The Bulgari Pink, a 24 carat fancy intense pink diamond, will be offered at Christie’s Magnificent Jewels auction in Geneva on November 10. It has remained in private European hands for over 70 years and has never before been offered for sale at auction. The rough diamond was acquired in India during the 1950s by the current owner’s great-grandfather and was later entrusted to Bulgari, where it was transformed into the elegant pink diamond ring seen today. At the time Bulgari, the Roman jeweller, was emerging as a destination for some of the world’s most discerning collectors and patrons, making it a natural choice for a diamond of such rarity. The estimate us CHF10-15 million (US$12-18 million).
Among the more unusual lots at the timed online sale by South Dublin Auctions on October 11 is a rare set of Irish uilleann pipes. Stamped by the maker Leo Rowsome Dublin (1903-1970) they are estimated at €1,500-3,000. Rowsome was one of Ireland’s most important uilleann pipers, pipe makers and teachers. Born in Harold’s Cross, Dublin he was the third generation of a famous piping family and learned pipe making from his father, William Rowsome. At just 16 Leo became uilleann-pipe teacher at Dublin’s Municipal School of Music, a position he held for approximately 50 years. Rowsome was a pioneering broadcaster and recording artist who revived the Dublin Pipers’ Club and helped establish Na Píobairí Uilleann. His instruments are highly regarded by players and collectors and his own handmade set is preserved in the National Museum of Ireland.
Walter Frederick Osborne (1859-1903) – In the Market Place of Bruges (1882)
This 1882 oil on canvas by Walter Osborne is one of the leading lots at Morgan O’Driscoll’s Irish and International online art auction on October 20. Exhibited at the Royal Hibernian Academy in 1884 it is estimated at €70,000-100,000. The auction of 172 lots offers many highly collectible works. It will be on view in Skibbereen from October 9-12 and at the RDS in Dublin from October 16-19. The catalogue is online.
Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944) – Das bunte Leben, 1907 (The colourful life)
This monumental canvas by Kandinsky, exhibited to critical acclaim at the Salon d’Automne, is a leading highlight at Christie’s 20th/21st Century London evening sale on October 14. Restituted to the heirs of Hedwig Lewenstein-Weyermannin in 2023 Das bunte Leben is widely regarded as the defining achievement of Kandinsky’s formative years. The sale will feature an exceptional group of masterpieces by Piet Mondrian, Wassily Kandinsky and Andy Warhol, alongside key highlights by David Hockney, Gerhard Richter, Paul Signac, Alexander Calder, Pablo Picasso, Paul Klee, Cy Twombly, Flora Yukhnovich, Lucian Freud, Josef Albers, August Macke and Auguste Rodin, coming from international private collections.
Building on the strong results achieved in the first half of the year, Christie’s will present seven evening, day and online auctions this season, led by Monsoon: The Peter Simon Collection, the highest-value single-owner collection ever offered at Christie’s London. Presented across three dedicated auctions, this exceptional collection of nearly 200 lots from the renowned businessman Peter Simon traces the evolution of 20th-century art, bringing together works that connect the St Ives School with European Modernism, Abstract Expressionism with Op Art, and the School of London with contemporary painting from around the world. Highlights include masterworks by Francis Bacon, Joan Miró, Bridget Riley, Fernand Léger, Hurvin Anderson, Beatriz Milhazes and many others.
Francis Bacon – Study for a Figure c1945 from the Peter Simon Collection
David Hockney – 21st April 2021, Yellow Flowers in a Small Milk Churn 42/50
20 Flowers from Normandy is the title of the David Hockney sale at Sotheby’s in London on October 16. It offers 20 lots, each estimated at £25,000-35,000, of late works painted during the spring of 2021 while the world was in lockdown. The artist got into a routine at his Normandy farmhouse that spring and began painting flowers on the same table from the same seat. The 20 still lives dated from January 30 and April 21 blossomed from a fixed vantage point from late winter to full spring. The iPad paintings on wove paper are from an edition David Hockney died in June, having mastered mediums spanning canvas and paper to iPad. This series now reads as part of a late testament to his never ending creativity and artistry.
