Dublin auction with a `country house flavour'

For the first time last year, Hamilton Osborne King moved out of its own premises to hold a fine art auction in the RDS, where a total of £420,000 was made. This was sufficiently encouraging for the house and it has organised another such event in the same location, scheduled for next Thursday morning; almost 500 lots will come under the hammer.

This is a very mixed sale - the HOK press release speaks of a desire "to give the impression of the interior of a country house" - which could be summarised as including something for everyone. Categories run from silver and porcelain to paintings and furniture. Among the last of these are some attractive pieces of Irish work, such as a mahogany breakfast table, its downswept legs terminating in brass rams heads; made circa 1825 by Leahy of Dublin, it has a guide price of £3,000-£4,000. A large, plain mid-19th century Irish mahogany open bookcase is expected to sell for £3,000-£5,000, reflecting the constant demand for such items of furniture. A dainty mahogany, rosewood-banded and boxwood line-inlaid side table, probably made in Cork at the end of the 18th century, also carries a pre-sale estimate of £3,000-£5,000.

A mahogany pedestal sideboard from Williams & Gibton, circa 1835 is expected to sell for £4,000£6,000 and a late 19th-century Irish mahogany chest on chest should easily find a buyer willing to pay £1,000-£1,500. Another attractive Irish lot is a giltwood, flat, carved mirror from the mid-18th century (£4,000-£6,000) and there are also several examples of Hick's work, including a mahogany, rectangular, Georgian-style dressing-table mirror (£300-£400).

Continental furniture includes a mid-19th century French ormolu and ebonised side cabinet with a marble top (£2,000-£3,000), a pair each of 19th century Italian giltwood mirrors and console tables (£6,000-£8,000 and £4,000-£6,000 respectively) and a French late 18th-century kingwood and tulip wood banded secretaire, which was sold for £3,200 at the 1983 Luttrellstown Castle sale. This time its upper estimate is almost double that figure. In the porcelain section, Belleek is strongly represented, thanks to such lots as a first-period grass tea service (£1,500-£2,000), a second-period pair of two-handled "Finner" flower pots (£1,500-£2,000) and a second-period "Imperial" centre vase (£600-£800). The selection of pictures also has an Irish bias, with two oils by Maurice MacGonigal - Ely Place, Dublin (£3,000-£5,000) and Canal Bridge (£1,000-1,500) - leading the field among the 20th-century lots.

With an earlier date and a much higher guide price, is James Malton's watercolour of Dublin viewed from the Phoenix Park (£6,000-£10,000).