Pre-Spring clearance sales

The major auction houses in Dublin and nationwide are accepting consignments for the first major sales of 2014 which kick off next month.

In advance, clearance sales next week include Adam's Attic Sale at noon on Tuesday, January 28th in the St Stephen's Green saleroom with over 300 lots including decorative arts, jewellery, paintings, silver, collectibles and period furniture.

Most items are being offered without reserve. Estimates range from just €5 to €10, for a religious image of the Madonna, to €1,000- €2,000, for an oil-on-canvas painting Donegal Turf Cutter by John Skelton.

Mealy's Fine Art in Castlecomer, Co Kilkenny will hold a Spring Clean Thrift Sale at noon next Saturday, February 1st, offering some 500 items including liquidation stock and unsold lots from last year. Most will be sold without reserve.

"A painting to cheer people up at this time of year" is how Malahide auctioneer Drum's describes South of France by early 20th-century French artist André Lagrange. The oil-on-canvas will go under the hammer in an auction at Moyne, Greenfield Road, Sutton, Dublin 13 tomorrow at 2pm. The painting, signed and dated 1927, in a contemporary carved frame, has an estimate of €3,000-€4,000.