The new year starts with two interesting provincial auctions, writes Eivlín Roden
A good selection of furniture, including a beautiful Irish William IV rosewood centre table, is coming up for auction at separate house clearances next week.
The new year starts with two interesting provincial auctions, one the contents of Kill Lodge, Kill, Co Kildare and the other the contents of a rectory in west Cork.
Kill Lodge, in the centre of Kill, Co Kildare was sold over Christmas for well over €1 million and now the contents are being auctioned by McCarthy's Auctioneers on the premises and with a large marquee out the back. Much of the furniture is Victorian with some Edwardian pieces, and it has all the appearances of making an interesting sale, as it includes other furnishings such as silver, china, paintings, garden statuary and household effects as well.
With over 500 lots to get through, the auction will kick off at 11 a.m. on Saturday, January 29th. In the hall of the double-fronted 18th century house stands an unusual late Victorian pedestal sideboard in mahogany with rope edging, rounded back and lower centrepiece. The estimate for it is (€1,600-€2,500). Other Victorian pieces are a davenport (€1,500-€2,000); an inlaid credenza (€2,500-€3,000) and an oak and mahogany grandfather clock from about 1850 (€2,700-€3,500). Victorian furniture, with its rich dark mahogany, for years was out of favour in modern homes but now, with the fashion for dark floors and dark pieces, it can fit in well if chosen carefully.
There is such a variety of styles and pieces that are so well made and often of beautiful wood that it is worth considering them in a contemporary context. The price for a modern equivalent is often much more without having the quality of a period piece.
Among the china is a 69-piece dinner service of Crown Ducal (€600-€800), while a lovely Royal Worcester 12-place tea service dating from c. 1930 is pleasing in its gilded pattern on a cream ground (€500-€750). Missing from the set is the teapot and milk jug, but being sold in a separate lot is a matching egg stand (€300-€500).
Among the paintings is an oil painting of a horse entitled The Irish News which is signed with a monogram and appears to be some hundred years old.
In Cork at the Carrigaline Court Hotel next Monday evening at 7.30 p.m. Ted Hegarty is auctioning off the contents of an old rectory in west Cork. The people who owned the house built up a fine collection of furniture from Christies in the West Country and Burton & Knowles, Cheltenham over 25 years. When they moved to Cork they brought it all with them and it is now being sold along with the contents of several other estates.
Of particular interest is a four-sided George III mahogany pedestal writing desk - called a partners desk - but unusual in having four sides instead of the more customary two. Dating from the late 18th century, the piece measures only 3ft 6ins to each side making it a very attractive and unusual piece of furniture (€5,000-€8,000).
Among the Irish pieces are a George III secretaire bookcase (€2,500-€5,000), and a console table thought to have been made by the Kilkenny Worker's Guild which was set up as part of the Irish Arts and Craft movement and operated from Nassau Street. The console table is in giltwood topped with marble (€3,000-€5,000).
An Irish William IV rosewood centre table with acanthus leaf carving is a very spectacular piece. It dates from c. 1820 and has an estimate of (€4,000-€8,000).
In the smaller collectable pieces is a lovely silver sauceboat with wavy edge decoration made by Matthew West in the 1780s and standing on three hoof feet with an estimate of €1,000-€1,500. A 19th century Imari jardinière is striking and has an estimate of €800.
More than anything these two auctions are sure to appeal to a wide variety of tastes and have something for all pockets from the serious investor to those just starting out collecting antiques or looking for furniture for their homes.