Fans of 'Downton Abbey' will find the legacy of the Big House at Sheppard's autumn sale next week, writes MICHAEL PARSONS
DOWNTON ABBEYis back on television and viewing figures suggest that interest in aristocratic country house life isn't just confined to the "West Brit" element in Irish society.
Sheppard’s auctioneers will be hoping this curiosity translates into bidding at its well-timed autumn sale, appropriately titled The Legacy of the Big House.
The three-day auction begins on Tuesday at the saleroom in the Co Laois village of Durrow.
It’s a whopping affair featuring almost 2,000 lots – so many, in fact, that the auctioneer has issued two separate catalogues.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, the focus is on period furniture and decorative art from private collections and Irish country houses.
Indeed, the salesroom resembles the props department for a period costume drama. A cast of interesting characters could be assembled from the pages of the visitors’ book from Emo Park, the Earl of Portarlington’s estate. Among 1,000 signatures, dating from 1860 to 1900, are those of Albert Edward (the Prince of Wales – later Edward VII – who was temporarily stationed at the Curragh Camp with the British Army); the 7th Duke of Marlborough; Jenny Jerome (the American-born mother of Prime Minister Winston Churchill); and Alice Keppel (mistress of King Edward VII and great-grandmother of Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall). Co Laois hasn’t seen such house parties since. The estimate is €3,000-€5,000.
A first World War brass periscope – used by a British officer in the trenches to keep an eye on the Germans – made in 1917 by R J Beck and the estimate is €100-€150. A set of campaign medals (€300-€500) was awarded to a Sgt Maj E Doolan (born in Co Tipperary) for his service in the Great War and the earlier, second Boer War.
Many of the lots will appeal to those with Big House aspirations – or delusions of grandeur. And not all require a king’s ransom.
An Edwardian brass gong on a stand (for summoning guests down to dinner) is estimated at €30-€50 while a candle snuffer has an estimate of €40-€60. The horsey set may like a Victorian silver hunting horn (€300-€500); a pair of Edwardian riding boots, with trees, by Tom Hill of Knightsbridge (€200-€300); and, the ultimate accessory for a D4 hallway, a Georgian mahogany boot-jack (€140-€180). A ceremonial fishing spear (€200-€300) comes from the Trobriand Islands of Papua New Guinea and is clearly a colonial trophy.
More expensive lots include a large oil painting, Horses and Houndsby Carl Suhrlandt (€8,000-€10,000); a 19th century Killarney yew-wood drum table (€4,000-€6,000); and, what is, perhaps, the most extraordinary item, a Georgian mahogany and brass-bound Irish revolving pot bucket on stand – an elaborate piece of furniture designed to contain and conceal a chamber pot in a drawing room (€6,000-€8,000).
Day three of the sale, on Thursday, is entirely devoted to Asian art with hundreds of lots of Chinese and Japanese porcelain. Sheppard’s has form in the area of oriental ceramics and has achieved some spectacular prices in recent years.
Auctioneer Philip Sheppard said the sale was already generating interest from specialist collectors worldwide via the internet.
Chinese porcelain is especially difficult to value accurately so there could well be some big surprises. One of the more eye-catching lots, number 1,692, is a Republican Period, six-inch high vase depicting a roaring tiger which might appeal as much to Irish as to Chinese bidders (€6,000-€8,000). An “extremely rare, Chinese blue and white vase” with the imperial Qianlong seal, from the estate of Wicklow-born Capt Robert Charles Halpin – of trans-Atlantic telegraph cable fame – is estimated at €10,000-€15,000.
Viewing begins at 2pm today
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