A Native American costume, brought home to an aristocratic house in Co Kilkenny more than 100 years ago, sold for €320,000 at Fonsie Mealy Auctioneers on Wednesday evening.
The unusual lot – which had a top pre-sale estimate of €6,000 – was bought after intense bidding by an unnamed bidder, on the telephone in the US.
Auctioneer George F Mealy described the outfit as "a real rarity – most are in museums".
The winning bidder faced competition from two other bidders in the saleroom who had travelled to the auction in Castlecomer, Co Kilkenny from the US.
The outfit consists of a hide poncho war shirt “with original hand-painted native designs”; hide leggings; an original hand painted and beaded head dress with feathers, and a sheep hide, bead-decorated purse.
Mr Mealy said the outfit was one of a number of items in the sale associated with the aristocratic Anglo-Irish de Montmorency family of Castle Morres in Co Kilkenny – which was demolished in the 1970s.
Various members of the family had served the British Empire including Geoffrey Fitz-Hervey de Montmorency (1876 – 1955) whose uniforms as Governor of the Punjab, along with photographs and various mementoes sold for €4,000 (€2,200-€2,800).
There were other ‘sleepers’ among the lots in the auction which fetched huge multiples of their estimates after attracting unexpected interest and very competitive bidding.
A 12-inch 19th century Chinese hardwood table spice carriage sold for €41,000 – 41 times the top estimate (€700-€1,000).
The item was originally in "the collections at No 9 Fitzwilliam Square and Tassagart House, Saggart, Co Dublin", as was an ornate early 19th century Chinese "carved hardwood table screen/cabinet", 15.5 inches high", which made €26,000 (€1,200- €1,800).
A jade bowl, just three inches in diameter, sold for €3,000 (€200-€300).
A set of six green-stained, ivory handled steel forks, engraved with the initials and coat of arms of Ireland's greatest satirist, the author Jonathan Swift (1667-1745), sold for €3,800 – comfortably exceeding the top estimate of €3,000.
A stained-glass panel titled Jesus, Mary and St Anne made by the Harry Clarke Studios for the Catholic Church in Kildimo, Co Limerick in 1926 at a cost of £20 sold for €12,500 (€7,000-€10,000). The window had been salvaged by an architect when the church was demolished.
Overall, some 80 per cent of lots sold.
