Fine furniture at Lucan lodge auction
Two months ago, the charming, neogothic Griffeen Lodge in Lucan, Co Dublin, was sold for £920,000, and next week its contents - supplemented by items from other properties - are to be disposed of at auction. There are more than 400 lots in this sale, with some particularly fine pieces of furniture.
These include a Regency mahogany centre or breakfast table, probably Irish, which has an estimate of £2,000-£3,000. A mahogany sofa table from the same period is expected to make the slightly higher price of £2,800-£3,500.
French furniture is always popular with Irish buyers, so Mealy's which is conducting the auction, should have no trouble finding interest in a Louis XV-style commode of serpentine bombe shape (£1,800-£2,500), a pair of kingwood and marquetry tables en chiffonier, each with brass-railed gallery (£2,500-£3,500) or in an ormolumounted kingwood curio table (£2,500-£3,000). If these lots sound too elaborate, simpler furniture includes a set of eight late George III mahogany dining chairs (£3,000-£4,000), a William IV period mahogany dining table (£1,500-£2,500) and a 19th-century inlaid mahogany sideboard (£2,000-£3,000).
Among pictures, Mealy's is laying particular emphasis on a selection of work by the late Gladys McCabe, such as her At an Antiques Market, Co Dublin (£800-£1,500) and The Turf Cart, Co Kerry (£800-£1,000). Meanwhile, Mealy's in conjunction with Social & Personal magazine is conducting a valuation day at the Dolmen Hotel in Carlow today. George and Phonsie Mealy will be in attendance at the hotel from 10.30 a.m. to 4.30 p.m. The price of the valuation service is £5 for one item and £12 for three. Funds raised from the day will go to the Carlow Kilkenny Homecare Team, which specialises in palliative care.
Posters among the star attractions
Dublin auctioneer, Ian Whyte accurately describes his auction of collectables next Saturday as "eclectic", since it covers everything from cigarette cards to autographs and pop/rock memorabilia. Film posters from the 1940s to the 1970s showing stars of the period carry estimates of between £30 and £100 each, a cheque recovered from the Lusitania, together with another that was sent to the office of Customs & Excise, which was rescued from the Customs House fire of 1921, is expected to sell for £150-£250 and a set of Wills's Famous Golfers has an estimate of £130-£150.
Other sections of this sale are devoted to telephone cards, maps, photographs, postcards and toys.
Middleton paintings among Belfast lots
The latest auctioneer to hold a sale of Irish art is John Ross & Co of Belfast, where several works by Colin Middleton will be on offer. Among these is August Land- scape, Downpatrick, which dates from 1954, a period when the artist was living at Ardglass; this carries a pre-sale estimate of £3,500-£4,500. Six works acquired from the studio of James Sinton Sleator after his death are also due to be sold at this auction. Estimates range from £1,000 to £4,500. A number of pictures by Charlie McAuley depicting rural life in north Antrim during the 1950s have estimates in the region of £1,000-£3,000. Other artists included in the sale are Frank McKelvey, Maurice Wilks, Gerard Dillon and Daniel O'Neill.
