Rare Irish painting to be sold at auction

A RARE Irish painting from the childhood home of Britain’s late Princess Diana is to be sold at auction in London this summer.

Christie’s, the fine art auctioneers, said the painting, entitled John, 5th Earl Spencer, with Ward Union Hunt, 1877, is among hundreds of items consigned by the aristocratic Spencer family for a series of sales in July expected to raise at least £20 million (€23 million).

Many of the other items to be auctioned, including silver, crystal and pictures, also have an Irish provenance given the Spencer family’s long association with this country.

The Ward Union painting has been in storage at Althorp, the family’s country house in Northamptonshire, where the Princess of Wales was buried following her death in 1997.

Her ancestor, John Poyntz Spencer, a Liberal party politician and the fifth Earl Spencer, was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland on two occasions in the 19th century during Queen Victoria’s reign.

Also known as the “Red Earl”, because of his red beard, the hunting enthusiast was a regular visitor to Co Meath’s Ward Union – Ireland’s only stag hunt – which was founded in 1854.

Matthew Paton, a spokesman for Christie’s, said the painting had a pre-sale estimate of £15,000 to £25,000.

The artist was the Waterford-born Michael Angelo Hayes who was well known for his equestrian scenes and who completed the work shortly before his death in 1877. The earl ended his second tour of duty in Ireland eight years later and returned to England where he died in 1910.

By a twist of fate, the sale of the painting is likely to coincide with the demise of the Ward Union Hunt as legislation to outlaw stag hunting is due to be passed into law by the Oireachtas before the summer recess.

The “Althorp Attic Sale” will take place over two days on July 7th and 8th and features works of art from the attics, stables, cellars and storerooms at Althorp.

The house, set in an estate of 14,000 acres, has been home to the Spencer family for 500 years.

Christie’s said the auction, of some 700 lots, would include European and Oriental porcelain, furniture, works of art, silver and “the most important ancestral collection of carriages ever to appear at auction”.

One of the carriages (estimate: £20,000-£30,000), described as a “posting barouche” made by Barker of Chandos Street London, has the crest of the Order of Saint Patrick painted on its side and was used by Earl Spencer for ceremonial duties in Ireland.

Other items of Irish interest include a silver cup, inscribed by an unnamed “political opponent” and given to the earl “in admiration of the cool courage with which His Excellency administered the affairs of Ireland during the troublous years 1882-1885”. It has an estimate of £1,000 to £1,500.

All items will be on public display at Christie’s south Kensington saleroom from July 3rd to July 7th.

Separately, furniture and works of art from the Spencer family’s London home, Spencer House, will be sold at related auctions in central London during the same week in July. The Spencer family is selling items to raise money for re-roofing and other restoration projects at Althorp.