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  • LATTER DAY SUPREMACY OF CONVENIENCE OVER STYLE

    August 22nd, 2026

    A 12 place canteen of cutlery at Adam’s in Dublin.

    When it comes to 21st century dining convenience is trumped by style almost all of the time. Trump is trumped by style in every single department but that is another story. The leading lot at Adam’s timed online At Home sale which closes next Tuesday (August 25) underlines the latter day supremacy of convenience. The c1937-39 Sheffield Old English pattern canteen in a mahogany George III style chest contains butter knives, sugar tongs, fruit spoons and forks, dessert spoons, a soup ladle, sauce ladles, fish knives and forks, a fish carving knife and fork set, a bone handled four piece carving set, cheese knives and cutlery for every conceivable dining occasion – except eating out of a paper bag or box. 

    This interior sale draws on Irish country houses, city residences and collections with 472 lots from the 18th century to the present day. There is a selection of furniture, silver, ceramics, glass, mirrors, clocks, rugs, lighting, pictures and collectibles. The catalogue, with oodles of character, is online.

    The auction by R J Keighery in Waterford next Monday includes 75 lots of Waterford Crystal including a large globe with chrome fittings among a total of 844 lots. A fully fitted Killarney wood sewing table on pod is estimated at €3,000-€5,000. A luxurious coromandel and brass lady’s travelling vanity box by Austins, the 19th century Dublin cabinetmakers, is similarly estimated. 

    A Killarney wood sewing table at R J Keighery in Waterford.

    RUSSIAN SILVER MOUNTED GLASS BOTTLE AT ADAM’S

    August 20th, 2026

    Russian silver mounted glass pot

    This rare Russian silver mounted glass pot dates to c1900 in Moscow. It was made by Gustav Klingert (1865-1916), originally from Germany who began his career working for Fabergé. It comes up at Adam’s At Home sale on August 25 with an estimate of €800-€1,200. A total of 472 lots feature in this timed online auction.

    THE WORLD THROUGH THE PRISM OF A WATERFORD GLOBE

    August 19th, 2026

    This large Waterford Crystal globe with chrome fittings on a mahogany base is the leading lot at an auction by R.J. Keighery in Waterford on August 24. The estimate is €5,000-€8,000. Over 800 lots, including 75 lots of glass, will come under the hammer at this timed online auction which is now on view. The catalogue is online.

    EARLY FURNITURE BY RENOWNED MAKER JOSEPH WALSH AT CORK AUCTION

    August 17th, 2026

    An early three part cabinet by Joseph Walsh.

    Two early pieces by Joseph Walsh, the innovative world renowned Riverstick, Co. Cork based furniture maker whose work features in major international collections like the National Gallery of Ireland and the Musée des Art Décoratifs in Paris feature at Marshs sale in Ballinhassig, Co. Cork on August 29.

    The first is a sixteen foot long part Canadian cherrywood wall cabinet, comprising centre cabinet and two side cabinets dating to 1999.   The second is a Canadian cherrywood tv cabinet. It is complete with centre cabinet and two side cabinets.

    This is an auction of vintage tractors, lorries, farm machinery and railwayana by Marshs at the Ramble Inn, Ballinhassig, Co. Cork on behalf of Alan and Mary Barry, who are retiring. Among other lots in this sale of 333 lots are a James Crighton thrashing mill, a Terex 8 Ton excavator and an antique yard crane. There is a large selection of original enamel wall signs and a lifelong collection of memorabilia like a Victorian brass cash register, a collection of skillet pots and famine pots and a framed coloured print of the Chetwynd Viaduct.

    The auction will be on view in Ballinhassig on August 26, 27 and 28 and the live and online sale is at 11 am on Saturday August 29.

    A Canadian cherrywood tv cabinet by Joseph Walsh.

    SUMMER SHOW AT THE LAVIT IN CORK

    August 17th, 2026

    Promiseful Journey by Tom Climent

    The summer exhibition of painting,  print, photography, sculpture and craft the at the Lavit Gallery in Cork runs until August 29. Participating artists include Tom Climent,  Johnny Bugler, Debbie Dawson, Deirdre Frost, Etain Hickey, Victor Richardson, Tim Goulding, Damaris Lysaght, John Behan, Rachel Joynt, Jo Kelley and Billy Foley.

    MOST IMPORTANT ROMAN IMPERIAL SCULPTURE AT AUCTION IN OVER A DECADE

    August 16th, 2026

    A marble torso of a Roman Emperor probably representing Augustus, Tiberius or Claudius at Sotheby’s.

    A series of auctions from an amazing single owner collection including the most important Roman Imperial sculpture at auction in over a decade will kick off at Sotheby’s in New York in October.  Assembled over decades it encompasses more than 900 works ranging from Roman Imperial marble, Old Master paintings, ancient Near East ceramics, Islamic court carpets, Royal French furniture, Impressionist masterworks and 20th century design.

