AN early Flemish painting discovered in the back hall of a house in Cork is among the most interesting lots to be sold at the James Adam salerooms next Wednesday. The gorgeously coloured biblical scene, which dates from the 1600s, depicts Christ healing the sick at Bethesda in immense detail. It could make up to £8,000.
As usual, the sale has plenty of reassuringly worn items of furniture, the best of which include a lovely George III mahogany walnut bureau bookcase, with doors inset and arched levelled mirror panels (£3,500-£4,000); a good George III inlaid walnut chest of drawers (£1,500-£1,800); an Irish Georgian side table, with a deep frieze carved with a central lion mask (£4,000-£6,000) and an attractive 19th century Irish Killarney woodwork table with restrained inlay and a beautifully fitted interior that includes a secret compartment (£2,500-£3,000).
As usual there are lots of rare and intriguing lots, such as an Austrian carved wood bear and cub hall stand (£2,000-£4,000); an early 20th century bronze oval emblem of the harp which may have been prised out of a wall in the Four Courts during the Civil War (£2,000-£3,000); and a section of stained glass window that once was part of Killarney Cathedral. It could fetch up to £3,500 - let's hope that it doesn't end up in a pub.
