The excitement of an auction held in the sumptuous surroundings of Castle Durrow in Co Laois is beautifully captured in a new series, the Country House Auction, whose first episode will be broadcast on More4 on Tuesday, August 13th at 9pm.
Highlights from the four-part series by Big Mountain Productions show Michael Sheppard from Sheppard’s Irish Auction House in the Square in Durrow bringing some of the 1,200 items under the gavel over what was a three-day auction held in autumn 2023.
“I think a series like this will bring back the excitement of a live auction. The notion of going to an auction is not as normal as it was 10 years ago, but there is nothing as thrilling,” says Sheppard.
Viewers will see potential buyers arrive at the 18th-century castle, the nerve-racking bidding wars (online and over the phone as well as in person) for items including a solid-silver punch bowl, a rare Egyptian amulet, a John Constable sketch, paintings by Percy French and a Carrara marble sculpted chimney piece.
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Buyers range from professionals seeking items for state-owned country homes and museums to interior designers, private owners restoring period homes, and collectors.
“Finding something really special is the buzz and bidding is one of the most exhilarating things you can do, but it’s important for buyers to know their limits and not go over it,” says Sheppard, who runs the Co Laois auction house with his brother, David, his cousin, Philip and his son, James. The auctioneers also sometimes send items for minor repairs by furniture restorers before selling them at auction.
The owners of Castle Durrow, Tessa and Robin Leidig, make several appearances in the series, showing the multiple challenges of hosting events in such a historic property. “It was great fun and very exciting hosting the auction. We had never done it before and we’d love to do it again,” says Tessa.
Castle Durrow was bought by Tessa’s parents, Peter and Shelly Stokes, in the late 1990s and opened as a hotel a few years later. Tessa and Robin now run the hotel with a staff of 40. “We mainly host weddings and we hope when The Country House Auction is shown in England that we might get some more English weddings which are usually two- or three-night events so people can get a real sense of the place,” says Tessa.
Speaking about the items sold during the filmed three-day auction, Sheppard says that the most unexpected pieces can garner the most interest. “Bidding wars are magic. They are the theatre of an auction,” he says.
The vast majority of furniture, jewellery, paintings and collectables sold by Sheppard’s Irish Auction House come from people based in Ireland. “We have stuff coming in all the time. At an auction, there is no guarantee anything will sell, but you have to expect the unexpected,” he says.
For example, at the filmed auction, a sacred Tibetan artefact (a phurba dagger) with an estimate of €20,000-€30,000, was bought for €140,000 for a private museum in Tibet. And the aforementioned art nouveau silver punch bowl with a guide of €1,500-€2,500, sold for €2,600 to an online New York-based buyer.
And two Louis XVI-style 19th-century gildwood armchairs with a guide of €800-€1,200 were snapped up by buyers from the Office of Public Works for €850 to add to the furniture at Emo Court in Co Laois. And a pencil drawing of an unnamed Connemara couple by Limerick-born painter Sean Keating with a guide price of €3,000-€5,000, sold to an online buyer for €7,200.
Contemporary art sale
Meanwhile, getting back to forthcoming auctions, lovers of contemporary art should note that O’Reilly’s Fine Art auctioneers at 126 Francis Street, Dublin 8, will host its first Modern and Contemporary Irish Art auction in over 30 years shortly. The online auction will run from Wednesday, August 7th, at 12pm to Wednesday, August 14th, at 5pm with viewing in the showrooms throughout the auction.
“We have had some contemporary art in previous auctions, but we now believe that hosting an auction solely curated around modern and contemporary art will be the best opportunity to reach enthusiasts and collectors,” says Natasha Bernon of O’Reilly’s.
With more than 70 paintings and sculpture for sale, the auction will include works by established contemporary artists such as Tom Byrne, John Nolan, Cathy Lewis (including Storytelling with an estimate of €750-€950), Aisling Conroy, as well as emerging artists such as Órla Slattery, Jennifer Reynolds, Tonja Maguire and Susan Brennan. There will also be sculptures by Donnacha Treacy (including Girl with a Pink Umbrella with an estimate of €2,500-€3,000) and Alexander Sokolov.
What did it sell for?
Genieve Figgis, Untitled
Estimate: $25,000-$35,000 (€23,000-€32,000)
Hammer price: $30,240
Auction house: Christie’s
Brown Eyed Girl, Ken Hamilton
Estimate: €1,500-€2,000
Hammer price: €2,100
Auction house: Morgan O’Driscoll
Kilkee Marine Festival, Curragh Race, Ivan Sutton
Estimate: €1,500-€2,000
Hammer price: Not sold
Auction house: Morgan O’Driscoll
Pair of Wan Shou Wu Jiang bowls
Estimate: €20,000-€30,000
Hammer price: €40,000
Auction house: Adam’s
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