Two exceptionally rare Irish gold ciboria discovered at the Convent of Mercy in Newry, authenticated as important examples of nineteenth-century Irish ecclesiastical pieces, come up at Victor Mee’s convent sale on June 9, 10 and 11. Hallmarked in Dublin and dating from 1881 and 1882 they were made by Dublin goldsmith John Donegan. Crafted in 22-carat gold and decorated with intricate foliate ornamentation, both pieces are surmounted by crosses. One ciborium contains an insert set with nine old-cut diamonds and three moissanites. Lots 852 and 861 are each estimated at €30,000-€40,000. A ciborium is a covered vessel used to hold consecrated hosts for the Christian Eucharist.
Achill Sound, a gouache on board by Markey Robinson, is lot 6 at Morgan O’Driscoll’s off the wall art auctions which runs to 6.30 pm on June 8. The estimate is €1,000-1,500. More than 450 affordable lots of art are on the catalogue. There are etchings by popular artists like Sean Scully, Donald Teskey and William Crozier, oils by Norman McCaig, Brian Ballard, Kenneth Webb and Graham Knuttel, drawings by Tony O’Malley, Mainie Jellett and John Butler Yeats and sculpture by Siobhan Bulfin and Michael Foley among the wide selection on offer. The auction kicks off with a pastel on paper by John Shinnors, Day at the Circus II and the catalogue is online.
Francois Xavier Lalanne – Set of four Grenouille Fountains (1981) at Christie’s.
The most expensive frog fountains in the world are heading to the auction block at Christie’s design sale in New York on June 10. From the collection of American designer Alexandra Marshall, who commissioned them directly from the artist in 1981, the set of four Grenouille fountains designed by Francois Xavier Lalanne are estimated at $2.5 million – $3.5 million (€2.15 million – €3 million). Cast in patinated bronze the playful fountains are finished in a bright turquoise green with mouths that open when the water is turned on and close when it is turned off. They are the most expensively estimated lot at a sale at Christie’s which features titans of design from Tiffany studios and William Morris to Alberto Giacometti, Charlotte Perriand, Jean Prouvé and Joaquim Tenreiro.
Sleeping by the Lion Carpet, a masterpiece by Lucian Freud, the final work of the artist’s celebrated quartet of monumental portraits of benefits supervisor Sue Tilley, is at Sotheby’s in London on June 24 with an estimate of £25 million – £35 million (€28.89 million – €40.44 million). The four monumental canvases Freud painted of Tilley between 1993 and 1996 are widely regarded not only as the artist’s greatest body of work, but also among the most radical and powerful paintings of the human figure in the entire history of art. The last time a painting from the series came to auction it made history. When Benefits Supervisor Resting sold for $56.2 million (€48.24 million) in 2015 it was a record for Freud and any living artist. Sleeping by the Lion Carpet is from the Lewis Collection, assembled by former Tottenham Hotspur owner Joe Lewis and his daughter Vivienne. It promises to be the most valuable single collection ever offered in London.
Brian Hurley of Kinsale will bring a selection of porcelain like this appetising Cantonese set to the National Antiques Art and Vintage Fair at Limerick Racecourse this weekend.
The National antique, art and vintage fair at Limerick racecourse, a two day At Home sale by Adam’s and one of the largest ever convent contents sales by Victor Mee make for a very busy upcoming week.
Collectors will find all sorts of everything from rugs to art to porcelain and cloissonné ware to coins and banknotes and antique furniture at Ireland’s biggest fair at Limerick Racecourse at 11 am today (June 6) and tomorrow.
With Tiffany style lamps from Raymond Byrne, porcelain from Brian Hurley, coins and miltaria from Robert Hutchinson, art from Treasures of Athlone and galleries like the Purple Onion, Persian rugs from Annamoe Antiques, variety at Country Mile Antiques and jewellery and vintage items this treasure trove has the capacity to fire the imagination of any collector. There is ample parking, loads of space and price points to suit every pocket.
