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Ended

The Irish Sale

Vision & Voice
17 – 28 November 2023

VIEWING AT CITY ASSEMBLY HOUSE - DUBLIN

Friday 24 November – 10am–4pm
Saturday 25 November – 11am–3pm
Sunday 26 November – 11am–3pm
Monday 27 November – 10am–5pm
Tuesday 28 November – 10am–1pm

COLLECTION & STORAGE

All lots will be available to collect for 1 day only from City Assembly House on Wednesday 29th November 10am – 5pm.
Following that, all lots will be available to collect from 31 Molesworth Street, Dublin on Friday 1st December 9.30am – 5pm and the following week Monday 4th – Friday 8th 9.30am – 5pm inclusive. Lots not collected after this time may be removed to a third party storage facility and transport and storage charges may apply.

Please click here for Post-Auction information on Collections, Shipping & Storage

Bonhams is proud to announce its first sale on the island of Ireland with The Irish Sale: Vision & Voice. This special auction will be on view at City Assembly House, Dublin from the 24 – 28 November with the sale online and live for bidding from 17-28 November.

Bonhams will be celebrating those whose vision and voice shaped the cultural and artistic identity of Ireland through Irish art, culture, design, literature, history, and pop culture. This multi-category sale offers a rich and diverse selection of works from private collections as well as the remarkable Irish News Collection, property from the collection of Mary Hobart and property from the collection of Theo Waddington.

Comprising over 30 works, The Irish News Collection will lead the sale. Formed over 40 years by the late Jim Fitzpatrick, former owner of The Irish News, Ireland's largest selling morning newspaper, the collection features Irish art from the 19th century to the modern day. Among the highlights is a portrait by Sir William Orpen of his daughter Christine, universally known as Kit. Portrait of Kit, estimated at €80,000 – 120,000, was painted in 1912, when she was just six years old. Other artists represented in this impressive collection include Basil Blackshaw, Gerard Dillon, Margaret Clarke, Harry Kernoff, William Conor, Frank McKelvey, and John Behan.

This sale will also showcase artworks from the collection of Mary Hobart including artists such as Michael Farrell, William Leech, John Butler Yeats and William Orpen. Nine drawings by Jack B. Yeats will be offered as part of the collection of Theo Waddington.

Paul Henry is represented in this sale with one of the best examples to come to market in some time, a quintessential west of Ireland landscape, Killary Bay, Connemara, estimated at €120,000-€180,000. Another sale highlight is the annotated typescripts from James Joyce's novel, Finnegans Wake. Written over a period of 17 years and first published in 1939, it was Joyce's final work. The typescripts have an estimate of €40,000-60,000.

Other sale highlights include Coastal Narrative by contemporary painter Donald Teskey (Irish, born in 1956), which has an estimate of €30,000-50,000. A rare bust of Micheal Collins (1890-1922) by sculptor, Francis William Doyle Jones (British,1873-1938) with an estimate of €5,000-10,000 will also be offered. Handwritten lyrics of Your Song saved my Life by Bono estimated at €10,000-€15,000 are one of the highlights of the rock/pop culture category and amongst the Irish historical artefacts on offer is an early mediaeval baptismal font associated with the Round Tower of Antrim, Steeple Desmaine, County Antrim.

Bonhams Ireland – PSRA #004588

Online only

Auction highlights

Lot gallery

126 lots available

Sir William Orpen N.E.A.C., R.A., H.R.H.A.(Irish, 1878-1931)Jack Dempsey (where is that rotten fish?) 26.9 x 21.2 cm. (10 1/2 x 8 3/8 in.)

Sir William Orpen N.E.A.C., R.A., H.R.H.A.(Irish, 1878-1931)Study of an Art School model, probably Emily Scobel 28.5 x 21.8 cm. (11 1/4 x 8 1/2 in.) (sheet); 23.8 x 21 cm. (9 3/8 x 8 1/4 in.) (image)

Sir William Orpen N.E.A.C., R.A., H.R.H.A.(Irish, 1878-1931)The Winner (The Champ) 76 x 53.8 cm. (29 7/8 x 21 1/8 in.)

