It’s break time in the auction rooms ahead of end-of-year sales

Irish auction houses take a breather before a busy round of sales in the run-up to Christmas


Most of the main Irish auction houses are “resting” for Hallowe’en and the schools’ mid-term break after a hectic autumn, but have already announced dates for the final sales of 2016.

Fonsie Mealy Auctioneers will hold its Chatsworth Fine Art Sale in The Old Cinema, Castelcomer, Co Kilkenny, on November 15th and, separately, the firm’s annual Dublin Rare Book auction will take place in the Gresham Hotel on December 13th.

De Veres art auction in the RHA Gallery on November 22nd will include a collection of paintings that had been on loan to – and on display in – the former Four Seasons Hotel in Ballsbridge (now under new management and renamed the InterContinental Dublin).

Whyte’s auction on November 28th in the RDS will include a further selection of paintings from the McClelland Collection.

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Mealy’s Fine Art will hold its two-day Winter Sale in Castlecomer, Co Kilkenny on November 28th and 29th.

Dublin & Provincial

Sheppard's will hold a three-day auction titled "Dublin & Provincial" at the saleroom in Durrow, Co Laois on November 29th & 30th and December 1st, and the auction will include paintings from the former All Hallows seminary.

West Cork-based Morgan O'Driscoll's Irish & International Fine Art Auction at the RHA Gallery in Dublin on December 5th will include paintings by Paul Henry, Walter Osborne and Michael Flatley.

Adam's Important Irish Art auction in the St Stephen's Green saleroom in Dublin on December 7th includes paintings by Paul Henry , Sir John Lavery, Sir William Orpen, Roderic O'Conor and Jack B Yeats, but also some historical collectibles, most notably, "a letter of surrender from Patrick Pearse, written four days before his execution in 1916" estimated at €1 million-€1.5 million.

Among the London auctions of Irish interest: Sotheby's will auction Sleep Sound by Jack B Yeats, from the private collection of the late David Bowie, on November 10th; Bonhams will auction a selection of Irish art in its New Bond Street saleroom on November 23rd; and Christie's will hold auctions of Modern British & Irish Art on November 23rd and 24th, including paintings by Jack B Yeats and Sir John Lavery. Newbridge House Auctions aside, collectors may be interested in seeing the contents of Newbridge House, Donabate, Co Dublin, although they are most definitely not for sale.

On Tuesday, November 8th, the Irish Georgian Society and Fingal County Council, in collaboration with the Cobbe family, will hold a study day on-site to examine the history and conservation of Newbridge House's architecture, designed landscape, decorative interiors and collection.

Among the topics and speakers are: “Preserving the Taste of Thomas and Lady Betty Cobbe at Newbridge” by Alec Cobbe, Newbridge House; “India Pictures and Irish Flocks: global and local aspects of the wallpaper trade in Georgian Ireland” by David Skinner, wallpaper maker and historian; “The Newbridge Hobbema and some Observations on other Dutch and Flemish Works in the Cobbe Collection” by Dr Adriaan Waiboer, curator of Northern European Art, National Gallery of Ireland; and “Newbridge: Managing Historic Properties – the Local Authority Perspective” by Fionnuala May, county architect, Fingal County Council.

For further details and to make bookings, contact the Irish Georgian Society or see igs.ie