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This George II demi lune tea table is at Woodwards in Cork on March 7 with an estimate of just €300-500. A vintage New York side cabinet, an ornate Louis XV style console mirror and table and an Edwardian doll’s house are among the feature items at an auction which offers a selection of furniture along with Waterford Crystal, paintings and rugs. The catalogue is online. UPDATE: THIS MADE 380 AT HAMMER
Petalas coffee table in jacaranda by Jorge Zalszupin at Adams. UPDATE: THIS MADE 10,000 AT HAMMER
Interiors created by architect designers like William Morris, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Frank Lloyd Wright, Cesar Manrique and Jorge Zalszupin have a seductive appeal that withstands the constant ebb and flow of fashion and is timeless.
Auctions underway in Ireland right now challenge chic antique home designers to build their own timeless lnteriors in genres that range from Mid Century Modern at James Adam to Irish Vernacular by Victor Mee, silver and collectibles at Woodwards and the contents of Cork antique shop Salvagem by Mitchelstown based Ray Alley Auctioneering.
The pickings are rich and mostly affordable, though it must be said that you will not come across objects like Zalszupin’s Petalas coffee table in Jacaranda every day. At €10,000-€15,000 it is among the most expensively estimated lots at Adams in Dublin on October 21. The noted Jewish Polish Brazilian architect designer, who died aged 98 in 2000, founded L’Atelier in Sao Paulo, Brazil in 1959. The iconic Petalas table captures many of his core concerns like minimal ornament, excellence in material, structural innovation and an approach to modernism that is lyrical.
The sale at Adams offers furniture by Eileen Gray, Finn Juhl, Arne Jacobsen, Niels Otto Muller, Arne Vodder, Pierre Jeanneret and Charlotte Perriand, Gerrit Rietveld, le Corbusier, Charles Eames, Monika Graffeo and a range of illustrious designers. There is art by Anselm Kiefer, Alexander Calder, Gerard Byrne, John Boyd, Patrick Graham, Merlin James, Picasso, Georges Rouault, Elizabeth Magill, Liam Belton, Sean Scully and others along with a selection of rugs, lighting and collectible objects.
A silver freedom box at Woodwards sale today. UPDATE: THIS MADE 5,250 AT HAMMER
Irish and English silver, art, militaria and various collectibles will come under the hammer online at Woodwards from 10 am today. The sale is headed by an 1808 silver freedom box by Kean Mahony of Cork with Dublin assay marks (€8,000-€12,000) and a large Birds in Flight bronze by John Behan (€6,000-€10,000). There is Cork and Irish silver including a pair of c1760 salvers by William Reynolds, Cork, a large silver bowl by Padraig O Mathuna with Dublin hallmarks for 1974, a pair of c1780 serving spoons by Maurice Fitzgerald, Limerick and a London silver tea set.
Collectors will find everything from an early 19th century Irish settle bench and a scumbled pine kitchen cupboard to spongeware, a dug out chair, painted pine dressers and hand cut limestone troughs at Victor Mee’s Irish vernacular sale on October 19. These were staples of rural Irish homes made by local people using materials to hand.
A 19th century painted pine dresser from Co. Clare at Victor Mee. UPDATE: THIS MADE 900 AT HAMMER
Irish spongeware pottery made from clay is loved for its colourful decoration and the sale offers a selection of Irish and French pieces. There are floor candle holders and a rare rush light holder from Co. Fermanagh, kitchen tables, chairs, milking stools, a cast iron skillet pot, banks of drawers, wall racks and a 19th century pine washboard in a selection of over 700 lots calculated to stir many old memories of an Ireland that is now vanished.
Antique furniture, rugs, collectibles and lighting from Salvagem, the McCurtain St., Cork antique shop which closed last month, will be auctioned today at the Metropole Hotel in Cork and online by Ray Alley Auctioneering of Mitchelstown. Estimates are very reasonable and the catalogue is online. Salvagem operated since 2020 in an era when many antique shops have been lost. Salvagem owner Michael Wall hopes to continue with an online shop.
A Cork Regency sofa table at the sale of contents from Salvagem antique shop today. UPDATE: THIS MADE 300 AT HAMMER
William IV combination games/sewing table. UPDATE: THIS MADE 320 AT HAMMER
A Regency inlaid teapoy, William IV games/sewing table or a Georgian davenport. Any of these petite antique furniture items would grace a modern house or apartment and all three will come under the hammer with reasonable estimates at Woodwards in Cork on September 27. The teapoy and the games table are reckoned to make €400-€600 each while the davenport has an estimate of €500-€800.
There is a good selection of antique pieces in this sale, from a harlequin set of Cork 11-bar dining chairs (€1,000-€1,500), a Victorian walnut tallboy (€400-€600) and a Georgian hexagonal cellarette (€600-€800) to an Irish Regency secretaire bookcase (€1,000-€1,200), a Georgian walnut bureau (€800-€1,200) and a Georgian kneehole desk (€400-€600). All have provided sterling and elegant service for many years and can do so for many more. The auction offers a large gilt framed mirror (€600-€800), a set of four gilt framed mirrors (€1,000-€1,500), a selection of Persian rugs and three French chandeliers and many other items of interest. The catalogue is online.
Louis XV ormolu mounted desk at Woodwards. UPDATE: THIS MADE 650 AT HAMMER
A Louis XV ormolu mounted desk (€1,000-€2,000), a Sheraton inlaid bowfront sideboard (€600-€800), an Edwardian roll top desk (€750-€1,000), a small Irish Regency bookcase (€400-€500) and a pair of Edwardian demi-lune side tables €750-€1,000) give some indication of the value to be had at Woodwards online auction in Cork on March 29. Some or all of these pieces will be picked up for less than the low estimate. Antique furniture continues to represent very good value. More than 300 lots will come under the hammer.
