The Irish Museum of Time in Waterford city holds one of the most important collections of Irish antique clocks and watches in the world. So it is very fitting that one of the first auctions of the year features what is probably the largest collection of clocks to go on sale in that same city.
RJ Keighery City Auction Rooms on William Street in Waterford will put up for sale more than 300 clocks – from grandfather (also known as long case or tall case) clocks to mantle clocks, wall clocks, desk clocks and the occasional school and ship clock – on Monday, January 13th, at 10am.
“You won’t see as many clocks in one auction again, and I’ve never before seen such a large collection for sale in Ireland,” says Rody Keighery. The clocks in the auction all came from one collector – now deceased – who built up his collection over 50 years.
Colman Curran, one of the co-founders of the Irish Museum of Time, says that what makes this auction important is “the wide selection of domestic antique clocks in the one place”.
“While many of the clocks for sale aren’t museum quality timepieces, they will be good for people starting a collection or for collectors who have good hobbyist repair skills,” says Curran, who wisely won’t disclose the few specific items he may bid for at the auction.
People are surprised that they can buy some clocks for a couple of hundred euro or less
— Thomas Keighery
The first mechanical clocks in Europe were mostly likely to have been clocks positioned at the tops of towers in northern Italy and southern Germany during the 14th century. In 1656, Christiaan Huygens, a Dutch scientist made the first pendulum clock. Clockmaking advanced in England in the early 18th century, during which time the craft of clockmaking also took off in Ireland.
“There were clockmakers here from England, Ireland and France – the French Huguenot refugees came to Ireland in the 18th century – and the 19th century saw the arrival of German clockmakers to Ireland,” says Curran. By the end of the 19th century, the industrial production of clocks began in the United States, making clocks and watches a mass market product available to everyone.
The Keighery auction of clocks includes wall clocks made by Dublin-based clockmakers Dobbyn & Son, McMaster & Son, Edward Smith and A Wheatly, and a wall clock made by Cork clockmaker James Mangan (€250-€350).
It also has a wide range of Georgian long-case clocks, including one made by Francis Sperils in 1770 (€800-€1,200) and another made by Waterford clockmaker, Thomas Cahill (€2,000-€4,000). “The feedback we’ve got so far from people coming in to view the clocks is that they are surprised that they can buy some clocks for a couple of hundred euro or less,” says Thomas Keighery. “Most people are interested in having clocks as part of their furnishing, rather than a clock which will be functioning on a daily basis.”
There are some quirky designs too, including the Swiss sunburst clock (€60-€100); an Art Deco mantle clock with brass mounts (€40-€60); a Victorian papier mâché drop dial wall clock with a pendulum (€120-€180); and a clock table (€60-€90). There are also a few cuckoo clocks for sale. Those charmed by this particular German invention will be pleased to know that the Irish Museum of Time will open a new exhibition of cuckoo clocks later in 2025.
Irish silver pocket watches and two antique gold pocket watches, one of which is a Patek Phillipe ladies’ 18k gold watch, dated July 29th, 1882 (€2,000-€4,000), are some of the higher-end items for sale in the auction. A range of barometers will bring back memories of how they served as trusty weather forecasters for farmers and landowners in the past.
Finally, the Keighery auction also includes a selection of antique enamel signs, as well as an eclectic range of wooden boxes, stoneware jars, antique medicine bottles, vintage radios and gramophones.
Meanwhile, to mark the 250th anniversary of the birth of the famous landscape painter Joseph Mallord William (known as William) Turner (1775-1851), the National Gallery of Ireland will exhibit 38 Turner watercolours on loan from the National Galleries of Scotland until the end of January. In this first time temporary exchange of the watercolours bequeathed to both galleries by London-born collector, Henry Vaughan (1809-1899), the Irish collection of watercolours will be shown in the Royal Scottish Academy Building in Edinburgh at the same time.
The two exhibitions provide visitors to and residents of both cities a chance to see the bequeaths each gallery received at the start of the 20th century. The works on show in Dublin range from detailed topographical views from the 1790s to vibrant and expressive watercolours of Venice and the Swiss Alps from 1830s to 1840s.
A newly discovered early watercolour by Turner sold at auction in England in March 2023 for £96,000.
What did it sell for?
Sapphire and diamond bracelet
Estimate €6,500-€7,500
Hammer price €7,500
Auction house Adam’s
Diamond single stone ring
Estimate €2,000-€3,000
Hammer price €5,000
Auction house Adam’s
Château Mouton Rothschild Pauillac, 2007 (12 bottles)
Estimate €3,500-€4,500
Hammer price €4,000
Auction house Adam’s
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