One of the busiest auction weeks of the year kicks off on Monday with the “Pre-Summer Fine and Decorative Art Sale” at Mealy’s. Viewing of the 650 lots is underway this weekend at the Auction Gallery in Castlecomer, Co Kilkenny.
A very eclectic mix of items includes a show-stopping 1930 Morris Minor two-seater cabriolet, with only 26,197 miles on the clock, (€7,000-€9,000). A less conventional vehicle, a late-Victorian gypsy caravan, built in 1895 by Dunton and Sons of Reading, England has an estimate of €20,000-€30,000.
Exotic transport aside, the sale has a good selection of traditional art and antiques. A collection of early 19th-century Irish glass, from a private Dublin collection, includes an Irish cut-glass canoe-shaped bowl, (€700-€1,000); an urn and cover (€350-€550); and a water jug (€200-€300).
Fans of the popular TV show Game of Thrones and other whimsies of medieval fantasy will undoubtedly be drawn to a carved-oak Gothic throne chair described as "19th century, the back with pierced tracery and foliage, flanked by niches filled with saints, beneath a panelled back carved with cornucopia, the padded seat flanked by recumbent scrolled swans on barley twist legs". The estimate is €2,000-€3,000.
Any pharmacist seeking a conversation piece to decorate a chemist’s shop might like the 19th-century domestic apothecary case (€900-€1,100). The portable medicine cabinet in a mahogany box has various compartments and drawers containing a mortar and pestle and bottles; and, a secret, lockable compartment for dangerous or poisonous chemicals.
Kutálek, a 20th century Czech sculptor who specialised in creating mythical figures and subjects from Czech legends, history and religion and folk tales.
There's a big choice of 19th-
century animal paintings including a fascinatingly awful oil titled
Kittens at Play
by French artist Jules Leroy (€2,000-€2,500), which adorns the cover of the catalogue. The
Portrait of an Elegant Lady in Pink Dress Holding a Fan
by René Arigdor (€1,700-€2,000) is rather more appealing.
– MP
