18-21C
A mostly dry and fine day is expected.

Find a...

Date Job Car Home












€82k Regency desk is top seller from mansion

A Regency Carlton House desk at €82,000 was the top lot at Mt Congreve yesterday.

It was the most expensive item sold at the two-day sale of contents from the Co Waterford mansion near Kilmeaden.

It was sold at about 7.30pm in a day when rare antique furniture with impeccable provenance, Oriental porcelain, chandeliers, and books contributed to outstanding results.

The heat of the Chinese market was reflected through the cooling impact of occasional heavy showers. Oriental porcelain was remarkable for the number of lots sold way above estimate, confirming a trend established on Tuesday. Collectors in search of a bargain found the going tough.

A blue and white meiping vase estimated at up to €12,000 made €50,000.

Traditionally used to display plum blossoms this one was fitted for electricity and sported a faint hairline crack. A pair of Kangxi vases, also adapted for electricity, made €34,000 over a top estimate of €8,000 and a blue-and-white baluster vase with an estimate of €3,000 actually sold for €23,500. All hammer prices will attract a 25% premium for commissions and fees.

Conversely, the two most expensively estimated porcelain lots, a Yongzheng famille rose alcove vase and cover and a set of three ormolu mounted famille verte baluster vases, sold for €26,000 and €23,000 respectively. Each had been estimated at up to €30,000. A green ground baluster vase estimated at €300-€500 sold over the telephone for €10,500, an ormolu mounted vase estimated at up to €1,200 made €16,000, a squat baluster vase made €2,400 over a top estimate of €600, a monochrome vase made €4,000 over a top estimate of €1,500, and a bottle vase with an estimate of €200-€300 sold for €9,000. Four rolls of early hand-painted Chinese wallpaper sold for €7,000.

The marquee in the grounds of the Co Waterford mansion was as crowded as on the first day, but there was no shortage of telephone and internet bidders pushing prices to dizzying levels.

A pair of Louis XV giltwood console tables with a top estimate of €30,000 sold for some €55,000, equalling the top price paid for the Schreiber collection of ceramics on Tuesday. A pair of carved gilt gesso side tables made €46,000 against a top estimate of €25,000.

A Louis XV cylinder bureau from the de Rothschild collection last sold at Christie’s in 1942 made €24,000 over an estimate of €15,000-€25,000. A suite of 18th-century giltwood furniture with 10 fauteuils and a pair of sofas made €20,000 as did a 19th century-suite of tapestry seat furniture. The Regency gilt wood over mantle mirror from the drawing room, estimated at €1,500-€2,500, sold for €13,000.

© Irish Examiner Ltd. All rights reserved

Home

More from the Irish Examiner