When does a bookcase constitute a library? Perhaps two of the eight in RJ Keighery’s of Waterford sale this Monday, October 3rd, could be considered worthy of the title. Thomas Keighery says they are the largest bookcases the auction house has come across. Originally from a religious order, one that will not fit in most modern homes, is a monumental late Victorian offering measuring more than 20ft in length and more than 12ft in height (€2,000-€3,000).
Smaller, but still of substantial size that will fit better in a rambling old pile, is a 9ft long four-door antique pine unit priced at €1,400-€1,800.
Top lots of 620 in the sale include a Princess Diana style sapphire (3.74ct) and diamond ring at €9,000-€12,000, and a lovely boxed Omega Seamaster Diver watch with papers from 2021 (€3,800-€4,500).
Adam’s of Blackrock’s Autumn Irish Art and Interiors timed online sale this Tuesday, October 4th, has some interesting offerings. In what is soon to be a thing of the past, Thatched Cottages Carraroe, Gathering Turf by Charles Lamb depicts impasto stacks of peat behind old cottages in a typical west of Ireland scene (€2,000-€3,000). The sale also lists a handsome pair of mid-century brass bound peat buckets with fluted sides (€800-€1,000).
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A smashing pair of Cartier diamond and white gold Panthère link earrings, with their original certificate, are listed at €1,900-€2,500, a fraction of their original cost. There are two other pieces by Cartier: white gold and diamond set hoop earrings (€1,400-€1,800) and a pair of diamond and yellow gold stud earrings (€1,600-€2,000).
A painting by William Butler Yeat’s daughter Anne, whose birth was commemorated in Yeats’ poem A Prayer for My Daughter, is featured in the sale. The Twisting Road is an oil that was exhibited at the Irish Exhibition of Living Art in 1950 (€1,500-€2,500). This week is also the last chance to catch Anne Yeats: The Everyday Fantastic, running at the National Gallery on Merrion Square until October 9th. Yeats was the chief designer for the Abbey Theatre and founding member of both Graphic Studio Dublin, the fine art printmakers, and Aosdána, the affiliation of creative artists in Ireland. The exhibition shows her “important contribution to Irish culture can be explored through dozens of sketches, etchings and paintings”.
In literature, De Búrca Rare Books in Blackrock has released its latest catalogue, which has some very fine signed first editions that could make lovely gifts at Christmas.
Seamus Heaney’s The Haw Lantern, a signed limited edition of 250 copies, in good order contained in a fine slipcase is listed at €575, while the very rare Padraic Pearse, Collected Works, which is signed by the patriot’s sister Margaret Pearse and Louis Le Roux, is listed at €595 for the six volumes. Le Roux, a Breton nationalist and co-founder of the Breton National Party, wrote the first biography of Pearse: L’Irlande Militante: La vie de Patrick Pearse.
As the centenary of Irish explorer Ernest Shackleton’s death was marked with the unveiling of a mural by artist Eloise Gillow in Athy this week, De Búrca’s catalogue has what it calls an “exceedingly rare” autographed display with professionally reproduced photograph of Shackleton priced at €1,250.
On October 28th Rory Guthrie of de Vere’s will conduct a charity auction at the Grace O’Malley Foundation annual fundraising lunch at the Westbury Hotel. The charity assists the elderly poor to remain living with independence and dignity at their own homes for as long as feasibly possible.
This year one of the items in the auction is a giclée print, which was donated by Irish actor Pierce Brosnan. Hawaii based Brosnan, known for his depictions of James Bond, pursued a career as an artist after he left school and began working as an illustrator. His painting of singer Bob Dylan achieved $1.4 million (€1.4 million) at a charity sale in the US.
“I always wanted to be an artist, a painter. I started as a trainee artist in a small studio in south London,” says the artist actor who cites Matisse, Picasso, and Kandinsky as influences. Some of his works were originally gifts for his wife Keely Shaye, who he tied the knot with in Ballintubber Abbey in Co Mayo in 2001, including the original of the giclée in the auction. Titled Fiji, it was gifted by Brosnan at the request of actor Aislín McGuckin, who played Marianne’s mother in Normal People, and starred alongside Brosnan in The Nephew.
While the sale of the giclée print (which was the actor’s last, according to a handwritten card written and signed by him, that will accompany the picture) will begin at the lunch, bidding will continue through de Vere’s until the following Tuesday to allow wider audience participation. Other items in the auction include a head piece by Millinery Designer of the Year 2018, Leonora Ferguson.
Deveres.ie, graceomalley.ie, deburcararebooks.com, antiquesireland.ie, adamsblackrock.com and nationalgallery.ie
