A Donegal Carpet, Killybegs, Ireland, Early 20th Century. UPDATE: THIS SOLD FOR $6,985
This early 20th century Donegal carpet in exceptional condition comes up at Sotheby’s in New York on January 30 with an estimate of $5,000-$7,000. The previous owner inherited it from his father, an antique restorer, who some 40-odd years ago was commissioned to work on some damaged library panelling for a client. In the course of the restoration he discovered a sealed room in which the carpet had been stored, probably for at least 50 years, which explains its exceptional condition with an extraordinary full pile. It comes up during Old Masters Week aslot 127 in a sale titled The Pleasure of Objects: The Ian and Carolina Irving Collection.
A matched pair of Irish two-light mirror chandeliers. UPDATE: THESE SOLD FOR $6,096
This matched pair of Irish white, cobalt and clear cut glass mirror chandeliers come up at Sotheby’s in New York on January 31 with an estimate of $12,000-$18,000. One is c1800, the other probably later. According to Sotheby’s this particular form of an oval mirror with a faceted glass and hanging girandole appears to be an Irish invention. Related mirror girandoles are in the collections of the National Museum of Ireland, Dublin and the Victoria & Albert Museum, London. They are part of the estate of Houston oil and diesel and trucking magnate Jimmy Younger, who died in 2022 aged 94. The drawings, paintings, sculptures, furniture, and works of decorative art from the collection encapsulate the varied artistic trends that defined European Mannerist and Baroque art of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. He served on many boards including The National Gallery, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Museum of Fine Arts Houston, and The Blanton Museum of Art.
Council of Trent. Canones et decreta sacrosancti oecumenici et generalis Concilii Tridentini, sub Paulo III, Julio III, et Pio III. Rome, 1564. This volume was bound in Rome in the shop of the “Ruiz Binder,” assumed to be the successor to Maestro Luigi, and working regularly for the Vatican.
A Renaissance library of magnificent books and bindings will come up at Sotheby’s in New York in October. Bibliotheca Brookeriana, the T. Kimball Brooker Library of Renaissance Books and Bindings is the only library with the theme and concentration of Brooker’s ever assembled outside of Europe. There will be an unprecedented series of eight auctions of treasured texts celebrating the history of western thought and the art of bookmaking. Collector and scholar T. Kimball Brooker diligently assembled a carefully curated, extraordinary library of more than 1,300 sixteenth-century French and Italian books in their original bindings across more than six decades. Estimated to achieve in excess of $25 million, the collection will be presented in a live evening auction in New York this October – marking the first dedicated Books & Manuscripts evening auction in New York in a decade.
Among the countless treasures is the largest collection of editions from the renowned Aldine Press to come to the market in a century. Numbering approximately 1,000 volumes published roughly from the 1490s to the 1590s, the grouping represents the largest private collection of these revered and highly collectible texts in existence, with other comparable collections held in prominent institutions including University of California, Los Angeles; The Morgan Library & Museum, New York; John Rylands Research Institute and Library in Manchester, England; and The Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin. A series of eight dedicated sales will begin with a live evening sale on October 11 and the first sale dedicated to the Aldine editions on October 12.
One of only two known copies of the official edition of the US Constitution in private hands – the First Printing of the Final Text of the Constitution – will come to auction at Sotheby’s in New York on December 13. One of just 13 copies known to exist, The Adrian Van Sinderen Constitution Is estimated at $20/30 million. This follows the historic November 2021 sale at Sotheby’s of the Goldman Constitution, the other privately owned copy, which made $43.2 million and established a new record for any book, manuscript, or printed text sold at auction.
It last appeared at auction in Philadelphia in 1894, as part of the legendary collection of Charles Colcock Jones, a Georgia lawyer, politician, and amateur historian. The Constitution was acquired as a gift for the young Adrian Van Sinderen (1887-1963) and spurred his early interest in American history and book collecting. Van Sinderen later received encouragement from from his wife’s uncle, William Augustus White, one of the titans of American bibliophily. Van Sinderen himself became one of the most accomplished, if now little recognised, book collectors of the mid-twentieth century.
