FOR their opening country house auction of the year, Hamilton Osborne King en the somewhat unusual step of moving from the Old Glebe House in Timoleague some silver, maps, prints and pictures, which will now be on show in their premises in Blackrock Co Dublin, for the next few days.

The Old Glebe is everyone's idea of what a country parsonage should look like. Doubtless someone will correct me if I am in error, but was not this the house in which Lionel Fleming, that good and great journalist of the BBC and the first foreign editor of The Irish Times, was reared and of which he wrote so lovingly in his autobiography, Head or Harp?

It was bought by the Westby family, of Anglo Irish stock, after the second World War and the effects are now being sold following the death of John Westby.

While by no means a huge auction at 600 plus lots, there is a charming individuality about the assortment of goods offered. Among the leading lots are, of course, the two busts by the Cork sculptor John Hogan of two of the Murphy brewery family from Cork. The third of the Hogan trio, another bust of one of the Murphys, was sold late last year by HOK. The two in this auction are also expected to climb towards or above the five figure mark.

While there is a fair amount of silver, few lots surface above a low-key silver sea. An exception is a lovely snuff box by the Cork silversmith Carden Terry, made around 1790 and for which some local collector will doubtless pay up to or above £2,000 - Cork silver sells well in Cork, as Woodwards of Cork have proved several times.

The furniture has nothing exceptional but there are good pieces, starting with an English 18th century longcase clock by John Greene of London (£1,500- £2,000), and another similar period secretaire cabinet in mahogany, boxwood and ebony at the same estimate.

A fine but faded 19th century breakfront mahogany bookcase could make as much as £4,000 - they are popular at auction - while even more than this could be paid for a c1790 mahogany architect's table. A good mahogany pedestal desk has an estimate of £2,000-£3,000 and a much earlier (c 1700) walnut crossbanded and stained mulberry chest could make £2,000-£3,000. Another lot to look out for is a mahogany Dshaped English side cabinet at £2,000-£3,000.

There are quite a few maps, some of them Irish, and books as well as much ephemera of the country house style. This is an interesting auction with which to open the season.