At Adam's annual Country House Collections auction in Slane Castle, Co Meath on Tuesday, bidders spent over €1.3 million and 70 per cent of lots sold. Adam's said it was "a great day and most of the buyers were Irish" with "very strong prices for quality furniture" with good provenance.
The highest price was achieved for Lot 371, an Irish Georgian giltwood mirror by Booker Brothers of Dublin which made €60,000 (€40,000-€60,000); Lot 170, an Irish Regency three-pillar dining table by Morgan of Dublin made €38,000 (€30,000-€40,000); and Lot 403, an Irish Killarney work arbutus and marquetry breakfast table made €17,000 (€15,000- €25,000). Lot 178, a portrait of Arthur Guinness II, the second son of the Guinness founder, by artist Martin Cregan and sold by a family descendant made €32,000, over double the top estimate (€10,000-€15,000).
Lot 92, an Italian carved white marble group attributed to the Ferdinando Vichi workshop in 19th-century Florence made €25,000 (€15,000-€25,000). Lot 36, "a pine Grand Master's chair for Loyal Orange Lodge No 579, Portstewart Lighthouse", made €2,000 (€2,000-€3,000). Lot 244, a late 18th-century oil by Nathaniel Hone (€20,000-€30,000) failed to sell but Lot 338, a Portrait of a Gentleman, also by Hone, made €14,000 (€8,000-€10,000).
Among a selection of lots of Asian interest, Lot 115, an Anglo-Indian ivory casket (€3,000-€5,000) failed to sell ; but Lot 116, an ebony cabinet, sold for €8,000 (€4,000-€6,000). Lot 202, a Chinese jade seal failed to sell (€3,000-€5,000). Lot 596, an album of photographs by Samuel Bourne (1834-1912), a Nottingham photographer, made €2,300 (€3,000-€5,000). Lot 544, a collection of cast-lead figures from the 1940s/1950s made €160 (€200-€400). For full results see adams.ie
