The rare auction of a painting by James Worsdale of a demure young 18th century lady is included in a house contents sale in Thurles next week, writes Eivlín Roden.
The entire house contents of the Rectory in Littleton, Thurles, Co Tipperary, are to be auctioned on Tuesday by Mealy's of Castlecomer, at the Anner Hotel, Dublin Road, Thurles. '
The Rectory collection has been built up by its present owner over the past 25 years but has been added to for the present auction by some very fine pieces from an at present anonymous house in Co Cork.
A fine painting, Portrait of a Young Lady, by James Worsdale from 1725 is estimated to sell at €8,000-€12,000.
It shows what has been described as a typical young girl in aristocratic dress in an Irish landscape, accompanied by her dog and flanked by a basket of flowers.
Although Worsdale is considered of more interest for his recording of society of the time than as a painter of great merit, this piece is very attractive in its soft coloration and the calm gaze of the young lady in her silk 18th century dress.
A sizeable painting, measuring over four feet by three foot four inches, it is painted in oil on canvas and signed and dated by the artist.
It is rare to find a painting by Worsdale coming up at auction. He is reputed to be the natural son and pupil of leading English portrait painter of the time, Sir Godfrey Kneller, and came to Ireland in disgrace after a secret marriage to the niece of his master.
Other works by him include the Dublin Hell Fire Club, painted around 1735, which now hangs in the National Gallery of Ireland, as well as several portraits of the Duke of Devonshire for Castletown House and the Royal Hospital, Kilmainham.
Worsdale moved in a fast set, numbering among his friends the various lords and squires who made up the membership of the Hell Fire clubs in both Dublin and Limerick, which were renowned for their drinking and carousing.
But this painting belies all that, and would be a very lovely thing to have on your wall.
Also included in the auction are several other paintings, including one entitled The Moscow Jewess by Charles Emile Vernet-Lecomte, a French oil painted on canvas somewhere in the 19th century and depicting a very ornately dressed woman much bedecked in jewellery and wearing a plain black kerchief tied gypsy style around her head. Vernet-Lecomte's work was accepted for the Paris salon of 1845, where he was subsequently awarded a bronze medal.
A larger version of this work was sold in Bonham's of London in 1986.
A rather odd painting of a little girl in a bonnet, aptly titled The Little Grandmother by another minor late 19th century Irish artist, Richard Thomas Moynan, is estimated at €20,000-€30,000.
This portrait illustrates the artist's commissioned work rather than the studies of Dublin's poor, which he did by inclination, and shows a well-dressed little girl with a parasol and a head that seems years older both in features and expression, crowned by a high green gathered silk bonnet.
The auction also has some fine furniture, including a set of three Irish Regency period mahogany dining chairs, with scroll back and panelled top rail above a tapering bead and facet carved cross rail with cane seats and loose cushions, est at €1,800-€2,500.
These chairs seem almost identical to similar chairs supplied to Castlecoole, Co Fermanagh, by Dublin cabinet-maker John Preston in 1812.
Of interest too is a rosewood settee, again of the Irish Regency period, made by Williams & Gibton with padded back and sides, long seat cushion and two bolsters in green and gold striped fabric with floral motif on baluster turned and reeded legs and brass castors, estimated at €3,000-€5,000.
There are many other interesting pieces of furniture, as well as a host of porcelain, more paintings and prints and some attractive garden furniture and ornaments.
This is a sale which has something for nearly everyone and, as the viewing is in the Rectory itself, also shows how the range of pieces looks in a real setting, making the choice all the easier