Taking place this Tuesday and Wednesday is Victor Mee’s Summer Garden Sale, with viewings at its auction rooms in Cloverhill, Co Cavan, this weekend and Monday July 17th. The online-only sale of more than 650 lots includes garden statuary, seating, tables, urns and exterior fixtures.
Leading the sale in terms of higher estimates is lot 200, a moulded stone French gazebo which has a wrought-iron top. Estimated at €8,000-€12,000, the piece, which dates from the early 20th century, is supported by Corinthian columns and measures over 3½ metres high by almost 3 metres in diameter. It will require a large enough space to make an impact.
There’s a good array of bronze statuary, including that of a single pony (lot 43, €6,000-€12,000), or, if you’d prefer, a pair of foals (lot 309) listed at €6,000-€12,000. A pair of stags’ heads, described as being of “exceptional quality”, also in bronze and on plinths rising to 260cm in height, also feature (lot 451, €8,000-€12,000).
Water features are also well represented and include a notable and rare 19th-century cast-iron two-tier fountain with swans (lot 362, €2,000-€4,000); a more diminutive bronze of an art deco woman on a limestone pedestal holding a bowl (lot 21), is listed at €3,000-€6,000.
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Seating includes benches in every shape and size from formal cast-iron models, Lutyens teak benches, and 20th-century wrought-iron models to contemporary moulded-stone benches. A particularly nice bench is lot 400A, which is one with a dog’s head decoration in the Coalbrookdale style (€1,000-€2,000).
There’s also a stone pizza oven (lot 659) listed at €700-€1,400, which looks almost identical (comparing all its markings, brandings and photographs) to the Prestige 90 model listed on the online UK site fireland.co.uk. It is currently listed with a selection of tools for £695, so, as with everything, it’s best to do your homework in advance.
A vintage Le Creuset barbecue with a canopy in the traditional red colour with metal spoke wheels (lot 655) is interesting, and would add both colour and a bit of chatter to any back garden get-together (€200-€400).
[ Hold your horses at the contents of Rocklow Estate in TipperaryOpens in new window ]
More garden seating is being offered at Sean Eacrett’s July Fine Art and Antiques sale on July 22nd, in an online auction that includes the unsold items from Rocklow Estate. The 18th-century manor house on 100 acres in Fethard, Co Tipperary was once home to the Barton family of winemaking fame. It sold through Colliers International recently, after it had been offered for sale for €3 million.
It has two sets of pairs (lot 495 and 496) of cast-iron benches at €800-€1,200 for each set; a “superb” heavy cast-iron bench in the Coalbrookdale style (lot 490, €1,200-€1,500) and a very heavy cast-iron garden bench with oak leaf decoration (lot 491, €1,200-€1,500). The sale also has two interesting bronze sculptures: Lot 492 is a ballet dancer standing at 143cm tall (€1,500-€1,800), while lot 493 is an unusual offering of a 1 metre tall jester/pixie playing a fiddle (€1,600-€1,800).