    Probably representing Augustus, Tiberius or Claudius the commanding Roman sculpture complete with upper body armour is estimated at $8-$12 million (€6.92-€10.38 million). In one of this collectors residences it stands in a room that holds Richard Avedon’s revered portrait of Marilyn Monroe. Four Savonnerie carpets commissioned by Louis XIV for the Grande Galerie of the Louvre lie beneath furniture that once belonged to Marie Antoinette. Art includes masterworks by Canaletto, Degas, Fragonard, Guardi and Picasso.  Works from a private collection expected to realise more than $60 million (€51.9 million) will be displayed across four floors of Sotheby’s new hq at the Breuer building in New York from October 17-22.  There will be four New York sales on October 21, 22 and 23, with further lots at the Modern evening auction in New York in November.  Prized and precious objects from a mosaic of civilisations will continue to feature at 22 sales in New York and Paris into 2027.

    A c1700 Louis XIV giltwood frame at Sotheby’s

    THE MERCEDES USED BY HITLER’S AMBASSADOR TO IRELAND

    August 15th, 2026

    This 1937 Mercedes Benz was the car used by Hitler’s ambassador to Ireland.

    The 1937 Mercedes 170V Cabriolet B saloon at Marshs sale in Cork on August 29 was registered to the German Ambassador to Ireland during World War II, Dr. Eduard Hempel.  Vintage cars like this one are always highly sought after and its significant  history should add considerable value.

    The Mercedes – refurbished in 1988/89 and in storage since – will form part of a sale of vintage tractors, lorries, farm machinery and railwayana by Marshs at the Ramble Inn, Ballinhassig, Co. Cork on behalf of Alan and Mary Barry, who are retiring.

    Appointed to Dublin by Adolf Hitler in 1937 the career diplomat was pressured to join the Nazi Party in 1938 and remained ambassador until 1945.  Formal diplomatic accreditation was maintained during the Second World War because of Irish neutrality. The German legation at 58 Northumberland Road in Dublin was a hub for intelligence gathering and communication, though its effectiveness was limited by strict surveillance by Irish counter intelligence. 

    It was to Dr. Hempel’s home at Sloperton Road in Dun Laoghaire that Eamon de Valera famously called to express the condolences of the Irish Free State on the death of Hitler in 1945.

    After the war Dr. Hempel and his family were granted asylum and remained here until 1950.  They then returned to Germany where the former ambassador to Ireland helped set up the diplomatic service for the new Federal Republic.  

    Seen from the front.

    THE MEDAUGH COLLECTION OF WOODBLOCK PRINTS AT CHRISTIE’S

    August 13th, 2026

    UTAGAWA HIROSHIGE (1797-1858) – Ohashi bridge, sudden shower at Atake  Courtesy Christie’s Images Ltd., 2026

    Over the course of half a century, the American businessman Alan Medaugh assembled one of the largest and greatest collections of woodblock prints by Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858). Ohashi Atake no yudachi (Ohashi bridge, sudden shower at Atake) is a perfect example of what makes the Medaugh collection special. The image with rain falling across the page is iconic. The condition in full, unfaded color, is pristine. The impression is an early one, with the two boats beside the far shore still visible. The estimate is $50,000-$100,000.

    A group of more than 600 sheets, many of the absolute greatest rarity, quality, and state of preservation focusing on the earliest impressions is to be auctioned at Christie’s in New York. The first of what promises to be a three-sale series of sales on September 17 will include more than 180 prints spanning the artist’s career. Hiroshige is especially famous for his compositions, atypical points of view, and his rich and striking use of colour. His prints helped usher in one of the greatest eras of Japanese printmaking and they changed Western art as well as they were hugely influential on 19th century European art.

    DANCE AROUND A WINE GLASS BY FRANCIS BACON AT BIRR AUCTION

    August 12th, 2026

    Francis Bacon (1909-1992) Chateau Mouton Rothschild, Pauillac Wine Label 1990.

    It is no secret that world renowned artist Francis Bacon was a lover of wine. In 1990 he created a formal dance about a wine-glass for the Mouton Rothschild 1990 label, distorting it to the curve of the label. A copy, still in its original white board tube with the name Chateau Mouton Rothschild and emblem in gilt along with an unused post card depicting the lithograph, will come up at a sale by Purcell Auctioneers in Birr on September 16. It is inscribed in French in homage to Bacon, who offered to Mouton one of his last works and signed both by Bacon and Baronne Philippine de Rothschild. Lot 373 is estimated at €800-€1,600.

    Titled the W B Yeats sale and filled with collectible treasures the auction of 578 lots offers the libraries of the late Professor Warwick Gould and his wife Deirdre Toomey. Both prominent scholars they had a particular interest in the poetry, prose and drama of Yeats. The leading lot in the sale is a first (1726) edition of Gulliver’s Travels with an estimate of €8,000-€16,000.

    FONSIE MEALY SUMMER GARDEN AUCTION NOW ON VIEW

    August 10th, 2026

    Pair of composition stone garden urns, 62 inches high. UPDATE: THESE MADE €1,500 AT HAMMER

    A pair of terracotta coloured composition stone urns, an Italian sandstone model of three cherubs at play, a pair of Gothic Revival cast iron garden seats, a three tier marble fountain and a famine pot from Ballyduff, Co. Waterford are among the top lots at Fonsie Mealy’s summer garden furniture and outdoor effects sale in Castlecomer on August 12.  Viewing for the auction of 192 lots gets underway today. The catalogue is online.

    A set of Victorian wrought irons gates, 110 inches wide. UPDATE: THESE MADE 340 AT HAMMER