PAIR OF CANTONESE 18TH CENTURY EXPORT PORCELAIN VASES AND COVERS
This pair of Cantonese vases made a hammer price of €30,000 over an estimate of €2,000-€3,000 at Adams Townley Hall Country House Collections sale in Dublin yesterday. With a height of 68 they are decorated with views of figures in a court interior and panel of flowering foliage and insects. The covers have finials modelled as temple dogs.
The top lot of the auction was Concert (Three Figures) an oil on canvas by Adam de Coster (1586-1643), regarded as one of the most refined painters of the Flemish Baroque. It made €60,000 at hammer over an estimate of €40,000-€60,000. An Irish 18th century mahogany side table made €38,000, a George III giltwood pier mirror made €36,000, a Louis XIV gold coronation medal made €22,000, a laughing mask by Jean Joseph Carriès made €22,000 and a portrait of the racehorse Bloomsbury with Sam Templeman Up by John Frederick Herring senior made €18,000.
ADAM DE COSTER (1586-1643) – Concert (Three Figures)
IRISH GEORGE III GILTWOOD PIER MIRROR, CIRCA 1765. UPDATE: THIS MADE 36,000 AT HAMMER
This Irish George III giltwood pier mirror in the manner of Matthias Lock is one of the leading lots at Adam’s country house collections sale at Townley Hall on October 13. It was originally owned by the Hamilton family of Hamwood, Co. Meath. It is illustrated in Irish Furniture by The Knight of Glin and James Peill published by Yale University Press in 2007 and featured in Country Life in February 26 in a Jeremy Musson feature on Hamwood, Co. Meath. Hamwood House is now best recognised as the childhood home of celebrated Irish painter Letitia Marion Hamilton (1878-1964) and her sister Eva Hamilton (1876-1960).
The mirror is a fantastic example of the style popular in the George III period. Sometimes colloquially referred to as ‘Chinese Chippendale’, the frame is profusely carved in a confluence of C-scrolls, rockwork and leaf fronds, centred by an angelic mask to base and flanked on either side by wyverns, the shoulders providing perch to a pair of ho-ho birds and centre crest surmounted by a canopy of distinctly Eastern design. The estimate is €40,000-€60,000.
CIRCLE OF JOHN WOOTTON (1682-1764) – A Race on the Beacon Course at Newmarket Races with the Prince of Wales and other Noblemen in the Foreground
A rare officer’s dress sword with gold and diamonds was the top lot at the James Adam Country House Collections sale at Townley Hall. The sword was Presented by the East India Company to Lt. Col. Barry Close (1756-1813) and made a hammer price of €280,000. A painting of a race at Newmarket from the Circle of John Wootton made €55,000; an American silver gilt dinner service made €36,000: a painting of the Hawkesbury River in Australia by Girolamo Nerli (1860-1926) made €32,000; A Prospect of the Most Famous Parts of the World by John Speed made €18,000 and a Louis XV style bureau made €16,000.
Irish George II mahogany side table made €30,000 at hammer
Irish furniture of the mid-18th century can be identified by its specific idiosyncrasies, and in particular with tables and stands, where the frieze and aprons served as the area that furniture makers were able to show off their imagination and skill. Scallop shells were some of the most prominent carvings used as decoration on tables from this period. It emerged as an important part of the lexicon of Irish furniture and decorative arts in the 18th century. The pair of doves which also accompany the shell in the frieze of this table further expressed the symbolism of love, peace and harmony. They are position in opposing directions with wings spread, creating a wonderful balance and sense of movement to the carving. The remainder of the frieze is embellished with fleur-de-lys, foliage and rosettes. This Irish c1750 mahogany side table made a hammer price of €30,000 at the James Adam Townley Hall sale today against an estimate of €30,000-€40,000.
