The first big house clearance auction of the new season gets under way next Saturday (August 26th) when viewing begins at "Lota", Brighton Rd, Foxrock, Co Dublin. Sheppard's is conducting the sale on behalf of the executors of the estate of the late Patricia Moore who died, aged 95, in June. The house itself is to be sold by Sherry Fitzgerald
Three days of viewing will take place on the premises at "Lota" and then the auction itself will take place in the saleroom in Durrow, Co Laois, on Tuesday (August 29th). Sheppard's said Mrs Moore had been pre-deceased by her husband Dermot Moore who died in March this year, also aged 95, and that he was "a builder and hotelier who built houses in Malahide, Goatstown and Rathfarnham; and, was very involved in both the Aghadoe Heights Hotel, Killarney, and the Boyne Valley Hotel, Drogheda; and, was a founding director of Flogas, Drogheda".
Almost 500 lots of antique furniture, art, silver, light-fittings, mirrors, china, glass and various collectibles will go under the hammer. Some of the items were originally in Dardistown Castle, near Julianstown, Co Meath.
Highlights include Lot 188, a George III period white marble chimneypiece dimensions: 137cm high; 207cm wide; 31cm deep) that was, reputedly, removed from a house on Merrion Square in 1978, estimated at €8,000-€12,000.
Among the furniture, the most notable pieces with a Dardistown Castle provenance are Lot 91, a Cork-made Regency period mahogany serving table estimated at €5,000-€7,000; and Lot 163, a 19th-century mahogany telescopic dining table (€2,500-€3,500).
Lot 231, estimated at €800-€1,200, is a Regency period mahogany and satinwood inlaid spinet (square piano) made by Astor & Horwood, London, and retailed by Paul Alday, a French-born composer who moved to Ireland in 1804 and ran a music shop in Dame Street, Dublin.
The top silver piece is Lot 180, an Irish silver claret jug, made by Robert Smith in Dublin in 1843 and estimated at €3,000-€5,000. Among numerous affordable paintings are oils by George Gillespie, including Lot 224, Gortahork Estuary, Co Donegal (€1,000-€1,500); and Lot 162, Letterfrack, Connemara (€800-€1,200).
But most items in the auction have estimates under €1,000 and many under €100.
The most unusual item is Lot 82, described as a “correction chair” – made for children to correct bad posture and also used in nurseries as a form of punishment. The Irish-made 19th-century chair has an estimate of €150-€250.
The contents can be viewed at “Lota”, Brighton Rd, Foxrock, Dublin 18, Saturday, Sunday and Monday (August 26th, 27th & 28th), 10am-5pm daily. sheppards.ie
