Two Dublin auctioneers discovered some surprises while preparing for contents clearance sales scheduled to take place next week. In Co Wexford, David Herman of Herman & Wilkinson found an interesting cache of Georgian silver among the contents of the Boro Hill Equestrian Centre at Clonroche, near Enniscorthy.
He will auction the contents of the centre on the premises next Monday afternoon, including around 400 lots of furniture, farm machinery and tack. The collection of silver has been in the family who ran Boro Hill for decades. It includes a lovely Paul Storr gravy boat, made in London in 1798, which is valued at £1,200 to £1,500. Originally, the family had four identical gravy boats, three of which are believed to have been sold together at a James Adam sale some years ago. Now their owner will have an opportunity to complete the set. Among the remaining silver lots is some good Georgian flatware and a bachelor teapot.
Silver aside, this is a very varied sale, with over 400 lots of furniture, much of it Victorian, and equestrian paraphernalia, including several saddles and a wide selection of tack. There will also be a few ponies for sale, and for those who don't want the real thing there is also a very fine handmade rocking horse by the English firm Haddons. It is in good condition and should make well over the guide price of £300. Viewing starts tomorrow at 2 p.m.
Meanwhile, Denis Drum has been clearing out the former premises of opticians Murray McGrath off Grafton Street and came across several letters written by W.B. Yeats The letters were written to a member of the McGrath family, who was a journalist with the Freemans Journal. They will be sold at Drum's Malahide auction rooms next Thursday evening along with another interesting souvenir from the premises, a pair of tortoiseshell spectacles, which are said to have belonged to the late Eamonn de Valera.
Otherwise, the sale will have some nice brown furniture, including a Victorian diningroom table (£2,000-£2,500) and a William IV double scroll end mahogany sofa (£1,000-£1,500). A pair of 12-branch crystal chandeliers should make around £1,000-£1,500 each.