PAIR OF ANGLO-INDIAN CARVED TABLES. UPDATE: THESE WERE UNSOLD
This pair of Anglo-Indian carved tables on carved dragon legs are at the timed online sale currently running at Adams Blackrock in Dublin. The estimate is €700-900. Online only sales of antiques and furniture, Irish paintings and jewellery and watches will all end from 7 pm on October 7.
This pair of Irish silver sauceboats by William Egan and Sons, Cork dates to 1982.
A five piece silver tea service and a pair of sauceboats by William Egan and Sons dating respectively to 1979 and 1982 are among the leading lots at Woodwards twice yearly sale of silver, art and collectibles in Cork on October 10. They are estimated at €5,000-€8,000 and €1,200-€2,000.
Among the Cork silver pieces are a set of c1790 teaspoons by Joseph Gibson (€2,000-€3,000), a set of three c1790 dessert spoons stamped “Sterling” by John Warner (€300-€600) and a c1780 bright cut cream jug by John Nicholson (€1,200-€2,000). The auction offers a selection of Victorian and Edwardian sovereigns, an Omega Constellation wristwatch and a ring owned by Bishop Edward Gunn who was appointed a bishop in Mississippi in 1911. Artists featured include William Harrington, Frank Egginton, Marshall Hutson, George Dunne, Alex McKenna and George Nisbet.
BMW ISETTA 300 PLUS BUBBLE CAR 1960 WITH REGISTRATION CERT
This bubble car made a hammer price of €15,000 at RJ Keighery’s auction in Waterford today. It was lovingly driven and cared for a man in his eighties who is downsizing. The car is driving and in excellent order. Tiny, bubble-shaped, with the door in the front and looking considerably more like a piece of 1950’s industrial design than a BMW as we know it today. It was estimated at €15,000-20,000.
The Parisian residence of His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Abdullah Al Thani
It ain’t much but its home doesn’t quite cut it when it comes to the Parisian residence of His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Abdullah Al Thani. Located in the heart of the 7th arrondissement and overlooking the Eiffel Tower this is one of Paris’s most remarkable private interiors, shaped over decades by His Highness and his longstanding creative collaborator, the legendary decorator Alberto Pinto. Architecture, decoration and collecting come together here to create a deeply personal artistic universe, conceived room by room and object by object, reflecting an exacting eye and distinctive vision of beauty.
Next month Sotheby’s will present a series of five auctions with more than 1,400 works with contents from this hôtel particulier spanning old masters, decorative arts, silver, antiques, furniture, paintings and design, revealing a richly layered dialogue between history, art and collecting. Highlights include a remarkable series of paintings by José Maria Sert, a unique group of portraits by Bernard Boutet de Monvel, and a pair of Italian carved giltwood settees from the Galleria Dorata, Palazzo Carrega-Cataldi. The house of Al Thani is the ruling family of Qatar.
Ope, there goes gravity is a show of new work by sculptor Eilis O’Connell at Solomon Gallery in Dublin. The title derives from “Lose Yourself” by Eminem which she often finds playing in her head as she works. Gravity is something that O’Connell is constantly concerned with while developing work. She must adapt her thinking to the limitations of materials while pushing the parameters of the craft to new heights.
A founder member of the National Sculpture Factory in Cork Eilis O’Connell is internationally acclaimed. Her work can be found in numerous high profile public locations in London (Canary Wharf and London Docklands Development Corporation), Cardiff, Newcastle, Wolverhampton, Bristol, Southampton, Milton Keynes and in Dublin, Belfast, Dundalk, Mallow and Cork. Other privately commissioned works can be seen in Lismore Castle, Waterford, Cass Sculpture Foundation, Chatsworth and in private gardens in France and Spain. The show continues until October 24.
