Snuff box tells a forgotten tale

Northsider was eminent academic, first secretary of the RIA and physician general to the British army in Ireland

ROSS O’Carroll-Kelly types might find it “hord” to believe, “roysh”, but the first professor of chemistry at Trinity College Dublin was a Finglas man. Robert Perceval, the son of a barrister, was born there in 1756 – one of the most distinguished people to emerge from the suburb.

After graduating from Trinity, he went to Edinburgh, and then Switzerland, to study medicine before returning to Ireland and the plum job in academia. He was also a founder member and the first secretary of the Royal Irish Academy and served as physician general to the British forces in Ireland.

Researching the provenance of items in auction catalogues often leads to the discovery of interesting – and largely-forgotten Irish lives.

Dr Perceval is recalled in the unlikely shape of an 18th-century, gold-mounted horn snuff box in Sheppard’s two-day sale, on Tuesday and Wednesday next week in Durrow, Co Laois.

An elaborate snuff box was an accessory de rigueur for an 18th-century Irish gentleman and this example, made of goat horn and inset with a yellow citrine stone, has an estimate of €800-€1,200.

An oval miniature portrait of Rev. William Bruce (1757–1841), painted on ivory, is set in a rose-gold frame with a glass panel on the reverse revealing a lock of his hair. But there’s no fuss about this – unlike the recent shenanigans over a similar “souvenir” of Michael Collins. The estimate is €800- €1,200. But who was he? Bruce was a clergyman and president of the Belfast Reading Society (now the Linen Hall Library) in 1798 and a larger portrait of him still hangs there.

A mahogany and satinwood longcase clock by Dublin maker Archibald Deen looks – at first glance – like a classic Georgian grandfather clock (estimate €2,000- €3,000).

But the panel surrounding the Roman numerals of the clock face is “after-painted” with colourful Irish imagery – an early example of Irish Gaelic revivalism.

Auctioneer Philip Sheppard said the clock was “modified to reflect a newly-emerged, increasingly confident Irish middle-class”.

Other highlights include an 18th- century Chippendale-style gilt-framed over-mantel mirror (€5,000-€8,000); a big selection of garden statuary; and, an art nouveau brooch, featuring a real grouse foot mounted in silver (which must be seen to be believed) with an estimate of €150-€250.

Viewing begins today.