Much to interest collectors at Adam’s country house sale

Works by Anthony Van Dyke, Joshua Reynolds and Robert Hunter are a major draw, writes Des O’Sullivan.

The O’Connell Centenary Celebrations, 1875 by Charles Russell (1852-1910) from the ‘Stories of Ireland in Art’ exhibition at the National Gallery in Dublin. Picture: © National Gallery of Ireland.

A 3m-long mid-Georgian Chippendale serving table is among a number of highly collectible lots at Adam’s Country House Collections auction at Townley Hall, Drogheda, at 11.30 am next Tuesday.

Work in progress at Slane Castle has necessitated a move to the graceful Georgian surroundings of Townley Hall for this eagerly anticipated annual sale.

More than 600 lots will showcase Irish country house interior decoration.

This portrait of Thomas Butler, Earl of Ossory, attributed to Anthony van Dyke is at the James Adam’s sale in Drogheda next Tuesday, (€10,000-€15,000).

Irish Georgian furniture and some early portraits attributed to Robert Hunter, Joshua Reynolds and Anthony Van Dyke will create international interest.

There is furniture and art, garden furniture, silver, porcelain, books, glass, carpets, prints and antique maps. Somelots can be traced to country houses which have crumbled into ruins. The Chippendale serving table has been at Fortgranite in Co Wicklow since the early 19th century.

It is thought to have been commissioned for a grand house called Belan at Moone in Co Kildare and is estimated at €15,000-€20,000.

Glass, carpets, prints, and antique maps are among the lots on offer at the Adam’s Country House Collections auction.

Among other lots of fine furniture are a pair of inlaid and painted satinwood pier tables (€30,000-€50,000), a mahogany breakfront bookcase (€10,000-€15,000); an Irish yew secretaire (€5,000-€8,000); a large brass bound turf bucket (€15,000-€20,000); several pairs of Irish Georgian games tables and large Williams and Gibton dining tables.

A portrait by Robert Hunter of Robert King (1724-1755), MP for Boyle who became Baron Kingsborough at the age of 23, is estimated at €20,000-€30,000.

A portrait from the studio of Joshua Reynolds of John Byron, grandfather of the poet, is estimated at €35,000-€45,000 and one of Thomas Butler, Earl of Ossory, attributed to van Dyke, is estimated at €10,000-€15,000.

An exceptionally long George III Chippendale serving table is at James Adams sale in Drogheda next Tuesday (€15,000-€20,000).

A view by William Sadler of Dublin Bay from the South is estimated at €8,000-€10,000 and a painting of the Meath Hunt by Thomas Walker Bretland is estimated at €30,000-€40,000.

A c1767 Dublin silver freedom box by Bartholomew Stokes presented to Theophilus Jones is estimated at €10,000-€15,000.

A French flintlock sporting gun by Nicholas Noel Boutet, gunmaker to the King at Versailles, (he worked for Napoleon as director of the State Arms Company during the French Revolution), is estimated at €8,000-€12,000.

Viewing at Townley Hall is from 11am to 5pm today and tomorrow and from 10am to 5pm on Monday.

Ireland’s past in art at National Gallery

Exhibition views the story of Ireland in paintings, says Des O’Sullivan.

Every painting tells a story and Ireland’s history can be seen in pictures at a show opening at the National Gallery in Dublin today.

“Creating History: Stories of Ireland in Art” is the gallery’s principal contribution to this Decade of Centenaries.

The O’Connell Centenary Celebrations, 1875 by Charles Russell (1852-1910) from the ‘Stories of Ireland in Art’ exhibition at the National Gallery in Dublin. Picture: © National Gallery of Ireland.

The 55 paintings on display date from the 17th to the 20th century and depict, or were inspired by Irish history from the arrival of St Patrick to the establishment of the Irish Free State.

Arranged thematically with sections entitled Testimony, Conflict, Assembly, Allegory and Lamentation, the exhibition features paintings from the permanent collection, as well as work on loan from public and private collections in Ireland and overseas.

Some, like William Turner De Lond’s George IV, King of England, entering Dublin, 1821 and Sir John Lavery’s The Ratification of the Irish Treaty in the English House of Lords, 1921, have been unseen in public for many years.

The Monster Meeting at Clifden, 1844 by Joseph Patrick Haverty (1794-1864) from the Stories of Ireland in Art exhibition at the National Gallery in Dublin. © National Gallery of Ireland

Others, like Jan Wyck’s The Battle of the Boyne and Joseph Patrick Haverty’s, The Monster Meeting at Clifden, c 1844, have undergone extensive restoration specifically for this exhibition.

Yet more, such as Francis Wheatley’s, Dublin Volunteers on College Green, 1779 and Edwin Hayes, The Emigrant Ship, 1853 will be familiar to regulars at the gallery.

The exhibition, which is accompanied by a book with essays by Mary Jane Boland, Tom Dunne; RF Foster; Róisín Kennedy; Ruth Kenny and Emily Mark-FitzGerald and Brendan Rooney, runs until January 15 next.

Candlesticks under the hammer

These George II candlesticks were made in Dublin around 1745 by John Moore.

Based on Christchurch Lane, Moore became a freeman of the city in 1728 and was elected warden in 1752.

The candlesticks, which are just over 7ins tall, will be brought by Weldon’s to the antique fair at the Talbot Hotel in Stillorgan next weekend.

They are priced at €4,500.

One of a pair of 18th century gilt console tables which sold for €145,000 at Mealy’s auction at Kilfane, on Tuesday. They had been estimated at €8,000-€12,000.