A fascinating cache of drawings by Sir William Orpen comes up for sale next weekas part of a sale at Adams of Blackrock, Co Dublin. Many of the pictures accompany letters written by Orpen to B I Tilley, who was registrar of Dublin's Metropolitan School of Art where the artist was a part-time teacher from 1902 to 1914.

As anyone familiar with Orpen's voluminous correspondence will know, he was almost incapable of writing so much as a card without adorning it with some kind of illustration. The standard of his graphic work was consistently high and in drawings of this nature, his sense of wit would also usually be allowed free rein. Thus the letter shown here (lot 250, £5,000£7,000) carries a vivid self-portrait which is, in many respects, a caricature of the oils Orpen was painting of himself during the same period. Perhaps for this reason, the item carries the highest estimate of the group; others average £1,000£1,500 and a couple of the smaller items have estimates as low as £500.

This is only one small part of the day's auction. The morning session, beginning at 11 a.m., includes a variety of Victorian and Edwardian furniture and some paintings. The second half of the sale starts at 1.30 p.m. with the Orpen pictures.