A portrait of Sir Francis Wyndham by John Michael Wright (1617-1694) last auctioned at the Adare Manor sale in 1982 made €73,000 at hammer; a half length portrait of Queen Mary attributed to Sir Godfrey Knellar made €22,000; a still life by Nicola Cassisa, Naples (1680-1730) made €15,000; a set of 12 George II silver dinner plates from Drogheda House, Dublin by by Robert Calderwood c1737 made €14,000; a set of four large George III silver candlesticks by Richard Williams, Dublin c1765 made €14,000; a Dutch Book of Hours made €12,000; a George IV twin pedestal partners desk made €11,000; a 19th century Continental School painting of a Red Ibis made €11,000; a French ormolu mounted commode made €11,000; an 18th century Irish mahogany side table made €8,000; a large Donegal carpet made €10,000, a Regency brass inlaid sofa table made €10,000 and a Victorian silver inkwell in the form of a donkey carrying panniers made €11,000.
A Red Ibis Standing in a Leafy Stream, Continental School, 19th century made €11,000 at hammer over a top estimate of €800.
A pair of Irish George II style carved console tables with hairy paw feet UPDATE; THESE WERE UNSOLD
Silver dinner plates from a grand house on Sackville St., a commode decorated in the neo-classical manner of Angelica Kauffman, a Wyndham family portrait from Adare Manor, an Irish Regency chiffonier almost certainly made in Cork, a very rare Huguenot silver beer mug and even a disgraced cardinal feature at Adam’s spectacular Country House Collection auction next week.
Viewing starts today for this annual auction mostly drawn from country houses in Ireland such as Doneraile, Hamwood and Mount Stewart in the splendid surroundings of Townley Hall, a Georgian country house near Drogheda. The auction will take place over two days, with an online sale on Monday October 14 and a live sale at Adams at St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin on the following day.
This extra special sale is a highlight of the annual antique and fine art calendar in Ireland. With estimates from €100 to €40,000 the emphasis is on quality and rarity which underlines something always re-enforced on these pages; quality is by no means the exclusive preserve of the super rich, it is for anyone with a discriminating eye.
A 1727 Irish beer jug in the Huguenot style UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
Among various highlights on offer is a set of 12 George II silver dinner plates from Drogheda House, Sackville St., Dublin made around 1737 by one of the most celebrated silversmiths of the day Robert Calderwood (€15,000-€20,000). The same estimate is on a George I Irish beer mug made by Matthew Walker c1727. The elegant style of this silver mug was introduced into Ireland by the Huguenots and there is a similar example in the Smithsonian Institution.
A 19th century demi-lune commode complete with painted roundels in the manner of Angelica Kauffman is estimated at €10,000-€15,000. So is a pair of Irish George II style marble top console tables with rectangular marble tops and terminating in block mounted hairy paw feet.
A 1671 portrait of Sir Francis Wyndham, 1st Baronet of Trent in a suit of armour by John Michael Wright (1617-1694) is estimated at €20,000-€30,000. He is associated with Adare and the Quin and Wyndham families and this painting was in the Adare Manor sale in the 1980’s. In the early 19th century the Pain brothers James and George were commissioned to begin redesigning the house into a manor. Their lasting legacy is the spectacular gallery at Adare, then considered to be the largest domestic room in Ireland.
Samuel West – Cardinal Wolsey leaving London after his Disgrace UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
Cardinal Wolsey leaving London after his Disgrace by the Cork artist Samuel West (1810-1867) was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1841, the British Institution in 1842 and the Cork Art Union in 1843. Samuel West was born in Cork in 1810 to a bookseller father who had moved from London and is thought to have started his art education in Cork before moving to Rome to study. The rise of the English statesman and Catholic cardinal Thomas Wolsey coincided with the accession of Henry VIII. He fell out of favour after failing to negotiate an annulment of Henry’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon, retreated to York and died of natural causes following an accident when returning to London to answer charges of treason.
Wolsey lived at the Palace of Whitehall. This was taken over by Henry as his principal residence in the capital and served as seat of English monarchs until destroyed by fire in 1698. Cardinal Wolsey was in a non canonical marriage with Joan Larke of Yarmouth and they had two children. A woman and two children are featured in the painting, now estimated at €20,000-€30,000.
