From a sword to a tea set, French chateau's treasures at Irish auction

A group of 150 lots at the Sheppard's Paradigms and the Unexpected auction will be from the Blandin family of Château de Chalain, France

The Louis XIV sword, left, is among the lots at the Sheppard's auction Paradigms and the Unexpected.

A Louis XIV sword, 17th-century portrait miniatures, an 18th-century silver tea service, a portrait of a noblewoman in the robes of the Order of Malta, a Book of Hours and collectible glass by Gallé, Daum and Baccarat will feature at the Sheppard's Irish Auction House live and online Paradigms and the Unexpected auction in Durrow this Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday (March 10-12).

The above treasures are from a group of 150 lots in the auction from the Blandin family of Château de Chalain, France. They have been in Ireland for over 50 years by direct descent, curated by the chateau's Irish family custodians.

The collection reflects generations of military, civic and cultural history. Among the earliest recorded figures in the family is Charles Louis Blandin de Chalain, owner of the Louis XIV sword (€1,000-€1,500). 

A Louis XIV sword at Sheppard's.

The blade is broken, but an engraved Vive le Roi survives on one side. This offers a direct link to the family’s service under the French crown and is among a number of lots in the auction showing a continuity of lineage fromthe  Ancien Régime of France to its long-established Irish chapter.

A rare Gallé First World War vase features at Sheppard's.

Gallé First World War vases are among the rarest works of the École de Nancy. A Gallé World War I glass vase produced in 1915 with art nouveau glassmaking, war iconography and a subject that relates to the Vosges front has an estimate of €5,000-€8,000. It is from the Chateau de Chalain collection.

The Irish dimension of the sale is equally notable. A pair of 18th-century pastel portraits depicts Walter Hussey de Burgh (1742–1783), Prime Serjeant and later Chief Baron of the
Irish Exchequer, of Donore House, County Kildare and his wife and cousin Anne. He was one of Ireland’s most prominent legal figures of the period.

A set of six stained-glass watercolour designs from the late 19th-century form an important ecclesiastical archive. Attributed to Arthur Louis Moore & Co, London, the designs were prepared for the Church of Ireland commissioners and reflect Moore's practice of producing bespoke designs for individual churches. 

A stained-glass watercolour study for the south window at Castlehaven church, Skibbereen.

They were made for All Saints Church, Phibsborough, Dublin, Christ Church, Kingstown (Dún Laoghaire), Quin Church, Co Clare (centre window, south side), St Mary’s Church, Donnybrook, Dublin (south side), Castlehaven Parish Church, Skibbereen, Co Cork (south window) also known as St Barrahane and Rathmolyon Church, Co Meath (east window).

The craftsmanship of late 18th or early 19th-century Irish workshops can be seen in a flintlock pistol by Dublin maker John Lanigan (1829-1835). A later percussion pistol by James Read of Dublin illustrates the technological transition from flint ignition to percussion mechanism in the 19th-century. 

A pair of Second World War Japanese "Big Eye" naval binoculars was probably manufactured by Nikon or Tokyo Kogaku Kikai (Tokyo Optical Company). 

The lot is accompanied by a US Army certificate permitting the removal of the binoculars at the end of the war.

An Irish 19th-century inlaid commode.

Viewing gets underway today (March 7) in Durrow and continues on tomorrow and Monday. Auctions are at 10 am on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, and the catalogue is online.