A c1755 Limerick silver sugar bowl at Adam’s.
A real Limerick rarity, a c1755 silver sugar bowl by Jasper Johns, is the top lot on day one at Adam’s At Home auction on June 9. The two day online only sale is on view in Dublin from today until Tuesday. There is an extensive collection of silver, fine furniture, rugs, decorative interiors and works of art among 610 lots on offer. The auction on June 8 with 255 lots is dedicated to silver and offers an appetising selection of rare Irish provincial silver from Limerick and Cork. The Jasper Johns sugar bowl has an estimate of €8,000-€10,000. Other top lots include a Limerick soup ladle by Samuel Johns (€5,000-€7,000), a pair of serving spoons by Maurice Fitzgerald of Limerick c1780 (€4,500-€5,500), a near pair of c1795 Cork silver sauce boats by John Warner (€4,500-€5,500), a c1790 Cork sugar bowl by John Gibson (€3,000-€5,000), a c1780 Cork silver soup ladle by Carden Terry (€2,500-€3,500) and a c1755 Cork silver loving cup by John Warner (€2,000-€3,000).
Anglo American sunglasses from the 1970’s designed by Lawrence Jenkin at Adams.
Among the more unusual lots at Adam’s on Wednesday are two pairs of highly distinctive vintage Anglo-American sunglasses by Lawrence Jenkin from the 1970’s, Parrots and Liberty Flame (€500-€700). Another timely offering is a pair of 1985 Oliver Goldsmith Tennis Racquets Wimbledon sunglasses (€800-€1,200). Leading lots on the second day of the At Home auction are a 19th century Louis XVI style giltwood suite (€3,000-€5,000), an inlaid Killarney wood jewellery cabinet (€2,000-€3,000), a pair of Italian marquetry and walnut console tables (€2,000-€3,000), a Kashan carpet from central Persia (€2,000-€3,000) and a George IV mahogany dining table on twin quadruped supports (€1,500-€2,500).
The 1700 lot three day sale by Victor Mee of contents from the Convent of Mercy in Newry, other convents and clients next Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday is remarkable on many fronts. One of the largest convents sales ever held in Ireland harks back to the 1990’s when convent and friary sales were frequent. Nowadays it is the contents of pubs that feature regularly at sales. The old Ireland is transforming, rapidly, in front of our eyes.
A re-discovered triptych by Sir John Lavery at Victor Mee.A
Among top lots in an auction on view in Newry until Monday evening are two remarkable Killarney wood pieces of furniture, a marquetry davenport and a shaped centre table, each estimated at €8,000-€12,000 and a rediscovered painting of The Madonna of the Lakes by Sir John Lavery (€5,000-€10,000). The study for the Lavery triptych in St. Patrick’s Church, Belfast was presented by the artist to Fr. John O’Neill in 1919. It depicts the Madonna, St. Patrick and St. Brigid and is estimated at €5,000-€10,000).
There are six harps made by the Belfast craftsman James McFall in the late 19th/early 20th. centuries. The McFall harp, closely associated with the Irish cultural revival movement, became popular in convent schools and institutions throughout Ireland. The auction offers a large Irish Georgian breakfront bookcase, a wake table measuring ten feet in length and various other lots of Killarney furniture. This is a sale with a strong mix of ecclesiastical pieces, Irish furniture, silver, art and interiors. The online catalogue will reward a thorough examination.
John Constable (1776-1837) – Cottage in the Wood (1832) at Sheppards.
Cottage in the Wood (1832), a rare oil sketch by John Constable painted en plein air, leads Sheppards sale of Irish and international art in Durrow on June 10. According to former Crawford Gallery curator Dr. Peter Murray the scene is most likely Dedham Vale and this might well be Willy Lott’s cottage on the banks of the Stour near Flatford Mill, scene of Constable’s most famous work The Hay Wain. The estimate is €30,000-€50,000. This varied auction of 436 lots has work by David Hockney, Gerard Byrne, Arthur Maderson, Kenneth Webb, Henry Albert Hartland, Mildred Anne Butler, Louis le Brocquy, John Behan, Sean Scully and two works by emerging Dingle based artist Honora O’Neill. The sale is now on view in Durrow and the catalogue is online.
