Persian rugs, prams and famine pots: Auction season starts in earnest

The auction season has now begun in earnest after the easing of Covid-19 restrictions, with four sales taking place over the course of June.

First up is Hegarty's sale in Bandon, Co Cork, which will take place on Sunday June 14th online only. The sale includes the collection of anaesthesiologist Dr Harry Blake, who in the 1950s and 1960s lived in Bahrain.

During this time he built a collection to include Persian rugs, art and furniture. Particularly interesting is a fine 20th-century Persian Qom wool floor rug, which once hung on the wall of a family home in the village of Abbasabad near Qom in Iran. The piece, which is purported to have taken 10 months to weave by hand, has a minimum of 600,000 knots per sq m and was made using natural dyes (€600-€800). Also included in the highlights are a Cork-style mahogany grandfather clock (€600-€800) and a D-shaped Regency table with an ebony strung top (€550-€750).

Waterford-based RJ Keighery will hold an online auction on June 20th, to feature 600 lots of unique garden items, including a collection of large original cast-iron famine pots (€150-€800 depending on size), a very old cast-iron canon – stamped 1683 – set on wheels (€300-€500) and a plethora of garden furniture.

Bronze fountain

Sheppard's annual Glantelwe Gardens sale will take place at its showrooms in Durrow on June 23rd. Highlights of the 400 lots include a colossal bronze fountain (€12,000-€20,000), old cast-iron urns, gates and garden seating in addition to garden statuary, Gothic windows and an abundance of garden animal sculptures covering everything from elephants to whippets.

Finally, Lynes and Lynes's auction, postponed from March, will now take place on June 27th, online only. With over 330 lots from properties throughout Munster, there is a great selection to include: Fishing Boats Moored at Carraroe Pier, County Galway, by Charles Lamb (€1,000-€2,000), an Achill scene by James Humbert Craig (€1,000-€2,000) in addition to a rare collection of English Victorian music hall and circus posters (€300-€500) which are from the collection of Irish comedian Fred Power.

Along with a large selection of writing boxes are 20 Chinese items of interest to include an 18th-century vase with the mark of Emperor Yongzheng (1723-1735) which is listed at €400-€600. The selection of chairs includes an Eileen Gray Bibendum chair (€400-€600) and seven antique elm Windsor chairs (€700-€1,000).

Also in the eclectic mix are a Silver Cross pram, Life in the West of Ireland, a book with drawings by Jack B Yeats (€200-€250), and The Weaver's Grave by Seumas O'Kelly – also with illustrations by Jack B Yeats (€100-€130).

[ hegartyantiques.com ]

[ antiquesinireland.ie ]

[ sheppards.ie ]

[ lynesandlynes.com ]