Hot on the heels of Loughton House (Sheppard's) and Kilfane House (Mealy's), the last of the autumn season country house auctions takes place on Tuesday, October 11th, when Adam's holds its annual Country House Collections sale at Townley Hall in Co Louth.
Unlike the other auctions, Adam’s is not selling the contents of the house. Townley Hall is just a venue hired out for the auction so that the lots can “be displayed in an appropriate setting”. For the past seven years, Adam’s held this auction in Slane Castle but that venue is no longer available following the decision of Lord Henry Mountcharles to create a distillery on the estate.
What’s in the sale? More than 600 lots which, Adam’s says, include “all the things you would expect to find in an Irish country house”, including fine furniture, garden furniture and urns, silver, porcelain, books, a collection of glass, carpets, paintings, prints and antique maps. The lots have been consigned by various unnamed private collectors. Some have catalogued provenance lining them to Irish country houses, including Evington House in Carlow, Fortgranite, Co Wicklow, and Belan House, Co Kildare.
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When and where is the viewing? Three days of viewing begin at Townley Hall on Saturday, October 8th, from 11am-5pm, continuing on Sunday (also 11am-5pm) and on Monday from 10am-5pm. Admission is by catalogue which costs €20 and admits two. The catalogue can also be consulted free online at adams.ie. The auction itself begins at 11.30am on Tuesday morning, October 11th.
How to get to Townley Hall Townley Hall is on the Slane Road, Drogheda, Co Louth. From Dublin and the south, take the M1 going north and take exit 10 signposted N51-Navan-Drogheda North. At the roundabout over the motorway, take the Slane exit. After about 1½ miles, look for railings and gates on the right-hand side, then follow the avenue through the woods. Adam’s says the travel time from Dublin airport is about 35 minutes.
Why Townley Hall? James O’Halloran, the managing director of Adam’s, says “the premise for this annual sale is to showcase fine Irish country house interior decoration in as fine a setting as is possible” and described Townley Hall, a Georgian mansion, “as perhaps as perfect a location as it gets”. The 200-year-old house was once owned by the Townley-Balfour family who died out in the 1950s. It was then used as an agricultural school by Trinity College Dublin.
Today, it is used a venue for corporate events, weddings and concerts.
What are the furniture highlights? “Irish Georgian furniture is the star,” according to Adam’s, and notable pieces include lot 368, “an Irish George IV mahogany three-pillar dining table, in the manner of Williams and Gibton”, estimated at €50,000-€70,000; lot 57, “a pair of George III walnut side tables in the manner of Thomas Chippendale” estimated at €40,000-€60,000; and lot 236, “a pair of George III neo-classical [ [satinwood] pier tables, possibly Irish” purchased by the current owners at an auction in 1989 at “Evington House, Carlow, home of Capt RH Prior Wandesforde” and estimated at €30,000-€50,000.
Irish Georgian turf buckets have made some spectacular prices in recent years and lot 43 “a large Irish George III mahogany brass-bound fuel bucket is estimated at €15,000-€20,000. Among the much more affordable lots – and ideal for a restoration projects – are lot 130, a George III mahogany framed armchair estimated at €500-€700, and lot 133 , a 19th-century tub-back library chair with distressed hide upholstery” (€300-€500).
The top paintings? Lot 281 is hunting field portrait of John Osborne Pollock (1812-1886) Master of the Meath Hounds with Hounds and the Field in a North Meath Landscape with the Cavan Hills in the Distance by the Victorian English artist Thomas Walker Bretland and the estimate is €30,000-€50,000.
Lot 45, a dramatic portrait painting which is on the catalogue cover, is Portrait of Thomas Butler, Earl of Ossory, Eldest son of James, Duke of Ormond, in armour Standing near his Charge is attributed to Sir Anthony Van Dyke and was formerly in the collection of the Earl of Fitzwilliam. Thomas Butler, sixth Earl of Ossory (1634 -1680), was born at Kilkenny Castle, the eldest son of James Butler, first Duke of Ormonde and Lady Elizabeth Preston. The estimate is €10,000-€15,000.
Lot 123 is an early 19th-century landscape painting titled A View over Dublin Bay Looking Towards Howth, Ireland's Eye and Lambay Island, with Frescati in the foreground, together with figures and animals by William Sadler II, estimated at €8,000-€12,000 which, according to catalogue notes, shows familiar landmarks "framed between stands of woodland and a charming rural family scene with cattle and horses, the kind of idyllic farming scene long since gone in south county Dublin".
Quirky and interesting lots? There is a huge selection and great variety in the this sale. Lot 1 is worth a look for anyone looking for the ultimate Christmas accessory – a 19th century Baltic timber-framed, iron-mounted sleigh with green-painted wicker panels (€2,000-€4,000); lot 18 is a Victorian saddle stand by Musgrave & Co of Belfast, London & Paris (€1,500-€2,500), and lot 32 is a Victorian oak-framed dinner gong and beater (€600-€800).
Among a selection of antique guns, pistols and swords, lot 200 is very striking: “a rare German 16th-century wheel lock rifle”, dated 1584, with a Cherrywood stock inlaid with engraved bone depictions of angels, nymphs and most unusually, “a panel depicting Adam and Eve and the expulsion from Eden”, estimated at €12,000-€16,000.
Fans of taxidermy will find plenty of interest including two rather bizarre examples: lot 33, “a 19th-century taxidermy hawksbill turtle” (€400-€600); and lot 34, “a taxidermy dog, in a glazed ebon case” (€600-€800).