The three most expensively estimated lots at Gormley’s Irish and international art auction on the evening of June 9 – at €10,000-€15,000 – are by J B Vallely, Colin Middleton and Andy Warhol. They are titled respectively Five Fiddles, Female Figure and Portrait and Love FS II.310. Among 165 works are a study for a portrait of John Edwards by Francis Bacon, Les Fleurs du Mal by Georges Rouault, Five Faces of Eric Clapton by Patti Boyd and a seascape doodle on a restaurant napkin by Mohammed Ali. There is art by Markey Robinson, Mildred Anne Butler, Jack B Yeats, Mainie Jellett, Basil Blackshaw, Gladys MacCabe, Hector McDonnell, John Shinnors, Nano Reid and many more. The catalogue is online.
Colin Middleton – Female Figure and Portrait at Gormley’s.
Viewing gets underway in Newry tomorrow (June 5) for Victor Mee’s three day online sale of interiors and decorative arts on June 9, 10 and 11. The auction of contents from the Convent of Mercy at Catherine St. in Newry, other Mercy convents and some other clients features more than 1700 lots. Among them are six harps made by the Belfast craftsman James McFall in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The McFall harp is closely associated with the Irish cultural revival. The Armagh harp pictured here is lot 386 and estimated at€2,000-€4,000. It is decorated with carved and painted Irish Celtic motifs and complete with a McFall brass plaque which dates it to 1903. The sale also offers a good selection of quality Killarney furniture.
This oil on canvas of the Wexford waterfront by Kenneth Webb, framed by the David Hendricks Gallery in Dublin, is lot 20 at Sheppards sale of Irish and International Art on June 10. The estimate is €3,500-€5,500. The sale includes art by John Constable, Louis Le Brocquy, Jacques Francois Carabain, James Humbert Craig, Evie Hone, David Hockney, Sean Scully, Cecil Maguire, Kenneth Webb, Pauline Bewick, William Percy French, Mildred Anne Butler, Felim Egan, Charles Lamb, John Behan, Anthony Scott, Elizabeth Le Jeune, Rory Breslin, and many more. There are 436 lots in total and viewing is now underway in Durrow. The catalogue is online.
Georgian Irish silver buttons. UPDATE: THESE MADE €1,420 at hammer
A set of seven c1760 Georgian Irish silver buttons, inscribed ‘Armagh Hunt’ and with an engraving of a hare is one of the more unusual lots at the online sale by O’Donovan’s of Newcastlewest on June 3. The estimate is €300-350. The evening auction offers 439 lots of period furniture, hallmarked silver, shop and pub clearances, enamel signs and collectibles. The catalogue is online.
Sir William Orpen N.E.A.C., R.A., H.R.H.A. (Irish, 1878-1931) – The Swinton Family
This 1901 portrait by Sir William Orpen of the Swinton family is among the highlights at Bonhams Modern British and Irish art sale in London on June 24. Painted at their home in Pont St., London shortly after Orpen had begun to exhibit at the New English Art Club it shows Captain George Sitwell Campbell-Swinton (1859-1937), of Kimmerghame House, near Duns in the Scottish Borders, his wife Elsie (1874-1966) standing and her children, Mary (1899-1984) and Alan (1896-1972), with the family terrier. Alan, grandfather of the Scottish film actress, Tilda Swinton, has his head framed by an ancient armorial chest. He would eventually inherit the title of sixth Laird of Kimmerghame. Orpen with his easel is reflected in the mirror. The estimate is £120,000-180,000 (€140,000-210,000).
