Good sets of dining chairs, well-maintained and of a sufficient number, never fail to sell at auction. The two mahogany examples shown here are part of a group of six being offered by Morgan O'Driscoll at an antiques and fine art sale he is holding in Cork next Monday.

The chairs themselves come from the same city, being made there around 1820 with elaborately carved rail backs and sabre legs.

They are expected to make between £2,000 and £3,000, while another set from around the same period, this time running to a dozen and including two carvers, carries a pre-auction estimate of £8,000-£10,000.

O'Driscoll auctions usually include some fine instances of Irish-made furniture and this one is no exception.

There is, for example, a 19th century mahogany three-seat sofa, its arms carved in the forms of eagles and the legs ending in claw and ball feet (£7,500-£10,000). Also from this country and worthy of mention are a Georgian grandfather clock with swan neck pedestal (£2,500-£3,000), an early Victorian double-pedestal writing desk with adjustable writing slope (£2,400-£2,800) and a Victorian Killarney arbutus wood writing slope inlaid with an image of Muckross Abbey (£700-£950).

The second half of the sale is given over to pictures, where familiar names include Gladys McCabe, Maurice Wilks, Harry Kernoff, George Gillespie and George Campbell.

This auction takes place in Cork's Vienna Woods Hotel and begins at 7 p.m.