A harp given by the poet WB Yeats to Maud Gonne – which she apparently played while he recited his verse – made €37,000 and was the top lot in Whyte's history sale in Dublin last Saturday. The 32in high rosewood instrument had a pre-sale estimate of €10,000-€15,000 and was bought, said Whyte's, by a private collector in Donegal.
Maud Gonne, who married Maj John McBride, was the unrequited love of Yeats who dedicated to her the famous lines: “I have spread my dreams under your feet; / Tread softly because you tread on my dreams”.
Overall, Whyte’s said there was strong demand for the various lots of Irish historical memorabilia in the auction, with 80 per cent of lots sold – 30 per cent of them to online bidders in Ireland and around the world in locations as diverse as Austria, Germany, Poland, Italy, Russia, China, South Africa and Norway, as well as the more traditional markets of the UK and the US.
One hundred years after the event it depicts, a colour print of the famous first World War painting by Fortunino Matania, The Last General Absolution of the Munsters at Rue du Bois, made €4,000 (estimated at €2,000-€3,000).
The print, inscribed by Co Tipperary-born Fr Frank Gleeson – the chaplain depicted in the painting with a group of Irish soldiers on the eve of battle – was bought by south Dublin publican John Gleeson. “Fr Frank Gleeson was a first cousin of my grandfather,” he said, “and our family had been aware of his heroic deeds. The painting now hangs proudly in our pub, Gleesons in Booterstown”.
Also featured at the auction was the membership card for the Scottish Labour Party of 1916 Rising leader James Connolly, which made €1,500 (€800-€1,200).
A collection of letters written by a British soldier stationed in Fermoy Barracks, Co Cork, in 1918 to his family at home, in which he deplored Sinn Fein-supporting nuns, the town's binge-drinking women and the awfulness of Irish food – sold for €750 (€500-€700).
A bidder in Chicago was the successful buyer of "an extremely rare 1880s Irish National League marching banner featuring a portrait of Charles Stewart Parnell" from the Carrickedmond Branch, Co Longford, which made €8,000 (€8,000-€10,000).
A 1916 Rising medal in its original “box of issue” given to an unknown recipient made €1,900, above its estimate (€1,000-€1,500), and was bought by a collector in London.
However, the top lot in the sale – an archive of newsreel footage of key moments in early 20th-century Irish history and estimated at €150,000-€180,000 – failed to sell during the auction. Whyte’s said later it was “talking to various interested parties”.
A collection of memorabilia connected to the 1916 Rising in Enniscorthy, Co Wexford, including medals awarded to local volunteer Michael Sutton and estimated at €7,000-€10,000, also failed to sell.
Two lots were withdrawn from the auction: files and other documents relating to the Garda's preparations for the visit to Ireland of President John F Kennedy in 1963. It is understood that the owner of the documents is now "in discussions" with gardaí about the fate of the items. A maternity dress worn by Jackie Kennedy in 1960 made €3,600 (€3,500-€4,000).
For full results see whytes.ie
