Bonhams auction of The Estate of Maureen O’Hara in New York on Tuesday night provided proof, yet again, of the amazing power of provenance. Even the most mundane objects can become very valuable if owned by a significant public figure. Some 242 items – consigned to the auction by her grandson – went under the hammer and 95 per cent of lots sold.
While the most high-profile lots related to her best-known film, The Quiet Man (1952), antiques, art, clothing, jewellery and personal items also attracted intense bidding.
Lot 148, a pair of Meissen porcelain vases sold for $31,250 (€39,500) – 10 times the low estimate.
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And ever wonder what happens to all those crystal trophies awarded to celebrities? Lot 220, a group of five Irish cut-crystal trophies including a bowl engraved, "Maureen O'Hara, Ireland's Greatest Movie Star, Michael Flatley, Castlehyde, 2012", sold for $2,125 (€2,000), way above the top estimate of $800.
Bonhams director of entertainment memorabilia, Catherine Williamson, said O'Hara "had a fantastic sense of style and her clothing and accessories proved particularly popular, often selling for as many as 10 times their low estimates". Among the outfits sold was Lot 101, a cocktail dress she wore when meeting Fidel Castro in Cuba during the filming in 1959 of Our Man in Havana ($1,375); and, Lot 75, consisting of a tweed cape with a label inscribed "O'Maille's of Galway, black suede purse and wool skirt suit ($ 2,125).
Lot 14, a group of nine pieces of costume jewellery including two Tara brooches – with a top estimate of $ 600 – sold for $5,625.
Lot 99, five pairs of shoes, including “silver leather Carina size 7½ pumps with rosettes at the toes” made $ 1,062.
Religious artefacts
Among the most personal items, "a collection of Maureen O'Hara religious artefacts" including rosary beads, Close to Jesus - A Picture Prayer Book for Jesus Little Friends and a Child of Prague statue sold for an appropriately modest $687. But a parchment bearing a blessing granted to O'Hara and her family in 1952 by Pope Pius XII sold for $1,625 – over six times the top estimate.
The highest price achieved in the auction was for a cache of "secret love letters" sent to O'Hara by Quiet Man director John Ford which sold for $75,000 – far below the unpublished estimate. Some of the lowest-estimated items achieved extraordinary prices, notably Lot 61, a humble 1950s pale yellow ceramic mug stamped with the name of the maker "McFarren, Corona del Mar, California" which sold for $8,500, more than 12 times the top estimate of $700. The mug had been given to O'Hara by John Wayne, her co-star in The Quiet Man and was decorated with his nickname "Duke" and the phrase Céad Míle Fáilte.
Maureen (née FitzSimons) O’Hara who was born in Dublin in 1920 and died in the United States last year aged 95 was Ireland’s first Hollywood star. She appeared in more than 60 films and was awarded an honorary Oscar in 2014.
