Murano glass and glided metal lily pad wall light originally from The Savoy Hotel London (€500-1,000) UPDATE; THESE WERE UNSOLD
Lily pad Murano glass wall lights once at the Savoy Hotel in London, a pair of gilded bronze tables in the Maison Jansen style, a silk and metal thread Oriental rug, a 1900’s Louis Vuitton travelling trunk and a rare pair of nearly life size wooden ancestral figures from Sulawesi Island, Indonesia all feature at Victor Mee’s spectacular end of year interiors online sale on December 30. More than 800 lots will come under the hammer and they will be on view in Cloverhill, Co. Cavan on December 28 and 29.
One of a pair of nearly life size wooden ancestral figures from Sulawesi Island Indonesia (€1,500-3,000).
Regency bird cage wine cooler. UPDATE: THIS MADE €1,050 AT HAMMER
Is it a bird cage? No it is a bird cage wine cooler among the lots at Victor Mee’s two day online sale in Co. Armagh on November 13 and 14 at 6.30 pm on each day. On offer are complete contents from Umgola house and gardens, Monaghan Road, Armagh in conjunction with the retirement sale of Peter Derry, antique dealer of Annaghmore, Portadown. A total of 960 lots will come under the hammer. The wine cooler is lot 153 and estimated at €1,500-€3,000.
A late 17th/early 18th century Aubusson silk and wool tapestry UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
An antique Aubusson tapestry or an Irish 18th carved giltwood mirror? The choice is yours at Victor Mee’s Escape from the Chateau sale with more than 1,900 lots on October 1, 2, 3 and 4 from 6.30 pm each day. The primary vendor is an Irish antique dealer who is moving home from his chateau in the Charente region.
With an estimate of €6,000-€12,000 the tapestry is one of the top lots from his collection which features antique, interior and decorative lots including an Irish mahogany side table (€4,000-€6,000), a Sheraton four poster bed (€3,000-€6,000), an 18th century Dublin pier mirror, a c1765 giltwood mirror with C scroll carving (€3,000-€6,000 each), Middle Eastern decorative items including coffee tables, lanterns, chargers and coffee pots (€50 to €100) and even a 19th century Dublin pawnbrokers sign from Queen St. (€600-€1,200). The auction is on view in Co. Cavan and the catalogue is online.
Irish 18th century carved giltwood pier mirror. UPDATE: THIS MADE 2,900 AT HAMMER
Shell petrol pump. UPDATE: THIS MADE 3,000 AT HAMMER
In an era when the market for collectibles is expanding Cavan based Victor Mee Auctions has led the charge on pub memorabilia. Nostalgia is sure to reign supreme during three days of sales with over 1,400 lots on September 17, 18 and 19 from 6.30 pm on each day.
UPDATE: THE DATES FOR THIS SALE HAVE BEEN CHANGED TO SEPTEMBER 24, 25 AND 26.
The lots on offer in this sale are freighted with memory. The way we lived then is making good business for auctioneers in Ireland. How about a rare 19th century Cadbury’s Chocolate mahogany and glass floor display cabinet from some long vanished sweetshop of yore? Or an early 20th century chrome National till of a sort that graced so many retail establishments, or even a Michelin Man.
19th century Cadbury’s floor display cabinet. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
A yellow Shell petrol pump complete with white scallop shell light and vivid red writing recalled filling stations up and down the country and Edward Hopper’s famous 1940 painting Gas. This too represents a vanished era but the petrol pumps Hopper depicts are selling Mobil.
The good news is that 21st century collectors like the sort of lot that was once to be found everywhere. “We’ve been doing the advertising and memorabilia for a long time now,” said Victor Mee. “It’s a very, very interesting area of antiques because there’s so much history, and in that there existed such competition. The variety of merchandise and advertising made over the eras makes hunting for rarities an exciting game”.
Mirrors advertising whiskey are always sought after and there is a share of them of offer in this auction. One off items like the 20th century Guinness mahogany bar back from The O’Conor Don pub in Marylebone, with a central mirror flanked by Guinness Harps, are unlikely to come our way again. This establishment claimed to be the oldest Irish pub in London. The estimate is €600-€1,200.
There are signs of damp on an old framed Allman’s Irish Whisky pure pot still framed advertising showcard. This memento of the rare old times in Bandon and beyond is estimated at just €400-€600.
Craven A cork tipped Virginia cigarettes advertising print: Will not affect your throat. UPDATE: THIS MADE 80 AT HAMMER
If you thought social media misinformation was something new then lot 636 might inspire a rethink. A framed advertising card for Craven A Cork tipped Virginia cigarettes claims they will not affect your throat. The estimate here is €120-€220. The petrol pump is estimated at €3,700-€4,700, the Cadbury’s display cabinet at €3,000-€5,000, the chrome till at €800-€1,200 and the most expensively estimated lot is a 19th century McConnell’s Old Irish Whisky Cromac Distillery, Belfast mirror at €3,000-€6,000. What this sale has in spades is variety.