An Irish Regency rosewood and brass inlaid chiffonier has a Dublin trade label but is thought likely to be a Cork piece because of features characteristic of Cork workshops in the 18th and 29th centuries. These include shaped rope twist sides, spiral reeded columns, reeded edge and bun feet. The estimate is €8,000-€12,000. A pair of Waterford oval cut glass mirrors with blue and clear glass border is also estimated at €8,000-€12,000.
If you are unable to make it to Townley Hall the catalogue for this large and impressive sale is online.
An Irish Regency chiffonier, probably made in Cork. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
PAIR OF CHINESE FAMILLE-VERTE BISCUIT FIGURES OF PARROTS, KANGXI (1662 – 1722)
This pair of Kangxi parrots with late 19th century ormolu mounts made a hammer price of €32,000 over a top estimate of €8,000 at the James Adam Country House Collections sale at today. The mounts for the Famille Verte biscuit figures are stamped MB for Theodor Millet. A pair of 1776 elliptical side tables to a design by Wyatt made €50,000, a George III three pillar extending dining table made €19,000, a pair of capriccio Italian landscapes by Willem van der Hagen made €22,000 over a top estimate of €3,000, an Irish George III hall table made €55,000, Lady Nugent’s Hunter by John Ferneley snr made €32,000, an Irish mahogany rectangular side table made €17,000, an 18th century Gisburne Park Rules board made €9,000, The Salmon Leap at Leixlip by Thomas Roberts made €26,000, and a portrait of William Hoare Hume of Humewood by Robert Lucius West made €20,000.
The Blessington Commode attributed to John Kirkhoffer was bought prior to the sale by the National Museum of Ireland.
ATTRIBUTED TO WILLIAM VAN DER HAGEN (FL. 1720-1745) King William III off the coast of Ireland, June 1690, with an English Royal Yacht and the Lord High Admiral’s First-rate Flying the Royal Standard
THIS oil painting attributed to William Van der Hagen sold for a hammer price of 32,000 at the James Adam Country House Collections auction today. Dating to around 1730 it had been estimated at 20,000-30,000. What was expected to be the top lot of the sale, an Irish architectural carved giltwood mirror attributed to John and Francis Booker, failed to find a buyer. The Ploughman by Francis Wheatley made 36,000, a portrait of Mary Boyle nursing her son Charles attributed to Sir Godfrey Kneller made 32,000, a pair of Venetian oil on canvas views by JMW Turner and an Irish mahogany side table each made 26,000, a portrait of Thomas Fane, 8th Earl of Westmorland by Thomas Frye made 18,000; a French carved wood model of the Madonna and Child, probably 16th century, made 16,000; a set of four c1750 George II Irish silver cast candlesticks mark of George Hill made 14,500; a silver model of the Battle of the Boyne obelisk made 12,000; an Irish yewwood library table by Arthur Jones and Co. of Dublin and a family scene in the style of Johan Zoffany each made 11,000; a late 19th century George II style side table by Hicks and a bronze banded short barrel cannon each made 10,000; a suite of 14 George II London silver serving dishes made 9,500; a pair of Neo Classical half circular side tables made 9,000 and a pair of Irish bird and flower pictures by Samuel Dixon made 7,000.
(See posts on antiquesandartireland.com for October 17, October 12 and October 8 2022)
THOMAS FRYE (c.1710-1762) – Portrait of Thomas Fane, 8th Earl of Westmorland, of Brympton D’Evercy in Somerset (1701-1771) UPDATE: THIS MADE 18,000 AT HAMMER
This portrait by the Offaly born artist Thomas Frye comes up as lot 371 on day two of the James Adam Country House Collections sale at Townley Hall on October 18. This magnificent neo-Classical house is the perfect backdrop for an array of some of the finest antiques and artefacts to come on the market in Ireland so far this year. Drawn from many fine Irish country houses and collections, the sale includes 18th and 19th Century furniture with many important Irish pieces, fine period paintings, period portraits and sporting scenes, Irish glass, fine Continental porcelain and a selection of table silver from Birr Castle.
The artist Thomas Frye was from Edenderry and during his lifetime was considered one of the most inventive of Irish Georgian artists. Internationally he won many important commissions including the full length state portrait of Frederick, Prince of Wales. The sitter in the portrait here was 8th Earl of Westmorland, and it was for his grandson, the 10th Earl and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland that Westmorland Street in Dublin was named. The portrait is estimated at €10,000-€15,000.
