Antiques: Portrait, phoenix and peacock in the picture

Unusual lots offer collectors in Ireland a wide range of choice next week, writes Des O'Sullivan

Sat, 22 Jun, 2024 - 05:50

Des O’Sullivan

A Manchu gentleman's embroidered silk accessories and a fine pair of arts and crafts hanging tapestries or a suite of sapphire, ruby and diamond ring and ear clips and a homage by Harry Kernoff to Francois Boucher's portrait of Marie Louise O'Murphy, mistress of King Louis XV of France, the choice is yours at sales in Ireland next week.

These unusual lots can be found respectively at a Fine Asian and African art sale at James Adam and Aidan Foley's online auction of contents from the Convent of St Joseph of Cluny in Killiney on Tuesday (June 25) and at The Jewellery Box sale at James Adam and Morgan O'Driscoll's online art auction on Monday.

The accessories of a Manchu gentleman at Adam's.

If lot 101 at Adam's is any guide the Manchurians dressed to impress. They conquered China in the 17th century, established the Qing Dynasty and ruled for more than 250 years.

The 19th-century gentleman's embroidery yellow silk accessories showcase a peacock, three goats representing peace and prosperity and a phoenix surrounded by peonies as part of a set featuring a fan holder, a double-gourd betel nut pouch, a wallet and a pocket watch holder. The estimate is a cool €6,000-€8,000.

Among 574 lots on offer are Tibetan fabrics, Chinese ceramics, ritual bronze vessels, carved jades, gilt bronze figures, a Japanese lacquered tray, cloisonne, mother-of-pearl inlaid furniture and even a fetish statue from the Congo.

A pair of Art and Crafts hanging tapestries at Aidan Foley's sale.

Nearer home but no less exotic is a pair of Arts and Crafts hanging tapestries (€600-€1,000) at Aidan Foley's online auction in conjunction with Niall Mullen of contents from the St Joseph of Cluny convent offers all sorts of choices. There is a selection of antique furniture, a brass and gilded tabernacle, a walnut organ, a collection of linen, kneelers and church pews and ecclesiastical brass items. The sale will be on view at the convent in Killiney from today.

Early 20th-century aquamarine and diamond earrings at James Adam.

A pair of early 20th-century aquamarine and diamond pendant earrings of chandelier design feature among an appetising selection of 289 lots at the Jewellery Box sale at James Adam on Monday afternoon. The estimate is €4,000-€5,000, not quite as much as a single stone diamond ring of 3.01 carats graded as G colour which is, at €7,000-€8,000, the most expensively estimated lot of the auction.

Other top lots include a diamond and sapphire crossover bangle (€6,500-€7,300), a pair of diamond pendant earrings (€5,000-€7,000) and three c1987 gem set Patrizia rings by Marina B with pink tourmaline, citrine and blue topaz (€5,500-€6,500). There are lots from €50 euro upwards.

Marie Louise O'Murphy after Boucher by Harry Kernoff at Morgan O'Driscoll.

At Morgan O'Driscoll's online art auction on Monday evening Harry Kernoff's homage to Marie Louise O'Murphy after Boucher is estimated at €2,000-€3,000. In later years Boucher's painting was also referenced by Michael Farrell (1940-2000) who produced political versions in a Miss O'Murphy series in the 1970s and 1980s.

There is a 2024 Famine Ship by John Behan (€15,000-€20,000), a Cubist Still Life by Nano Reid (€500-€700), continental landscapes by Letitia Hamilton (€6,000-€9,000), three offset lithographs from Andy Warhol's Endangered Species series (1,500-€2,000) and Duffy's Circus by Barbara Warren (€400-€600) among a particularly wide selection of art. All catalogues are online.