William Comyns’ silver at Adam’s

One of the biggest and most prestigious private collections of silver ever to be auctioned in Ireland goes under the hammer in Adam’s in Dublin on Wednesday, March 25th. Auctioneer Kieran O’Boyle said the remarkable private collection of fine 18th-, 19th- and 20th-century Irish and English silverware – on view now in the St Stephen’s Green saleroom – had been amassed over decades by the late Margaret Hegarty of Rathcormac, Co Cork who died last year.

Mr O’Boyle said during her regular trips to England she visited numerous silver dealers and favoured especially the work of silversmith William Comyns (1836-1916). Ms Hegarty’s collection includes more than 100 pieces by him. Comyns supplied silver to some of the world’s best-known silver retailers, including Tiffany & Co, New York and the Goldsmiths and Silversmiths Company in London. His workshop supplied silverware to the British royal family, both directly and indirectly via the firm of Garrards, even producing the silver for the mausoleum of Queen Victoria.

Among lots by Comyns in the sale is a large ornamental punchbowl of a type known as a “monteith” , estimated at €1,500-€2,000.

Mr O’Boyle said the auction was an executor’s sale so “the estimates are very keen and show extremely good value” and an “ideal opportunity for silver collectors looking to fill a gap in their collections”.