Fancy a phonograph? Auction of ‘Penny Dreadful’ props

After three years of filming in Ireland ended earlier this year, the props used in the American-British TV fantasy-horror series, Penny Dreadful, are to be auctioned at Punchestown racecourse next month.

Penny Dreadful, consisting of 27 episodes set in Victorian London, was made at Ardmore Studios in Bray. It was shown in the United States on the Showtime channel and in Ireland and Britain on Sky Atlantic between 2014 and 2016.

The title refers to illustrated weekly magazines, priced at one penny, and featuring lurid and sensational stories, that were popular in the 19th century.

The show involved, according to its official website, a mix of “some of literature’s most terrifying characters” including Frankenstein, Dracula and Dorian Gray, “lurking in the darkest corners of Victorian London,” where they interacted with “original characters” in a “psychological thriller mixed with mystery and suspense”.

The cast included Josh Hartnett, Billie Piper, Timothy Dalton, Eva Greene and Reeve Carney.

Tax incentives

The producers had originally planned to film the series in England, but relocated to Ireland in 2013, apparently attracted here by tax incentives for film and TV projects.

Art and antiques auctioneer Sean Eacrett told The Irish Times his company, Ashgrove Auctions Group, has been contracted by the producers to sell thousands of props used in making the show. They were a mix of "real antiques" and meticulously-crafted fakes.

The production company had “hired a team of five buyers who had bought antiques”, including furniture and taxidermy, from dealers and at auction in Ireland and worldwide.

It had also commissioned reproductions of Victorian oil paintings, shops signs and chandeliers. Many of the items were made on set in Bray.

Mr Eacrett, who has salerooms at Portarlington and Naas, said the scale of the auction required a much larger venue and he has hired the warehouse-style Pavilion at Punchestown. The props, ranging from four-poster beds to an Edison phonograph, will go on public view there from Friday, September 9th.

The auction will take place over three days in Punchestown, beginning on Tuesday, September 13th, with more than 3,000 individual lots going under the hammer.