235 years ago, America’s Founding Fathers signed the United States Constitution at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, marking the formation of the country’s most significant and lasting document—as well as the longest continuing charter of government in the world.
UPDATE: Just hours before the sale Sotheby’s called it off, citing institutional interest in the manuscript. The sale was postponed after consultation with the seller to provide interested institutional investors more time to pursue fundraising efforts.
Irish Silver Soup Tureen and Cover, Richard Sawyer, Dublin, 1807. UPDATE: THIS MADE $8,820
This silver soup tureen and cover, made more than two centuries ago by Richard Sawyer, comes up at Sotheby’s sale of European furniture, silver and ceramics in New York from April 7-12. It is estimated at $8,000-12,000. Weighing 169 ozs the tureen is engraved with a key pattern collar between bold dolphin handles. The lower body is chased with vertical stiff leaves and engraved with talbot’s head crest. Other Irish silver lots in the sale include a two handled cup by Ambrose Boxwell, Dublin 1779 ($1,500-2,500) and a pair of large sauce boats by William Hughes c1775 ($1,500-2,500). UPDATE: The two handled cup made $1,008, the sauceboats made $2,772.
An early 19th century Irish walnut side table from a private collection in Connecticut is one of a number of Irish pieces at an online sale now running at Sotheby’s in New York. It is estimated at $8,000-12,000. Among other Irish offerings at Style: Silver, Furniture, Ceramics at Sotheby’s New York until April 22 are a pair c1835 of William IV giltwood caned armchairs in the manner of James Del Vecchio, Dublin ($6,000-10,000) and a large 1747 silver salver by Thomas Walker, Dublin with the arms of St. Leger with Deane in pretense for St. Leger Aldworth MP. He assumed the name St. Leger on inheriting the estate of his maternal ancestors and in 1776 became Baron Doneraile of Doneraile ($15,000-20,000). A pair of silver candlesticks by John Walker is estimated at $3,000-5,000. A George IV two handled tray by John Bridge of London bears the arms of the See of Tuam, Killala and Achonry, impaling Trench for the Most Rev. Power Trench,Bishop of Tuam and brother of Richard, 2nd Earl of Clancarty. It is estimated at $12,000-18,000.
Irish George IV table with a light brown marble top. Update: This was unsold
THIS large Irish silver salver by Thomas Walker, Dublin comes up at Sotheby’s New York Style Online, silver furniture and ceramics sale which runs until April 22. Dated 1747 the arms are those of St. Leger with Deane in pretense for St. Leger Aldworth M.P. He assumed the name St. Leger on inheriting the estates of his maternal ancestors and in 1776 became Baron Doneraile of Doneraile. It is estimated at $15,000-20,000.
This early 19th century table is one of a number of Irish lots at Sotheby’s Style, Furniture and Ceramics sale in New York on October 24. The George IV walnut marble topped table with a light brown marble top is from a private collection in Connecticut. It is estimated at $20,000-30,000 US dollars. An mid 18th century Irish George III console table is estimated at $30,000-50,000 and a c1740 walnut and rouge royale marble wine cooler described as possibly Irish has an estimate of $50,000-80,000. There are a number of lots of Irish silver in the sale including a 1769 beer mug by John Tudor, Dublin ($4,000-6,000), an 18th century salver by John Hamilton, Dublin ($3,000-5,000), a 1717 octagonal sugar bowl with the makers mark WP ($10,000-20,000) and an octagonal teapot by Mark Twelves, Dubin 1714 ($12,000-18,000).
This 1887 work by Paul Gauguin, Chemin sous les palmiers comes up at Sotheby’s evening sale in New York on May 14. It is one of a series completed by Gauguin on his trip to the Caribbean island of Martinique from June to November of 1887. This was his initial experience as an artist in an island environment. Enthralled by the tropical landscape and native people Gauguin’s strong desire for a life outside Europe was born in Martinique. The paintings he created there foreshadowed the works he would later complete in Tahiti. He departed for Polynesia in 1891. This work from the Levy family collection of Dallas is estimated at $6-8 million.
