The term "country house sale" tends to be much abused today due to excessive application. There are, after all, few substantial houses left anywhere in the country with contents of note; instead, what tends to be offered at such sales is a mixture of lots from a number of sources. Later this month, however, Hamilton Osborne King are disposing of items from a Co Armagh property, some of which have a long pedigree behind them.
Mount Irwin, outside the village of Tynan and some 10 miles from Armagh city, was for many centuries the home of the Irwin family. In 1977, the property was bought by Frank King from the last member of the family, Joyce Irwin, who died in the early 1980s. Mr King sold Mount Irwin last June and is now disposing of its contents.
The earliest parts of the house date from around 1690 but it has been much altered since with a major extension added about 100 years ago. When Frank King acquired the property, he also retained some of the Irwins' furniture and this is now included in the contents sale. Among these pieces is lot 422, a 17th/18th-century oriental lacquer cabinet, the doors of which are decorated with figures of geese among foliage; inside is an arrangement of small drawers and the whole stands on a European painted and parcel gilt Chinese fretwork stand. This lot carries a pre-sale estimate of £2,000-£3,000, while another of the old Irwin pieces, lot 462, is expected to fetch £1,500-£2,000. A mid-19th-century rosewood library table, has a tooled green morocco inset top, is fitted with two drawers and supported on twin twist column legs leading to bar bases.
Also included in the catalogue are a number of paintings by Harriet Josephine Irwin, known as Jose; a sister of Joyce, she died in 1975. Little is known about her work or training, although it is believed she attended the Byam Shaw School in London during the 1930s. There is no record of her exhibiting her pictures, so she may have painted simply as a hobby, unlike an older relation, Clara Irwin from Carnagh in Castleblayney, Co Monaghan, who showed work at the Royal Hibernian Academy for a number of years during the late 19th and early 20th century until her death in 1921.
Lots 140 to 143 are all examples of Jose Irwin's work in watercolour; two are views of Mount Irwin, the other pair showing a Breton market scene and a Mediterranean terrace respectively. They carry estimates between £200 and £500. There are many items of note in this sale, not least some handsome Irish furniture, such as a 19th-century mahogany drum table (lot 65, estimate £2,000-£3,000). Non-Irish furniture includes an 18th-century Dutch walnut and marquetry bureau (lot 461, £3,000-£4,000) and a mahogany and boxwood banded serpentine sideboard (lot 183, £3,000-£5,000). All estimates are in sterling and the sale is scheduled to take place on the premises on Monday, September 20th, at noon.