Day one of the sale is a timed online only auction and the sale on October 18 will be held at St. Stephen’s Green in Dublin. Viewing gets underway at Townley Hall on October 15.
(See post on antiquesandartireland.com for October 8, 2022)
Irish architectural giltwood mirror attributed to John and Francis Booker. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
Some fine examples of the kind of antique Irish furniture that remains much sought after and achieves high prices will come up at the James Adam Country House Collections sale at Townley Hall, Drogheda on October 17 and 18. Leading the auction is an Irish architectural carved giltwood mirror attributed to John and Francis Booker. This one, made c1760, has an arched plate with scrolled cresting and a triangular pediment supported on corbels embellished with leaves. There is an attractive border of interlocking chains within an egg and dart frame. A Booker mirror is indeed a trophy piece and the estimate here is €30,000-€40,000.
A c1750 Irish mahogany side table with a white marble top, central carved scallop shell on cabriole legs with faceted, collared feet is estimated at €25,000-€30,000. Other prime Irish lots among a large furniture selection are a fine c1740 Irish mahogany secretaire chest on chest (€15,000-€20,000), a late 19th century George II style side table by Hicks of Dublin (€10,000-€15,000) and an Irish yew wood library table by Arthur Jones and Co., Dublin (€10,000-€15,000). Made for the 1851 Great Exhibition at Crystal Palace in London this table is a real conversation piece. Adams say (and I disagree) that it is one of only four known survivors of an 18 piece suite, the others being a teapoy (sold at Adams in 2014), a wine cooler bequeathed to the National Trust of Australia by Samuel Henry Ervin, now in Sydney and a card table in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
Irish yew wood side table by Arthur Jones and Co. Dublin. UPDATE: THIS MADE 11,000 AT HAMMER
The reason for doubt is a carved bog yew armchair carved to illustrate the history, antiquities, animals and vegetation of Ireland that I spotted at the Masterpiece Fair in London in early July. This too was made by Arthur Jones and Co. for the Great Exhibition. Perhaps it was a one off and not part of the suite and Adams is indeed correct, but it is enough to make me wonder. Butchoff Antiques had worked hard on this fabulous throne chair since acquiring it at an auction in Ayr in December 2020. They paid £44,000 at hammer, over a top estimate of £3,000, had it re-polished and painstakingly re-covered. At Masterpiece it was labelled a highlight by the vetting committee and priced at £150,000.
Social historians will find interest in a half length portrait by Sir Godfrey Kneller (1646-1723) of Lady Mary Boyle nursing her son Charles. It would have been unusual for a woman in the upper echelons of 17th century society to breastfeed her own children. A wet nurse would have normally been employed. Wife of Lt. Col. Henry Boyle of Castlemartyr and daughter of the Ist Earl of Inchiquin Lady Mary is featured with her third son Charles. At a time of high infant mortality he survived into adulthood and pursued a career in the Navy. The portrait is estimated at €20,000-€30,000. Viewing at Townley Hall gets underway next Saturday (October 15) and continues on Sunday week and Monday week. Day one of the auction on October 17 is a timed online only sale with lots 1-281. The live auction at St. Stephen’s Green on October 18 features lots 300-822. The catalogue is online now.
Sir Godfrey Kneller (1646-1723) – Portrait of Lady Mary Boyle nursing her son Charles. UPDATE: THIS MADE 34,000 AT HAMMER
This 19th century French boulle desk comes up as lot 728 on day two of Adams Country House Collections sale on October 18 and 19. The auction is open for viewing at Townley Hall near Drogheda today, tomorrow and on Sunday. The online is at St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin. This is a showcase of some of the finest pieces of Irish Georgian furniture and important Irish Old Master paintings consigned from many fine old country houses, many of the lots never having been on the auction market before. UPDATE: THIS MADE 1,800 AT HAMMER
(See posts on antiquesandartireland.com for October 9 and October 5, 2021)
