A pair of large Irish carved oak armchairs from the entrance hall of Adare Manor is expected to fetch up to €100,000 at an auction at Sotheby's, London, next week.
The chairs were almost certainly commissioned by Windham Henry Wyndham-Quin, second earl of Dunraven (1782-1850), or his widow Caroline (died 1870) for the entrance hall at Adare Manor, county Limerick. They are one of the highlights of an "Important English (sic) Furniture" sale at Sotheby's next Wednesday, June 12th.
The second earl of Dunraven was a patron of the arts who engaged the architect James Pain of Limerick to remodel the Georgian building at Adare as a Gothic mansion in the early 1830s. However, Lord Dunraven eventually dismissed Pain saying that building was his "amusement", that he had become a "dabbler in architecture" and had "for some years now been carrying on the new work entirely from my own designs and without any assistance" .
However, the solo run did not last long. Soon afterwards, he engaged the architect Lewis Cottingham to design the furnishings and interiors and, from 1846, A.W.N. Pugin, who designed the hall ceiling, staircase, dining room, library and terrace.
The arched and panel-moulded backs of the armchairs in the auction are carved with quatrefoils and lancet arches adorned with animal heads, the square shaped moulded uprights carved with rose and thistle finials and with leaf-carved detail to the sides. The moulded downswept arms are each filled with a pair of pierced roundels, with a shield carved with lion's head to the front, while the arm terminals are carved with winged beasts and lions. Standing 139 centimetres high, 76 centimetres wide and 75 centimetres deep, they are estimated at €65,000 to €97,500.
Five Italian commodes from different regions of Italy highlight a Sotheby's sale of important continental furniture, also to be held in London next Wednesday, June 12th.
An alabaster-topped Roman commode with Egyptian motifs of sphinxes, fruit and flowers, highly decorated and inlaid with bell-shaped flowers and fluted legs, is expected to realise £150,000 to £200,000 sterling.
An ivory painted 1790 commode by Giuseppe Maria Bonzanigo (1745-1820), the official wood carver to the Italian crown from 1787, is expected to fetch £100,000 to £150,000, while a Venetian, pale-green, carved commode is also highlight of the sale. It has a rare shape, dates from the mid-18th century and is expected to fetch £60,000 to £90,000.
Meanwhile, at a Sotheby's auction on June 18th, an exceptional emerald and diamond bracelet from circa 1820, its step-cut, deep green emerald weighing some 9.3 carats with no visible inclusions set at the centre, is estimated at £400,000 to £600,000 sterling.
The bracelet highlights an auction of antique, period and 20th century jewels. A further highlight is an emerald and diamond crucifix pendant, circa 1800, comprising six clusters each set with a cushion-shaped emerald, within a border of cushion-shaped and single-cut diamonds, estimated at £70,000 to £90,000.
The closing date for the current Collectibles Corner mail bid sale based at 8 Cathedral Street, Dublin, includes banknotes, coins and medals, cigarette cards, ephemera, postcards, sports programmes, stamps and postal history. Highlights include a range of programmes of Gaelic football and hurling All-Ireland finals, including the 1929 football final (Kerry versus Kildare), estimated at €400, and the 1947 Cavan versus Kerry football final (estimated at €450). For details, contact Mr Peter Geoffroy at 086-857 3270.
