AUCTIONEER Oliver Usher was “amazed and well-pleased” with last Sunday’s auction of the contents of Newberry Hall Demesne. The Palladian-style mansion in Carbury, Co Kildare was sold recently by Richard Robinson (90) who has moved out and had instructed the sale of his furniture, pictures and collectibles.
Over 600 people – “the biggest crowd in a decade”– flocked to the saleroom in Kells, Co Meath where staff sold 100 per cent of over 500 lots. Mr Usher said bidders were attracted to what was “one of the last genuine big country house auctions” and were “reassured by the provenance” of the items.
Perhaps it’s Downton Abbey syndrome? Or the enduring Irish fascination with the Big House? Among the pieces snapped up were a mahogany gun rack, a set of library steps and a rare Victorian dendrometer – a device for measuring the girth of trees on one’s estate.
Other sales included a William IV mahogany five-door library bookcase €19,000 (€12,000-€15,000); set of 18 William IV mahogany dining chairs by Williams Gibton, €8,600 (€12,000-€15,000); pair of 18th century gilded salon chairs €1,500 (€2,000-€3,000) and a Killarney wood cigar box cabinet €2,600 (€1,200-€1,500).
