UK bidders push up prices at Kilsharvan
The strength of sterling against the pound gave UK buyers an edge at James Adam's sale of the contents of Kilsharvan House in Co Meath last Wednesday. English dealers and private buyers gave local bidders a run for their money, pushing several of the lots well above their estimates.
Adam were fortunate to have got the lion's share of the furniture from the house, the property of the McDonnell family for several generations. Several of fine paintings from Kilsharvan went to London to be sold.
The top price of the day was the £22,000 bid for a Victorian walnut kidney-shaped desk by London furniture makers Holland & Sons. The price was about three times its catalogue estimate. However, an important Irish Georgian yew wood bookcase of monumental proportions fetched just £14,000, slightly less than its lower estimate. A George III inlaid mahogany serpentine front side table attracted several bidders and was finally knocked down at £13,000, way above its top estimate of £5,000. A fine set of 14 Victorian mahogany balloon back dining chairs sold for twice their estimate at £10,000 but a George IV mahogany serpentine front sideboard with a raised brass back sold under estimate at £7,800. A Georgian long-case clock, made by Alexander Gordon of Dublin, made £6,200. Other prices were: a set of eight Regency mahogany railback dining chairs, £5,000 (est £3,000-£4,000); an Irish William IV circular mahogany breakfast table, £4,800 (est £3,000-£5,000); a 19th-century large cast statue of the goddess Hebe after Canova, £4,800 (est £5,000-£7,000); and an Irish George III triple compartment giltwood mirror, £3,600 (est £3,000-£5,000).
One of the sale's star lots, the 125- piece famille rose tea service failed to find a buyer, however. It was estimated at £8,000-£10,000 and is still available at a price in that range.
Rosewood dining table makes £2,650
A Victorian circular rosewood dining table was the top selling lot at Town & Country's sale at its Ormond Quay rooms last Sunday, when it fetched £2,650 under the hammer.
Other prices were: £1,400 for a 19th-century rosewood boudoir piano; £1,170 for an Irish Georgian linen press; £1,070 for a Regency-style rosewood side cabinet; £900 for a Georgian fold-over tea table; and £800 for a Victorian pine three-door bookcase.
Georgian sideboard sold for £4,400
An Irish Georgian mahogany sideboard fetched £4,400 in a recent sale at Lynes & Lynes in Cork. In the same sale, a Sheraton inlaid mahogany linen press sold for £2,600; a Georgian tallboy made £2,150; an early Victorian mahogany breakfront bookcase fetched £3,600; and a set of eight Regency rosewood chairs made £4,000.
Walnut chest on chest makes £8,350
Woodwards fetched £8,350 for a Georgian crossbanded walnut chest on chest in its salerooms last Wednesday, when a good selection of 18th-century and 19thcentury furniture went under the hammer.
A Georgian walnut bureau with a herringbone inlay sold for £6,250; an 18th-century mahogany tilt-top library table made £5,750; and a Georgian burr walnut chest fetched £2,800.
A sterling price for the countess
The highlight of a sale of portrait miniatures held at Christie's in London last Wednesday was a miniature of Sarah Hussey Delaval, Countess of Tyrconnel. The fine 18th-century painting by John Downmann, which had been estimated at sterling £10,000£15,000, sold for sterling £51,000, a record for the artist.
