrington’s childhood was shaped on one hand by rigid social structures and on the other by magical myths from her Irish grandmother and nanny. She returned often to Irish legends, especially in works like Les Distractions de Dagobert which is rife with Celtic imagery. Following a rebellious youth, a brief sojourn with the Parisian Surrealist group and a harrowing flight from war torn Europe Carrington painted this tour de force at the age of 28. The centrepiece at her first retrospective exhibition at the Pierre Matisse gallery in New York in 1948 it is at Sotheby’s Modern evening auction on May 15 with an estimate of $12 million – $18 million.
