THE recent auction conducted over three days by Mealy's at the firm's Co Kilkenny premises realised more than £600,000. Especially good results were achieved by a collection of miniatures, with Horace Hone's portrait of Letitia, Marchioness of Antrim, and dating from 1784, going for £8,000 considerably more than its estimate of £800-£1,200. Two other miniatures sold for £3,800 another Horace Hone portrait from 1787, this time of four year old William Dawson (estimate £600-£800) and a 1779 portrait by John Smart Senior of Colonel Hugh Cane (estimate £800-£1,000).

Among the furniture, a very fine Louis XVI secretaire abbatant dating from about 1775, and made by master cabinet maker Pierre Macret, sold for £11,000, as did a pair of late 19th century gilt mirrors, which was approximately double the latter's estimate. A set off 11 Irish Regency dining chairs attributed to Mack Williams and Gibton made £6,750, a William IV mahogany four door bookcase sold for £6,500 and a set of 12 William IV/early Victorian dining chairs signed with the names King, Binns and Leadbetter realised £4,600. The two best prices for pictures were £6,200 for an 18th century landscape by Van Diest and £4,800 for a painting of St Jerome.

The last day of the sale was devoted to silver and silverware, with a substantial canteen of George III silver flatware, all matching except for 24 modern knives, selling for £11,000. A pair of Irish sauce boats by John Letablere of Dublin (circa 1740), estimated at £3,000-£5,000, went for £6,250 a Queen Anne hexafoil silver dish, bearing the arms of the Earl of Drogheda and dating from about 1713, made £5,750 and a pair of early George III silver wine coasters from London fetched £4,700. Finally, the silver gilt cup presented to Thomas Cosby by William IV at the Brighton Races of 1833 sold for £4,500.