The decorative interior sale at Victor Mee on March 26 and 27 can be viewed online too. More than 950 lots, headed by an antique Irish Georgian marble fireplace from the Castle Saunderson Estate in Co. Cavan and a cast iron gazebo, will come under the hammer over two online evening sales.
Irish Georgian marble fire surround at Victor Mee. UPDATE: THIS WAS UNSOLD
Birds in Flight by John Behan UPDATE: THIS MADE 8,400 AT HAMMER
A tall and significant Birds in Flight sculpture by John Behan will lead Woodwards sale in Cork on February 8. The appealing series of birds in flight by the much loved Irish sculptor who created the Swan fountain at Bishop Lucey Park in Cork city centre is enduringly popular and sought after. This one is estimated at €10,000-€15,000.
Garden lots on offer include a pair of cast iron domed benches (€2,500-€3,500) and a pair of cast iron vases (€1,200-€1,600). Antique furniture pieces like a Georgian walnut card table, an Irish Georgian display cabinet (each €300-€400), a Georgian wine cooler and an Edwardian display cabinet (each €300-€500), a William IV table and a pair of inlaid tube chairs (each €200-€300) are all modestly and realistically estimated. Art includes a pastel by Tom Walsh. The sale is on view all week and the catalogue is online.
King of the Roads by Tom Walsh. UPDATE: THIS MADE 500 AT HAMMER
John Behan’s bronze sculpture Birds in Flight will highlight the online sale at Woodward Auctioneers in Cork on November 23. One of our most renowned contemporary sculptors, Behan is the subject of a new feature-length film titled Odyssey directed by Donald Taylor-Black documenting his involvement with migrant camps in Greece.
A commitment to social justice has always been part of his work and John Behan, now in his mid-80s, has given art workshops to migrants and refugees in Athens. The bronze at Woodward’s is estimated at €8,000-€12,000.
UPDATE: THIS MADE 17,000 AT HAMMER
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.
Antique furniture at Woodwards, a working Sega arcade game, classic cars and motorbikes and pub memorabilia at a two days sale by Aidan Foley and a house contents auction by Sean Eacrett in Abbeyleix add up to a busy week for all sorts of collectors next week. In Cork Woodwards will be on view from this afternoon for their online sale of 300 lots on March 9. With contents from house sales on Douglas Road and Monkstown it features lots like a Georgian inlaid sideboard (€2,000-€3,000), a set of eight ladder back dining chairs (€3,000-€4,000), a three pillar dining table by O’Connells of Cork (€1,000-€1,500), a Dutch marquetry bureau plat (€1,000-€2,000), a Vernis Martin display cabinet (€1,000-€1,600) and a five piece patio suite (€1,000-€1,500). There are no reserves.
Aidan Foley’s online sale at 6 pm on March 5 and 6 is a one owner collection of over 800 lots of memorabilia for motor enthusiasts and collectors in general. With lots ranging from Toyota and Chrysler cars to a rare working Sega Rally Championship arcade game, a commercial quality Shell petrol pump tool cabinet, a 1988 Yamaha five valve genesis motorcycle, a gleaming Harley Davidson, miniature Dinky toys and lots of pub memorabilia this auction has already created plenty of interest. It is on view on March 3 and 4 at The Old Garage, Ballymacarbry, Co. Waterford. Meantime Sean Eacrett’s sale of more than 1,000 lots of furniture, paintings and collectibles from Heath House, Abbeyleix is headed by a large 19th century hunting table. The sale is at 10 am on March 4 at Abbeyleix Manor Hotel.
More than 300 lots will come under the hammer at Woodwards in Cork on February 4. Furniture includes a set of eight Oriental dining chairs (€600-€800), a Victorian cylinder bureau (€600-€800), an inlaid display cabinet (€400-€600), a Regency sofa table (€400-€600) and Victorian and Georgian card tables at €300-€500 and €300-€400 respectively. A large Persian rug is estimated at €600-€800 and there is a selection of side tables, library tables and tea tables. The auction will feature a selection of porcelain from makers like Royal Doulton, Royal Worcester and Spode as well as some Waterford Crystal and art lots. The catalogue is online.
All auctions with antique furniture offer plenty of opportunities for entry level collectors. The sort of value to be had is underlined at Woodwards sale in Cork on September 24. A selection of Georgian, William IV, Victorian and Edwardian furniture is all available at under €500. Many of these built to last venerable old pieces would have cost more two decades ago than they do today and defy every current trend simply by getting cheaper. If auction history teaches us anything it is that antique pieces from particular eras have to survive a period of unfashionability and a tendency to break them up. The time to come back into some sort of vogue is overdue.
What is slightly puzzling is that in an era like this one when anything goes antique furniture is not at all unfashionable. The best interiors are routinely drawn from many sources – eclectic if you like – and the stylish modern home offers huge scope for individual taste and style in furniture, art and collectibles. Even if we are about to be bled dry by energy costs and inflation we need to feather winter nests for the coming winter. Here are some examples from Woodwards with estimates in brackets: Georgian lowboy (€300-€400); concave cabinet (€300-€400); George II card table (€400-€500); Edwardian demi-lune card table (€300-€400); William IV sideboard (€400-€500); Edardian twin pillar dining table (€300-€400); Edwardian sofa table (€300-€400) and a small bachelors chest (€150-€200). The catalogue is online.
