FROM THE ARCHIVES:The headline price in an art and antiques auction at James Adams was a four-figure sum, just, paid for a painting by Jack Yeats. – JOE JOYCE
A NOTABLY successful antique auction held by James Adams of Stephen’s Green, Dublin, was remarkable for the packed attendance and lively interest throughout three days. The high point was the rapid bidding for a small Jack B Yeats oil painting, The Friendly Pool, and after an opening bid of £300 the picture came under the hammer at £1,000.
More run-of-the-mill Irish pictures also sold well; a view of Roundstone by Maurice Wilks made £115, whilst a Charles Lamb view of the duck pond in Stephen’s Green sold for £135 and a harbour scene by the same artist made £130. Two landscapes by Frank McKelvey were keenly sought; a farmyard scene sold at £260, a view of Marble Hill Strand, Donegal, for £200 and a smaller pastoral scene made £110. A particularly interesting painting by George Russell (Æ), Three Figures on a Hill, did not seem too expensive at £125.
A pleasant charcoal study by William Conor of a child at the door sold well for £110. An abstract Connemara scene by Louis le Brocquy created considerable interest and although it was only a small watercolour on paper, the selling price was £200. A large seascape of Dublin Bay by John Faulkner was a pleasant lot at £100. A small landscape attributed to William Sadler sold at £135. A rather crude late Victorian scene of Daniel O’Connell addressing a meeting in College Green was no bargain at £100.
The steady demand for large Currier and Ives lithographs of the 1880s was reflected in the £130 paid for the Niagara Falls and the same price for a scene of trotting and snow. The demand for horse pictures in Ireland, particularly around the Horse Show period, was seen in the easy sale for general sporting pictures. A pair of late 19th-century hunting paintings sold at £280; an oil painting of a hunter in a stable signed Lloyd 1858 made £260, and a scene of horses in a pasture with a storm approaching by Verboeckhoven, dated 1869, sold for £440.
There were some sought-after lots of silver in this sale: a large oval fruit bowl on a rim base with a London Victorian hallmark sold well for £250, whilst a pair of George IV entree dishes (London 1832) made £320. An unusual pair of miniature circular tazzas, weighing only 11oz, fetched £230, a pair of Irish George II sauce boats with harp handles sold at £260, whilst a single-cork silver sauce-boat by Carden Terry, circa 1780, made £200. An Edwardian Irish four-piece silver tea set sold at the good price of £280 . . .
Amongst the most plated items on offer, the most sought-after was a fine pair of Sheffield two- branch candelabra, which made £105. A handsomely engraved pepperbox revolver by Rigby of Dublin sold for £210. There was virtually no jewellery on offer.
China dinner services were in quick demand. A 100-piece blue-and-white service commanded £105, a 60-piece Davenport service made £160.
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