Auction celebrates Irish skill and creativity through the ages

The Trinity by Sean Keating at James Adam's.

There is no shortage of spectacular vernacular at the next James Adam timed online auction which draws to a close from 11am on Wednesday, April 16. The title of the auction - Irish Vernacular - might suggest ordinary common or garden lots but nothing could be further from the truth.

The sale is a celebration of very fine Irish skill and creativity down through the centuries. The artist Sean Keating gives us a different take on a well-worn subject. 

In The Trinity - at €10,000-€15,000 the most expensively estimated lot - the traditional figures have been substituted with three ordinary people from the west of Ireland. The arched canvas is reminiscent of traditional altar pieces, but the figure in the centre, the position most often associated with Christ, is a woman in a tartan shawl standing in front of a donkey and cart.

An 18th century Irish limestone chimneypiece from Tipperary at Adam's.

Among other leading lots are a c1750 Irish silver dish ring made in Dublin but lacking a maker's mark, an 18th century Irish limestone chimney piece from Tipperary with its original carved sandstone inset, a Roscommon grey limestone chimney piece with moulded top, a c1940 Celtic Revival silver tray, an 18th carat gold antique Claddagh ring, a 19th century painted pine settle bench and an Irish naturalistic log bucket.

Irish Vernacular covers a multitude, from a cased diorama of a three-masted schooner in full sail on choppy seas, a painted timber model of a currach and another of a Galway Hooker to three Irish limestone specimens on stands, a cast iron weather vane with a silhouette of a hunter and his hound in pursuit of a rabbit, a milking stool, a carved duck decoy, wrought iron gates and a Tara brooch.

Two large Carrigaline Pottery jugs at Adam's.

The auction offers opportunities to pick up something for a song that with just a little imagination could be turned into a conversation piece or converted to a more modern decorative use. An Irish Victorian green painted footbath, stamped Maguire & Catchell, Dublin, is estimated at €100-€200, a limestone duck trough at €300-€400, a timber butter paddle and mould at €50-€100 and a black painted cast iron pot at €80-€120.

There is a selection of pine and painted pine cupboards, an oak linen press, an Irish oak cradle, an oak wall cabinet, wash stands, kitchen tables and desks, chairs, stools, boxes and wall hangers. An Irish lustre ware ceramic bowl, pottery jugs from Arklow and Carrigaline, mugs and hot water jugs will stimulate collectors with an eye to nostalgia.

An Admiral brand advertising sign by John Daly and Co. in Cork at Adam's.

A small selection of bygone advertising material includes an Admiral brand famous rum sign by John Daly and Co. in Cork, a Perry's Ale mirror and a Jacob's Cream Crackers sign. There is art by Markey Robinson, Maurice MacGonigal, Rowland Hill, Erskine Nicol among a total of 260 lots. The sale gets underway at 11am next Wednesday.