AN AUCTION of furniture, art and family heirlooms from the personal collection of the 29th Knight of Glin, Desmond FitzGerald, fetched over €2 million (£1.76 million) at an auction at Christie’s in London yesterday, exceeding pre-sale expectations.
Proceeds will be used to secure the future of his castle in Co Limerick which is regarded as one of Ireland’s leading heritage houses.
The Knight had feared that collectors might be put off buying in the recession.
“I was nervous that because of the economy many would not be in a prosperous state but the sale today showed there is great interest,” he said.
The top lots of the sale included a landscape by 18th century Irish painter and founding member of the Royal Academy George Barret, (1732-1784) entitled Dolbarden Castle, Llanberis, with early morning mist dispersing, which sold for £91,250 (€103,278), and which had an estimate of between £80,000 and £100,000.
A George II mahogany bureau writing cabinet circa 1750, estimated at between £70,000 and £100,000, sold for £91,250 (€103,278).
A total of 161 of the 198 lots on sale were successful, and eight of the 10 highest-selling items were Irish Georgian pieces of furniture, two of which sold to the Irish trade and others to private buyers.
Desmond FitzGerald said he was particularly satisfied that there was such interest in Irish furniture and he hoped that his books had helped to “create an appetite” for this.
Proceeds would go towards the upkeep of Glin Castle, which had recently suffered from decreasing numbers of visitors, particularly from America.
“It will help to keep the place going for the next few years until things get better,” he commented.
It was his first time auctioning items from his personal collection although in 1803 many original furnishings had been sold after the death of his ancestor Col John FitzGerald, the 24th Knight of Glin.
He added that he was pleased to see so many paintings and works of art find new homes, some of them in institutions where they could be enjoyed by the public long into the future.
The director and head of private collection and country house sales at Christie’s, Orlando Rock, described Desmond FitzGerald as a “pioneer collector and scholar” and said it had been a “rare opportunity” for private collectors and institutions to acquire items from his collection.
Glin has been home to the FitzGeralds since the early 14th century when they were granted the lands by their Desmond overlords.
The present castle was built in the 1790s, and in recent years was opened as a luxury hotel.
Guests have included Mick Jagger, Marianne Faithfull and the late Lady Bird Lyndon Johnson, widow of the late president of the United States.
An auction of Irish and Sporting Art will take place at Christie’s, King street, London, today. An item of particular interest is Lot 49, a portrait of Count John McCormack, 1923, by Sir William Orpen RA, RHA (1878-1931) which has an estimate of £400,000 to £600,000.