Bargain-hunting for antiques in basement sale

The auction season gets off to a busy start next week, with sales being held in James Adam's basement, at Mullens in Woodbrook, at Drums in Malahide, at Town & Country on Ormond Quay and at Uppercourt Manor in Freshford, Co Kilkenny. James Adam's regular basement sales are less formal affairs than the fine-art auctions held upstairs, and they attract a very wide cross-section of viewers and buyers - from genuine collectors to those who are filling in a lunch hour by browsing and bidding.

With an average of 400 lots to get through, bidding is usually fast, and quantities of furniture and bric-a-brac are sold off at reasonable prices; it is possible to come away with a bargain.

Next Wednesday's sale has masses of interesting china, glass, silver and paintings, as well as a good selection of dining chairs and tables. Among the usual selection of Victorian balloon-back and Chippendale-style carvers, there are some nice pieces, including a rosewood chair stamped by Strahan of Dublin. It has an estimate of around £300.

There are Victorian chests of drawers and Edwardian display cabinets, a large collection of Chinese blue-and-white porcelain, lots of Mason ironstone plates and several dinner services that generally sell for £200 to £500. Books, carpets, clocks and the odd piece of jewellery - it's all here for those with time to browse. Viewings start tomorrow afternoon.

Decorative pieces of furniture on offer

Town & Country hold their first auction of the year tomorrow when some fine decorative pieces of furniture go under the hammer. A Victorian giltwood console table is estimated to fetch £1,000-£1,200; a Victorian mahogany dining table has a guide price of £2,000-£3,000; and a mahogany bookcase is expected to fetch £1,200-£1,400.

There are also a set of four Victorian painted pelmets (£800-£1,200) and a Victorian giltwood mirror (£800-£1,200).

Mahogany cylinder-top bureau the leading lot

Denis Drum is starting the New Year with a furniture and fine-art auction next Thursday at his Malahide showrooms, when part of the contents of a large house in Howth will go under the hammer.

The star lot of the evening is likely to be a Victorian Honduras mahogany cylinder-top bureau, which has a fine pigeon hole interior. He expects it to fetch something between £800 and £1,200. Other notable items are a Victorian inlaid mahogany mirroredback chiffonier, with a top estimate of £1,000, and a Victorian ruby epergne, which is expected to make £400 to £500.

Large Dutch armoire for up to £1,800 in Kilkenny

In Co Kilkenny, Upper Court Manor Antiques will hold the first of its new monthly furniture auctions on Monday evening next. Antiques dealer Paddy Fitzgerald intends to convert the Georgian Upper Court Manor into apartments and he has converted some of the outbuildings into auction showrooms.

A large Dutch armoire in excellent condition is among the most interesting lots in this sale. It carries an estimate of £1,200 to £1,800. A set of eight dining chairs by Kerr of Dublin has a guide price of £3,000-£4,000; the same estimate applies to a pair of late 19th-century satinwood, inlaid side tables. A half-tester single bed and an Edwardian four-poster are expected to make around £1,000 each.

Marble chimneypiece may sell for £7,000

Mullens of Woodbrook will hold one of their regular furniture sales in Dublin on Monday evening next. Highlights include a white marble chimneypiece with garlanded friezes, which has a top estimate of £7,000; a Sheraton revival mahogany and satinwood linen press on chest (£1,200 to £1,600); a walnut dresser, which has a top estimate of £1,800, a nice set of six yew wood and ash Windsor chairs ( £800-£1,200); and an ebony and gilt china cabinet, which is expected to make £2,500 to £3,500.

A pair of rectangular gilt console tables with cabriole legs and paw feet has a top estimate of £1,500, and a pair of gilt overmantle mirrors could fetch up to £2,200.

Among the more unusual and less expensive lots, a pair of architectural models of Roman temples are valued at £400 to £500