Contents of Maharaja's former stud farm on offer

The contents of one of Ireland's bestknown stud farm properties, Baroda, in Co Kildare, go on sale on Monday, July 20th, in an auction conducted by Loughlin Bowe. Originally founded by the Maharaja of Baroda, from which it takes its name, more recently the stud has been run by the late Sean Doyle and Susan McKeon.

Following the stud's sale to Philip and Jane Myerscough, Mr Bowe will be offering the furniture from the house and grounds. Among the former's best lots is an 18th-century Irish mahogany longcase clock, signed by Francis Kerr of Monaghan (estimate, £3,400-£4,200) and a George IV mahogany sofa table, thought to be Irish (£1,800-£2,200).

There are several items in rosewood, such as a Regency brass-inlaid sofa table (£4,800-£5,500), a lady's worktable of the same period with lyre-shaped sides (£2,200-£2,600) and a William IV fold-over card table (£1,500-£1,800).

Two pairs of side cabinets, one in walnut with marquetry inlay and the other in satinwood with both inlaid and painted decoration, carry estimates of £2,700-£3,000 and £2,200-£2,600 respectively. A Victorian breakfront credenza with ormolu mounts and inset Sevres plaques is expected to make £3,400-£3,800. Paintings include a pair of 19th-century Dutch landscapes with figures (£6,000-£8,000) and an 18thcentury Flemish panel showing a hunting scene in a landscape (£1,800-£2,200). Also worthy of note is a large Abbeyleix carpet (£2,000-£3,000), a substantial bronze garden fountain (£7,000-£8,000) and a pair of bronze garden urns (£6,800-£7,500).

Thomas Adams auction to offer silver, furniture

For an auction to be held by Thomas Adams of Blackrock, Co Dublin, 500 lots will be offered. An 88 oz silver salmon tray is expected to make £700-£900 and a pair of Irish Victorian silver candlesticks has an estimate of £1,000-£1,200.

An early 20th-century silver dish ring made in Dublin has an estimate of £700-£900 and a silver demitasse service is expected to go under the hammer for £600-£800. Among the items of furniture is a William IV circular dining table (£800-£1,200), a set of six Victorian balloon back dining chairs (£1,000-£2,000) and an Edwardian inlaid mahogany dumb waiter (£500-£700).

American and European furniture in Cork sale

Next Saturday, Marshs of Cork is disposing of the contents of Groverton House, Castletownshend, former home of the late Dr Edgar Theden. The lots are definitely varied and include items of both European and American furniture, as well as china, paintings, prints, sculpture and garden furniture. Among the more unusual pieces on offer is a collection of gilt framed photographs of deceased English royalty with personal signed letters attached. The sale is due to start at 11 a.m.

The Irish artist who matched Old Masters

Two pictures by a little-known Irish artist of the 19th century go on sale in London next week. Born in 1800, Richard Rothwell was considered a portraitist of promise at the start of his career; he exhibited at the Royal Hibernian Academy, to which he was elected a member at the age of 24.

On moving to London in 1829, he was described by Landseer as an artist "who paints flesh as well as the Old Masters" and he went to work with Sir Thomas Lawrence, the most successful portrait painter of the period. Unfortunately, a few years later Rothwell turned against portraits and thereafter his life seems to have been a long and melancholy struggle.

Strickland says he was "a difficult man to get on with, prone to take offence" and that he had "a high, an extravagant, opinion of his own powers as a painter". Whether this opinion was justified may be judged by the pictures on sale at Christie's next Thursday. An oil on panel called A Mother and Child is expected to make £10,000-£15,000 sterling, while a relatively early Rothwell work, showing a boy holding a spaniel in a wooded landscape, carries a pre-sale estimate of £2,000-£3,000.

The same sale contains a work by another unhappy Irish artist, John Butts, who died in poverty in 1765; this painting of a mountainous, wooded landscape should fetch £3,000-£5,000. Also at Christie's, a view of Mount Bellew, Co Galway, by William Sadler II has an estimate of £4,000-£6,000.

De Valera among draws for sale of political art

Unframed pencil drawings of former presidents Eamonn de Valera and Sean T. O'Kelly go on sale at Sotheby's in London next Wednesday. Drawn by Polish-born artist Feliks Topolski, they are included in the house's first sale of political art and memorabilia.

Lots run from oil paintings by Sir Winston Churchill to a bust of Spencer Perceval, the only British prime minister to be assassinated in office. The two Topolski drawings carry pre-sale estimates of £1,500-£2,000 sterling for de Valera and £1,000-£1,500 for O'Kelly.