This is clearly the time to sell - or buy - Irish pictures, since still more examples come up for auction at Adams of Blackrock, Co Dublin next Monday evening. The 6.30 p.m. sale also includes examples of European art, but undoubtedly the focus of attention will be on domestic work, such as the six oils by Aloysius O'Kelly. The highest estimate among these is on Fishing Fleet, Connemara; it is expected to make between £5,000 and £7,000 while another O'Kelly called Coast View, Brittany has a pre-sale estimate of £4,000-£6,000. The other four pictures by this artist are valued between £3,000 and £5,000.
The Adams sales always seem to include a couple of Percy French watercolours and this occasion is no exception. Two Connemara views have estimates of £1,500-£1,800 and £1,500-£2,000 respectively and a sketchbook containing 22 leaves is expected to go for £800-£1,200. A portrait profile of a woman by Sir John Lavery (£4,000 to £6,000) ought to soon find a buyer, as should Maurice Wilk's At Minerstown, Co Down (£3,500 to £4,500), one of several pictures in the sale by this artist; his Coastal Landscape near Carlingford carries an estimate of £1,000 to £1,500.
Other estimates here include: £1,250 to £1,500 for Frank Egginton's Sheep Grazing in Glenmore, Co Kerry; £6,000 to £8,000 for Francis Wheatley's The Reconciliation; £1,800 to £2,500 for George Russell's Riding the Waves; £5,000 to £7,000 for a still life by Colin Middleton; and £2,500 to £3,500 for Edwin Hayes's Stormy Seas near Howth. Forthcoming Fairs
Book dealers besiege Derry
The first book fair to be held in the northwest of Ireland takes place today at the Northern Counties Club on Bishop Street in Derry. Opening to the public at 10 a.m., the event is expected to attract more than 15 dealers, libraries and institutions from North and South. While there will be a particular focus on the immediate region, many other items of wider interest will also be on offer.
Strong focus on collectors' pieces
Collectors' pieces will provide a strong focus at tomorrow's antiques fair in Dublin's Newman House which starts at 11 a.m. Dealers specialising in paper memorabilia including postcards, postal history, political pamphlets and film posters will all be present. Print dealers An Walls will be showing Pettigrew and Oulton's maps of Dublin and other 19th century maps of the capital.
Picture specialist Elaine Cains is to offer a large number of Victorian watercolours and newcomer to the fair Dermot O'Donoghue will have a range of Victoriana such as oil lamps, brass architectural fittings, glass and silverware. In addition, several dealers present will feature antique silver, porcelain and jewellery.
Forthcoming Auctions
Stromier clock under hammer
Mullen Bros of Oldcastle, Co Meath is holding an auction on the company's premises next Tuesday evening beginning at 6.30 p.m. Items in this sale include a 19th century mahogany longcase clock by George Stromier of Glasgow (£1,500 to £2,000) and a Victorian four-door breakfront bookcase with secretaire (£3,500 to £4,000). Also on offer will be a mahogany Irish wakes table (£5,000 to £7,000), an Edwardian inlaid display cabinet and a William IV double-end mahogany sofa (both £800 to £1,000) and a pair of 19th century American Shaker chairs (£250 to £300).
Auction Results
Best attended sale of year
More than £130,000 was paid for the 330-odd lots at Mullen's of Laurel Park auction last Monday, described by the company's David Allen as "our best-viewed and attended sale this year." Both a pair of William IV mahogany open bookcases and an Edwardian mahogany openfront bookcase made the same price of £2,300 and a late 18th century mahogany sideboard went for £2,200. A private buyer paid £2,000 for a mahogany breakfront bookcase, while a member of the trade bought a Victorian gilt brass and frosted glass chandelier circa 1870 for £1,900. A set of eight Victorian-style balloon back dining chairs fetched £1,800, a pair of French kingwood gilt metal mounted and marquetry bombe commodes made £1,750, a mahogany double-sided library desk, Georgian with later additions made £1,700 and a set of six Regency-style mahogany dining chairs made £1,650. Finally, both a Louis XV-style gilt drawingroom suite and a William IV mahogany linen press went for £1,550.
