What looks like being a charmingly manageable country house sale takes place soon in Co Down. Ballyward Lodge was home for more than half a century to the late John Higginson who died last November. Wing Commander Higginson, scion of a well-known Ulster linen family, was Hon ADC to the Governor of Northern Ireland from 1952 onwards, as well as Deputy Lieutenant for Co Down. He also lavished much attention on both his house and grounds. Dating from the first decades of the 19th century, Ballyward Lodge is a two-storey "gentleman's cottage" overlooking a lake; in the library, a pair of columns was installed from Downhill Castle, one of the 18th century houses built by Frederick Hervey, the eccentric Earl-Bishop of Derry.
Running to approximately 350 lots, the entire contents of Ballyward are being auctioned by Ross's of Belfast. One of the finest items is an Irish circular rosewood centre table on tapered octagonal pillar. Resting on a platform base and brass bun feet, the table has a brass string inlay and brass foliate decoration to the apron. It carries the mark of the Dublin manufacturer Gillingtons, one of the most eminent such businesses in the late 18th/early 19th centuries. John Gillington is recorded at various addresses in the capital between 1794 and 1810; from the latter date onwards, he worked in partnership with his two sons George and Samuel, trading as John Gillington & Sons from both Abbey Street and College Green. The table is expected to fetch £20,000-£25,000 sterling.
The Ballyward sale includes a number of other pieces of Irish-made furniture, such as a set of 12 Georgian sabre-leg dining chairs with fishtail backs below carved falcon heads (£14,000-£16,000) and a mahogany bow-end serving table on four barleysugar legs descending to reeded bun feet with a double rail brass gallery (£6,000-£8,000). Then there is an Irish Georgian mahogany rectangular serving table on square tapered and reeded legs, with a similarly reeded frieze and two drawers; this originally came from a hat shop on Grafton Street in Dublin and seemingly was sat upon by Daniel O'Connell whenever he visited the premises (£6,000-£8,000).
Naturally, there is an abundance of other Georgian pieces, not least a sunburst figured and veneered breakfast table on carved and turned pillar leading to a platform base and four paw feet (£4,000-£6,000), a Regency rosewood library table on cluster giltwood column leading to another platform base (£4,000-£6,000) and a mahogany bookcase with two astral glazed doors above two blind doors (£7,000-£8,000).
Finally, two other items of note are a pair of Georgian mahogany circular revolving two-tier dumb waiters on tripod bases with brass toes and castors (£8,000-£12,000) and a 19th century Italian marble circular pedestal table inlaid with flowers and urns and with a vine-leaf border (£3,000-£4,000). While there are a number of pictures in the sale, only one is of Irish interest, a small Percy French watercolour of a sunset (£2,000-£3,000). Also on offer is a substantial collection of silver (an Irish silver tea service made in Dublin in 1843, £1,500-£2,000 among the lots), as well as the entire contents of the library. In an age when country houses have almost entirely ceased to disgorge their holdings, this looks like an exceptional auction. It takes place at Ballyward Lodge next Saturday beginning at 1 p.m.
