This month has seen an unprecedented number of auctions around the country, and there has been a good deal of positive feedback, with salerooms reporting a plethora of enthusiastic bidders both “in the room” and online.
The “Armada table” from Dromoland Castle may have grabbed all the headlines when it fetched €360,000 at Adam’s Townley Hall sale near Drogheda, in Co Louth.
But there were similar stories elsewhere as several auction houses also achieved outstanding results, including Fonsie Mealy, who sold a set of 10 rare hall chairs for €19,000 at its Chatsworth sale in Castlecomer, Co Kilkenny.
Rory Breslin's Mask of the Suir sculpture fetched an astonishing €24,000 for Whyte's at the RDS in Dublin.
Nóirín Collins from Hegarty’s of Bandon, for example, describes their sale on Sunday last as “a busy autumnal evening . . . bidding was swift and strong, with commission, in-room, telephone and online bids from near and far. Furniture, collectables, art and jewellery all did well.”
Here is a round-up of selected results from the October sales.
Hegarty Antiques and Fine Art, Bandon, Co Cork
West Cork Country House Auction, October 21st. Lot 15, 18-carat white gold baguette diamond cluster ring, €4,200 (€4,400–€4,600). Lot 36, US $20 coin from 1924, €1,600 (€350–€450). Lot 57, rare set of Irish elk "Great Deer" antlers, found in Waterford bog and mounted with partial skull, €1,600 (€6,000–€7,000). Lot 13, 19th-century oak open bookcase/dresser, €1,300 (€800–€1,200). See hegartyantiques.com
John Weldon Auctioneers, Cow's Lane, Temple Bar, Dublin 8
Fine Jewellery & Silver Auction, October 16th. Diamond cluster necklace with 195 stones set in 18-carat gold, €4,600 (€4,000–€6,000). Diamond and sapphire cluster bracelet with 174 diamonds and five sapphires, €4,400 (€1,000–€1,500). Sapphire and diamond cluster ring, €4,000 (€1,500–€2,500). Diamond cluster bracelet, estimated weight eight carats in total, €3,100 (€1,500–€2,500). Gent's 18 carat gold Pasha De Cartier wrist watch, €15,000 (€15,000–€20,000). See jwa.ie
Adam's, 26 St Stephen's Green, Dublin 2
ountry house auction at Townley Hall, Drogheda, Co Louth, October 16th. Lot 101, the Armada table of the O'Briens, €360,000 (€100,000–€200,000). Lot 194, Irish George III mahogany breakfront bookcase, part of the original furnishings of Ely House, Dublin €75,000 (€15,000–€20,000). Lot 102, Dromoland Castle Megaloceros Giganteus, giant Irish deer antlers from 12000-8,000 BC, €47,000 (€30,000–€50,000). Lot 104, Robert Hunter, Portrait of Captain Edward O'Brien, €38,000 (€30,000–€50,000) Lot 243, Irish George II mahogany side table circa 1750, €37,500 (€30,000–€40,000). Lot 86, William Ashford PRHA, A Watermill Near Lucan, €34,000 (€40,000–€60,000). For more results see adams.ie
Usher's Auction Rooms, John Street, Kells, Co Meath
Antique Furniture Auction, October 15th. Lot 448, The estate book of John Bagwell of Marlfield: Waterford and Tipperary, 1845. Records from Famine times with hand-coloured maps, €7,200 (€1,000–€1,500). Lot 529, George Gillespie, Connemara Scene, €3,400 (€2,000–€2,500). See usherauctions.com
De Vere's, 35 Kildare Street, Dublin 2
The Design Auction, October 14th. Lot 70, Albert Irvin, Grafton 2003, €8,000 (€8,000–€12,000). Lot 12, Egg chair and ottoman by Arne Jacobsen, €6,000 (€5,000–€7,000). Lot 106, Bridget Riley, Silvered 2, €,6000 (€3,000–5,000). Lot 83, Michael Farrell tapestry, Storm in a Teacup, €4,700 (€2,00–€3,000). Lot 82, Alan Davie tapestry, Flag Walk 1974, €3,700 (€,3000–€5,000). Lot 8, Italian crescent-shaped sofa, €3,600 (€,400–€1,800). Lot 92, John Minihan, photograph of Samuel Beckett in Cafe Francais, €2,800 (€,500–€2,000). For more results see deveres.ie
Fonsie Mealy Auctioneers, Castlecomer, Co Kilkenny.
The Chatsworth Fine Art sale, October 10th. Lot 631, full-length Portrait of James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde, in his Order of the Garter robes, €23,000 (€25,000–€35,000). Lot 438, set of 10 19th-century hall chairs with shield-shaped backs and sunburst design and hand-painted crest of the O'Briens of Dromoland, €19,000 (€10,000–€15,000). Lot 682, Irish Victorian Killarney-work Davenport desk, €14,000 (€7,000–€9,000). Lot 73, 18th-century armillary sundial, €11,000 (€4,000–€6,000). Lot 427, suite of 14 early 19th-century Chinese drawings on silk, €7,500 (€6,000–€8,000). For more results see fonsiemealy.ie
Whyte's, 38 Molesworth Street, Dublin 2.
Irish & International Art, RDS, Ballsbridge, October 1st. Lot 15, Jack B Yeats, Pilot Sligo River, €370,000 (€200,000–€300,000); Lot 59, Patrick Heron, Bedroom, Mousehole, 1946, €125,000 (€60,000–€80,000); Lot 32, Paul Henry, Evening, Silence and Peace, Co Mayo, €80,000 (€60,000–€80,000); Lot 26, Sean Keating, Thinking Out Gobnet, €56,000 (€50,000–€70,000); Lot 33, Paul Henry, The Only Tree in the Burren, €56,000 (€50,000–€70,000); Lot 36, Paul Henry Achill, €44,000 (€25,000–€35,000); Lot 14A, Walter Osborne, Rush and Lusk, €40,000 (€25,000–€35,000); Lot 68, Louis Le Brocquy, Young Woman, 1961, €23,000 (€15,000–€20,000); Lot 100, Rory Breslin, Mask of the Suir, €24,000 (€5,000–€7,000); Lot 14, Walter Osborne, View in Antwerp, €23,000 (€8,000–€10,000).
