Antiques: Collectors eye everything from a scarecrow to a hat tree
'The Scarecrow' by Fergus O'Ryan (1911-1989) at James Adam.
A pair of George III Waterford oval mirrors of a type prized by collectors with alternating blue and clear crystal faceted cabochons will feature up at Sheppard's in Durrow later this month. True collectors' items like this don't come cheap and the estimate is €15,000-€25,000.
Viewing for the Paradigms and the Unexpected sale on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, March 18-20, gets underway in Durrow from March 15-17. The most expensively estimated of over 1700 lots is a south Dublin collection of luxury watches headed by a recently serviced Rolex day-date "presidents'" model with square-cut diamonds representing the hour marks (€25,000-€35,000). There is a similar estimate on a Franck Muller conquistador watch.
The most expensive paintings in the sale, with top estimates of €15,000, are by Nano Reid, by Charles Lamb and by James Humbert Craig. Among the many artists represented are Sean Keating, John Behan, William Crozier, Gerard Dillon, Anthony Scott, Grace Henry, Kenneth Webb, Mainie Jellett, Percy French and there is a complete set of .
A private collection of guitars will include Canadian rocker Fred (CF) Turner's 1968 Fender Precision green bass guitar (€5,000-€8,000).
Other collectibles include a 1999 Late Late Show music script signed by Gay Byrne on his last show (€1,500-€2,500) and an Everlast boxing glove signed by Mohammad Ali, Joe Frazier, Larry Holmes, Ken Norton, Riddick Bowe, Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield, Lennox Lewis and George Foreman (€4,000-€6,000) and selections of Chinese and Japanese ceramics.
Among a large selection of furniture is a Black Forest hat and coat tree, a Killarney work table, Dublin furniture by Hicks, art deco mirrored pieces, a signed Maple and Co kneehole desk, a 17th-century Tibetan monastery trunk and an Irish Vernacular tree dugout cabinet.
With no fewer than three online sales next week, James Adam will offer a selection to suit many tastes. Emeralds, diamonds, topaz, sapphires, pearls, gold, coral, lapis lazuli and aquamarine will feature in various settings at The Jewellery Box sale of 275 lots from 11am on Tuesday (March 11).
The Peter Linden rug collection comes under the hammer on Wednesday. Sadly Ireland's leading specialist in antique carpets, kilims, rugs and tapestries, who established his business here in 1980, died in 2024. His collection will be headed by a semi-antique Kashan carpet with an estimate of €5,000-€8,000. Estimates at the timed online sale which starts to close at 2pm on March 12 are from €50 up.
An online picture sale at James Adam on Thursday will include works from the studio of Fergus O'Ryan along with artists like Rowland Hill, Cathy Carman, William Conor, Harry Kernoff, Anne Yeats, Basil Blackshaw, Barbara Warren, Muriel Brandt and Tony O'Malley. All catalogues are online and there is viewing across the weekend and next week at James Adam, St Stephen's Green, Dublin.
