Annesley Bridge, which crosses the River Tolka at Fairview in Dublin, opened to the public in 1797. The first stone had been laid five years earlier, in 1792, by the Hon. Richard Annesley, an Anglo-Irish aristocrat and politician, and an engraved silver trowel, with a green-stained ivory handle, presented to him to mark the occasion, has turned up in Adam's saleroom in St Stephen's Green. It will go under the hammer, with an estimate of €6,000-€8,000, in the "Sunday Interiors Auction" starting at 11am tomorrow.
The title of the sale is somewhat misleading; this is, in fact, a classic fine art and antiques sale. Some 450 lots – on view today between 11am and 5pm – include furniture, paintings, miniature portraits, prints, rugs, silver, jewellery, porcelain, wine, vintage advertising and various other decorative objects, with estimates beginning at just €50. Kieran O'Boyle (below, left), the newly-appointed associate director of Adam's, said the top lot is an Irish Georgian silver epergne – an elaborate table centrepiece with four branches intended to hold small dishes of food – made in Dublin in 1770 by Charles Mullen (or Mullin) and estimated at €12,000-€16,000.
Silver coffee pot An Irish Georgian pear-shaped silver coffee pot, made in Dublin in 1777 by silversmith Ambrose Boxwell, is €2,000- €3,000.
Among the many other lots of silver are more affordable items including a cased pair of salt cellars in the form of scallop shells, made in London in 1788, estimated at €200-€400.
Furniture lots include a set of 10 rosewood dining chairs made in Limerick circa 1825 by JP Lynch (€4,000-€6,000) and a pair of William IV mahogany-framed side chairs (€2,000-€3,000).
Racing fans preparing for Cheltenham may be interested in an attractive selection of equestrian paintings – among them, a 19th-century Portrait of a Grey in a Stable by Samuel Spode (€2,000-€3,000).
Decoy ducks The silver trowel is not the only quirky collectible in the sale. Lot 246, which is pictured on the cover of the catalogue, is a pair of 19th-century carved and painted decoy ducks (€300-€400) – once used by hunters to attract birds but now very collectible.
A selection of porcelain dolls by renowned German manufacturers includes examples by Simon & Halbig; Armand Marseille; and Cuno & Otto Dressel whose large Fashion Lady doll is estimated at (€300-€500). Germany was, for centuries until the second World War, the international centre for the manufacture of porcelain dolls and, as they were intended as children's toys, not many survive in good condition.
Adam's Sunday Interiors Auction, tomorrow at 11am. See the catalogue online at adams.ie