Allman’s Irish Whiskey Pure Pot Still framed advertising showcard. UPDATE: THIS MADE 380 AT HAMMER
Fenders are having a moment at auction in Ireland. This good quality brass club fender made 2,000 at hammer on the opening night of Victor Mee’s three day decorative interiors and art sale in Belturbet, Co. Cavan last night. Just last week a large Cork regency brass fender made 1,300 at hammer at Sheppards three day sale of contents from St. Austins, Gorey, Co. Wexford. And a brass and leather club fender made 1,500 at last nights sale. The auction by Victor Mee continues this evening and tomorrow.
This 19th century band stand originally from the St. Louis Convent in Co. Monaghan made 5,000 at hammer
A rare 19th century bandstand from the St. Louis Convent in Co. Monaghan made a hammer price of €5,000 on day of Victor Mee’s two day summer garden sale today. It comes complete with cast iron Corinthian columns, timber frame and zinc roof. The guttering, not in the photograph, is included. A good quality wrought iron French greenhouse in the Victorian style made 6,200. A pair of bronze statues of foals and a bronze of a bellowing stag each made 4,000 and a decorated moulded sandstone fountain made €3,900. A set of entrance gates with cast iron gates posts made 3,200 and a pair of 19th century cast recumbent lions made 2,950.
This 19th century carved limestone entrance staircase is at Victor Mee’s annual summer garden sale on May 28 and 29. With its sweeping sides, five steps and pillared planters it is estimated at €5,000-€8,000. More than 1,000 lots will come under the hammer on consecutive evenings and the catalogue is online. UPDATE: THIS MADE 8,200 AT HAMMER
A 19th century French oak pantry cupboard. UPDATE: THIS MADE 1,600 AT HAMMER
For those hell bent on upscaling an interior and adding a touch of real individuality the sort of lots that can set the imagination soaring can be found in plenty at Victor Mee’s decorative interiors sale on April 24 and 25.
Among an eclectic selection of items are an early 19th century French oak pantry cupboard (€1,500-€3,000), a pair of Ralph Lauren brass wall sconces (€600-€1,200), a 19th century French copper bath (€600-€1,200), a life sized stuffed brown bear (€4,000-€8,000) and a Grecian urn (€450-€850).
Or how about a now rare early 20th century bronze luggage and coat rack complete with mirror (€200-€400). These were a familiar sight on all trains once so this one should jog memories.
The Grand Tour plaster cast Grecian urn on pedestal might stimulate an irresistible urge to try to compose like the Romantic poet John Keats. His famous Ode to a Grecian Urn concludes with the words:
“Beauty is truth, truth beauty, – that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know”.
A 19th century life size taxidermy brown bear UPDATE: THIS MADE 3,000 AT HAMMER
A full page account of the Kilmichael Ambush carried out by a Flying Column of the West Cork Brigade comes up as lot 87 at Victor Mee’s sale on March 19. Complete with photographs and a hand drawing of the ambush site, where 36 IRA volunteers commanded by General Tom Barry ambushed and killed 16 members of the RIC in Kilmichael in November 1920 the sepia coloured broadsheet newspaper page with some staining comes up as lot 87 and is estimated at €200-€400. The Battlefields and Silver Screen auction, with 523 lots, offers military artefacts, Irish silver and film posters. A framed 19th century silk Fenian Sash is, at €2,000-€4,000, the most expensively estimated lot in a sale with everything from a Wanted poster for Billy the Kid to Georgian Irish silver sauce boats, a 19th century Dublin flintlock blunderbuss, the Sinn Fein Rebellion Handbook of Easter 1916, a film poster for Jaws and original World War I enlistment posters.
A 19th century Strahan dining table. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
From a 15 foot long dining table by Robert Strahan and a resin cast of a pair of Irish elk antlers and skull to a 19th century spinning wheel, an antique divers helmet and pairs of Art Nouveau glass panels the online interiors sale by Victor Mee over two evenings on February 27-28 is brimful of interest. Just under 1,000 lots will come under the hammer at auctions beginning each day at 5.30 pm. The Strahan table with five leaves is from a Victorian house on Temple Road, Dublin and estimated at €4,000-€8,000. There are cast iron dogs, peat buckets, side tables, a decorative gilt sunburst mirror, easy chairs, a Dior advertising figure with black gloves, Tiffany style lamps, a Chesterfield settee in an online catalogue that features antique furniture, art, carpets and furnishings for a decorative interior.
A gilt sunburst mirror UPDATE: THIS MADE 300 AT HAMMER
