Antique prices getting cheaper, defying every current trend

A George II card table at Woodwards (€400-€500).

ALL AUCTIONS with antique furniture offer plenty of opportunities for entry-level collectors. The sort of value to be had is underlined at Woodwards sale in Cork on this day week (September 24) where there is a selection of Georgian, William IV, Victorian and Edwardian furniture all available at under €500.

Many of these built-to-last venerable old pieces would have cost more two decades ago than they do today and defy every current trend by getting cheaper. If auction history teaches us anything it is that antique pieces from particular eras have to survive a period of being unfashionable and a tendency to break them up.

A Georgian lowboy at Woodwards (€300-€400).

What is slightly puzzling is that in an era like this one, when anything goes, antique furniture is not at all unfashionable. The best interiors are routinely drawn from many sources - eclectic if you like - and the stylish modern home offers huge scope for individual taste and style in furniture, art and collectibles. Even if we are about to be bled dry by energy costs and inflation we need to feather winter nests for the coming winter.

Viewing for Woodwards auction gets underway in Cork city this afternoon and the catalogue is online. Here are some examples with estimates in brackets: Georgian lowboy (€300-€400); concave cabinet (€300-€400); George II card table (€400-€500); Edwardian demi-lune card table (€300-€400); William IV sideboard (€400-€500); Edwardian twin pillar dining table (€300-€400); Edwardian sofa table (€300-€400) and a small bachelors chest (€150-€200). Collectibles include Waterford Crystal, Mason’s Ironstone and a large Persian rug.

A concave corner cabinet at Woodwards (€300-€400).

Even if you cannot be induced to buy, there is a growing selection of free art to enjoy on the streets of Cork. Ardu - Cork’s contemporary street art project - returns this month with three new large-scale murals by Claire Prouvost (Pope’s Quay/Shandon St), Kitsune Jolene (Sullivan’s Quay) and Vents 137 (South Terrace). The artists hail respectively from France, Belgium and Cork. Their works will be created from September 18-30. It will bring the number of enlivening Ardu projects in Cork to 14.

Kitsune Jolene working on a piece of street art.

Meantime the Glucksman Gallery has bagged an award from the European Museum Academy Foundation. It was named winner of the art museum category. The citation praised the Glucksman team for developing digital programmes and large-scale projects onsite and offsite: “These projects have enabled participants from marginalised and rural communities such as travellers, refugees, LGBTQ+ and families experiencing homelessness to find a way to express and visualise their thoughts and opinions on important societal issues through creative agency”.