Sale has everything from shotguns to designer drawers

Sheppard's three-day auction rounds up an array of more than 1,300 rare lots

Left, A pair of 12-bore, back action shotguns, and right, a designer fabric-upholstered chest of drawers, a Sheppard's auction.

A pair of cased 12-bore back-action Holland and Holland shotguns and a pair of 19th-century Sèvres guinea fowl which it would be downright foolish to shoot, are among appetising offerings at a three-day auction in Durrow, Co Laois.

The sale, organised by Sheppard’s Irish Auction House on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, also features a late 17th-century Aubusson tapestry, a pair of Regency Cork side tables from the dispersal sale at Kilkenny Castle, and a Duleek Irish carpet.

A detail from the Duleek Irish carpet.

There is an array of fine library furniture, lighting, Irish and European art, early tapestries, sculpture, silver, and even a Killarney games table.

The auction is led by an extensive landscape with travellers and cattle painted in 1828 by James Arthur O’Connor (€15,000-€25,000). The Holland and Holland shotguns are estimated at €14,000-€18,000, the Sevres guinea fowl at €3,000-€5,000.

One of a pair of Regency Cork side tables.

The impressive pair of Cork Regency side tables with rectangular gadrooned tops, rounded corners, spiral-turned legs, and paw feet — by family tradition purchased at the dispersal sale of Kilkenny Castle in 1935 — are estimated at €4,000-€6,000.

A late 17th-century Aubusson tapestry with exotic birds, landscape, and castle enclosed by an elaborate border is estimated at €3,000-€5,000 and the Duleek carpet, after a design by CFA Voysey and manufactured in Donegal by Alexander Morto and Co, is estimated at €4,500-€6,500. The Duleek range was retailed at Liberty’s in London and was included in their Irish Carpet Exhibition at the Grafton Gallery on Bond Street in 1903.

If hunting and shooting is not your thing and if impressive Regency tables from Kilkenny Castle might not fit cosily into your favourite room there is still much to catch the eye at all price points in the selection available.

A designer fabric-upholstered chest of seven drawers.

With more than 1,300 lots the sale offers rare and unusual pieces which might be hard to come by. A designer fabric upholstered chest with seven drawers is estimated at just €300-€500 and among the other lots in this price range you could opt for is a Regency work table, a designer upholstered wing-back armchair, an art deco-style rosewood cabinet, an 18th-century circular tea table, or a Neo-Classical Edwardian log urn.

The pair of 12-bore, back action shotguns.

There is across the board variety from African masks and Chinese porcelain and furniture to jewellery and musical instruments including a Bechstein baby grand piano. Collectibles include a Los Angeles Lakers jersey signed by Kobe Bryant, an 18th-century painted fan, a Galway longcase clock, a 19th-century French clock garniture, and an Egyptian brass hubbly bubbly.

Viewing for this sale, which includes the contents of historic Moyaliffe House, at Ballycahill, Co Tipperary, gets underway in Durrow today and the catalogue is online online.