NEXT Thursday's auction by Christie's of important English furniture includes a number of pieces of Irish interest. The London sale features items from Headfort House in Co Meath; the furniture is being sold by the trustees of Headfort School to pay for the restoration of the building, and in particular its interiors, designed by Robert Adam.
These items, many of which seem to have been made specifically for Headfort, include a pair of George III giltwood pier glasses; based on one of Adam's designs, they are expected to make £25,000-£50,000. A pair of Irish George III giltwood pier tables, in the manner of Robert Adam, should fetch £10,000-£15,000, while an Irish Regency giltwood and composition side table, with a George II white and siena marble top with inlaid Greek key pattern border, carries a pre-sale estimate of £15,000-£25,000.
Other pieces from Headfort include an Irish George III mahogany side table with grey stone top (£10,000-£15,000), a pair of late 17th/early 18th century Italian alabaster vases (£3,000-£5,000) and two pairs of late Victorian nine branch ormolu candelabra (£5,000-£8,000 for each pair).
The same Christie's sale has a two other lots with an Irish connection: an Irish Regency brass mounted mahogany dumb waiter, made by Gillingtons of Dublin (estimate £2,000-£3,000), and a pair of Regency mahogany terrestrial and celestial globes by Cary's of London, which originate from Strokestown House, Co Roscommon.
