Malahide auctioneer Denis Drum is holding a sale on his premises next Thursday, which includes a part-house clearance from a Co Dublin property. The most important lot is a satinwood fall-front bureau bookcase with vernis martin; it has a pre-sale estimate of £3,000-£4,000.

A baronial-style walnut veneer Chippendale-tradition dining room table, with eight matching high-back chairs, is expected to go for £2,000-£3,000. An Irish Georgian Cuban mahogany silver table, with shell motif and carving to the knee, should sell for £1,000-£1,500. Another lot which should excite interest is a pair of diamond drop earrings which have been in the same family for some generations. Believed to have been handed to her secretary by Queen Marie Antoinette before the latter's incarceration and execution during the French Revolution, they are expected to sell for £1,000-£1,500.