Specimen notes prove their value
A set of banknotes stamped "specimen" to ensure they had no value sold for almost £6,000 last Saturday. The collection of 1928 Currency Commission of Ireland notes from 10 shillings to £100 made £5,750 at Whytes of Dublin, where a Bank of Ireland guinea and a half note from 1803 fetched £800, twice its top estimate. In the same sale, a Dublin Viking Phase Five penny coin went for £600 and a Charles I "Corke" sixpence of 1647 made £400. Among medals, an 1839 Long Service and Good Conduct medal to a Connaught Ranger made £320 and a 1925 GAA All-Ireland Football Championship medal to Galway went for £700. A set of muff pistols went for £650, an Irish army officer's sword made £300 and a flintlock sporting rifle by Rigby sold for £900.
Poor shape no deterrent
Although in terribly poor shape, a William & Mary walnut veneered bureau with later bracket found a private buyer who paid £7,000 for the piece at the September antiques auction at John Ross & Co in Belfast. A Victorian mahogany D-end telescopic dining table with two leaves went for £3,100 and a Georgian mahogany sofa table £1,800. A set of eight mahogany Chippendale-style chairs made £1,700, a 19th century French turn-over leaf tea table £1,300 and an 18th century oak-cased grandfather clock £1,000.
Timeless appeal of long-case clock
Lynes & Lynes of Cork describe as "very well-attended and lively" the company's most recent auction at the Ashbourne House Hotel, Glounthaune where a 19th century long-case clock with arch-painted dial sold for £1,100 and a Georgian oak bureau with well-fitted interior £1,000. A Georgian mahogany and rosewood cross-banded sofa table made £1,400, a pair of Georgian mahogany carvers £900 and a set of 11-bar Cork dining chairs £2,600. Among a collection of Ray Kelleher paintings, Peadar of the Black Valley sold for £2,200, The Fiddler £1,550 and Brownies on Cork Examiner £1,250.
Henry's human figures popular
As was widely-reported at the time, a new world record price for a painting by Paul Henry was set at the James Adam Irish art sale on Wednesday, 24th September. Henry's 1916 The Spoil of the Sea showing two fishermen standing on the water's edge in Achill made £155,000, almost three times its estimate; this result once again confirmed that work by this artist featuring the human figure invariably commands higher prices than his landscapes. Another Paul Henry in this sale, Cottages by the Lake, went for £23,000 but his portrait of James Wilder failed to find a buyer.
A Jack Yeats oil of Brandon Head fetched £22,000 and a Walter Osborne oil sketch of Connemara £17,000, while Daniel O'Neill's Anna went for £7,000. Other prices in this auction included: £9,500 for Patrick Tuohy's Wicklow Labourer; £8,200 for Daniel O'Neill's The Letter; £6,500 for Sean Keating's watercolour of Cape Grisey; £5,400 for Patrick Hennessy's The Long Summer Day, Connemara; £4,200 for Colin Middleton's Ballyemon; and £4,600 for both William Davis's High Noon near Leixlip and Daniel O'Neill's Figures Seated by a River.
Georgian bureau makes £2,200
R.J. Keighery's sale at Dunmore East last Monday saw a Queen Anne walnut chest sell for £2,700 and a Georgian bureau £2,200. A grandfather clock at this auction went for £1,500 while a rosewood drawingroom suite and a gilt drawingroom suite both made £1,300 each.
Mahogany table sells for £1,900
Last month's furniture and fine art auction at Drums of Malahide included a Georgian brass-faced long-case clock by William Edwards of Dublin which made £2,600, the highest price among furniture on the day. Other lots here included a Honduras mahogany Nelson brush side occasional table which fetched £1,900, a D-end mahogany dining table going for £1,400 and another D-end dining table which made £750. Among pictures, Jack Hanlon's The Wren, The Wren sold for £3,000 and Joseph Malachy Kavanagh's The Stately Glen, Rathfarnham Park £2,400.
