18 13th November 2010
auction reports A muted roar from Celtic
■ A £1m total, but no disguising these are harder times in Ireland
Terence Ryle reports Exchange rate: £1 = €1.09
£1 = €1.09
GIVEN that Dublin auctioneers Adam’s notched up just short of £1m in a day at the latest of their successful ‘Country House Collections’ format sales, talk of economic hard times may make other auctioneers feel they could use a downturn like Ireland’s.
But the fact that only 520 of the
near-800 lots on offer got away in the rooms – and that the second-best seller was one of those recession-proof Chinese sleepers – underlined the impression that the Celtic Tiger is losing its growl faster than a battered Steiff teddy bear. Glass-half-full types will point to no
fewer than 16 five-figure bids as evidence that the very best will always sell. Glass- half-empty sorts will look at some of the casualties (including fine Irish furniture and silver that a couple of years ago would easily have made their five-figure and high four-figure estimates) and conclude that the merely very good is not good enough. As mentioned in last week’s Art
Market coverage of the pictures at Adam’s, it was the property boom which brought rich private buyers to overwhelming dominance in the auction rooms. Now that market has crashed, the Irish trade cannot fill the gap. Nor can English dealers surge in to take advantage of a buyer’s market – they have troubles of their own and, anyway, the depreciation of sterling since the start of the economic crisis has seen
Adam’s, Slane Castle, Co. Meath October 5 Number of lots offered: 795 Number of lots sold: 65% Buyer’s premium: 18% Sale total: €1.078m (£989,00)
it does engender that ‘country house’ atmosphere. Provenances back to Irish families such as the Creaghs, Guinnesses and Bofords, add to that atmosphere beloved of private bidders. And enough of them are plainly still wealthy enough to take practically all the leading lots. Leading the day was a large George
the pound’s buying power plunge from upwards of €1.45 to €1.09. Furthermore, as auctioneer Stuart Cole pointed out, referring to the Chatsworth sale, “we did have the bad luck to clash with a certain attic sale in England”. That said, Adam’s format of amassing top-quality, overwhelmingly Irish,
material of fine family provenance then offering it at Slane Castle, about 30 miles north of Dublin in Co Meath is a proven winner. Not only can Slane easily
accommodate the sort of huge furniture which would be a problem at Adam’s Stephen’s Green rooms in Dublin, but
III Irish oval gilt brass-bound wine cistern with the crest of the Creagh family of Co Cork and Co Clare let into the ribbed, coopered construction. With lion mask drop ring handles, four claw feet and a lead-lined interior, the cistern came with a 1967 London sale receipt for £1500. Here it was estimated at €50,000-80,000 and got away at €52,000 (£47,700). On the downside, a number of
Enter the dragon...
WHILE Adam’s Slane Castle sale was, naturally, a feast of all things Irish – furniture, pictures, silver etc – it seems these days that no auction anywhere is complete without a Chinese ceramics sleeper. Buyers had already taken a large 19th century jardiniere at a double- estimate €3400 (£3120) and a pair of 2ft (61cm) tall c.19th century Canton export vases at a lower-estimate €600 (£550) when pair of similarly large vases, left, was offered. They were catalogued as 19th century, meiping shaped vases with calligraphy to the flared necks flanked by stylised handles and decorated overall with arabesques and flowerheads. Valued at €600-800, they were misnumbered in the catalogue but that did not slow down interest. They took the second-highest price of the day when, the trade – believed to be a US specialist – paid €42,000 (£38,530).
Left: Chinese vases – €42,000 (£38,530) at Adam’s.
good, if not as good, wine-related items failed to sell. Among these were a Regency coromandel, brass-mounted, sarcophagus-shaped cooler carrying hopes of €6000-10,000 and a similarly shaped mahogany Irish example dated c.1839 and stamped Williams and Gibbons, estimated at €4000-5000. Early on in the sale, there were
promising signs with the reaction to a 19th century Irish mahogany side table with a 5ft 9in wide (1.76m) mottled marble top. It had a moulded frieze and a pierced apron carved with stylised Celtic serpents, flowerheads and leafy scrolls on acanthus-capped cabriole legs. Estimated at €10,000-15,000, it sold at €19,000 (£17,430). As the sale progressed, however,
results on tables were mixed. Some other fine examples did get
Above: 19th century Irish mahogany side table – €19,000 (£17,430) at Adam’s. Below: George III Irish gilt brass-bound wine cistern with Creagh crest – €52,000 (£47,700) at the same sale at Slane Castle, Co. Meath.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80