Jack B. Yeats R.H.A.(Irish, 1871-1957)Self-Portrait 26.6 x 36.6 cm. (10 1/2 x 14 3/8 in.) (sheet); 18.9 x 28.1 cm. (7 3/8 x 11 in.) (image)

Jack B. Yeats R.H.A.(Irish, 1871-1957)Theodore to his Grandson, 1909 17.8 x 13.2 cm. (7 x 5 1/8 in.) (sheet); 14.5 x 11.7 cm. (5 5/8 x 4 5/8 in.) (image)

Jack B. Yeats R.H.A.(Irish, 1871-1957)Illustration for 'The Christmas Mummers' 12.4 x 36.2 cm. (4 7/8 x 14 1/4 in.) (sheet); 9.3 x 35.3 cm. (3 5/8 x 13 7/8 in.) (image)

Jack B. Yeats R.H.A.(Irish, 1871-1957)A pair of horses and riders 10 x 17 cm. (4 x 6 3/4 in.); 10.5 x 17.5 cm. (4 1/8 x 7 in.) (2)

Jack B. Yeats R.H.A.(Irish, 1871-1957)A racing jockey 18 x 26 cm. (7 x 10 1/4 in.)

Jack B. Yeats R.H.A.(Irish, 1871-1957)The Jockey 1912 (Calendar) 12.5 x 25.5 cm. (5 x 9 1/4 in.)

Jack B. Yeats R.H.A.(Irish, 1871-1957)Illustration to Dan Donnelly Boxer 17.5 x 21.5 cm. (6 7/8 x 8 3/8 in.) (sheet); 9.3 x 15.4 cm. (3 5/8 x 6 in.) (image)

Jack B. Yeats R.H.A.(Irish, 1871-1957)The Scalp Hunter/Dramatic Figure 5 x 16 cm. (2 x 6 1/4 in.) irregular

Jack B. Yeats R.H.A.(Irish, 1871-1957)The Pirate 14.5 x 5 cm. (5 3/4 x 2 in.) irregular

Harry Kernoff R.H.A.(Irish, 1900-1974)Portrait of Sean Keating 41 x 30.5 cm. (16 1/8 x 12 in.)

Harry Kernoff R.H.A.(Irish, 1900-1974)Portrait of Sean O'Casey 21.2 x 16.2 cm. (8 3/8 x 6 3/8 in.)

Harry Kernoff R.H.A.(Irish, 1900-1974)'The Discovery' Berthed on the Thames with Shell Mex House in the Distance 33 x 22.8 cm. (13 x 9 in.)

Anne Yeats(Irish, 1919-2001)Coopers, Guinness Brewery 31.5 x 40.5 cm. (12 3/8 x 16 in.)

Sean O'Sullivan R.H.A.(Irish, 1906-1964)Portrait of Seán MacEntee 50.8 x 40.6 cm. (20 x 16 in.)

Estella Frances Solomons(Irish, 1882-1968)Portfolio of 13 Etchings

Margaret Clarke(Irish, 1888-1961)Portrait of Harry Clarke 54.6 x 39.8 cm. (21 1/2 x 15 5/8 in.)

Margaret Clarke(Irish, 1888-1961)The Haircut 76.2 x 61 cm. (30 x 24 in.)

Sir William Orpen N.E.A.C., R.A., H.R.H.A.(Irish, 1878-1931)Portrait of Kit 61 x 50 cm. (24 x 19 1/2 in.)

Sir William Orpen N.E.A.C., R.A., H.R.H.A.(Irish, 1878-1931)Yours with love to the last drop 19.5 x 15.5 cm. (7 7/8 x 6 in.)

Sir David Low(New Zealand, 1891-1963)Cartoon of John Lavery 38 x 25.5 cm. (15 x 10 in.)

William Conor R.H.A., R.U.A.(Irish, 1881-1968)With a Smile and a Song 36.5 x 45.7 cm. (14 3/8 x 18 in.)

William Conor R.H.A., R.U.A.(Irish, 1881-1968)The Scallywag 35.4 x 23.6 cm. (13 7/8 x 9 1/4 in.)

William Conor R.H.A., R.U.A.(Irish, 1881-1968)On the Swing 48.2 x 37.8 cm. (19 x 14 7/8 in.)

Muriel Joyce Bidder(British, 1906-1999)Labour 54.5 cm. (21 1/2 in.) high; 53.5 cm. (21 in.) wide (including base)

John Behan(Irish, born 1938)The Turf Cutter 31 cm. (12 1/8 in.) high (excluding the base)

Charles Vincent Lamb R.H.A., R.U.A.(Irish, 1893-1964)Cottages at Carraroe, Connemara 45.7 x 54.6 cm. (18 x 21 1/2 in.)

Maurice MacGonigal(Irish, 1900-1979)Mannin, Connemara 51 x 61 cm. (20 x 24 in.)

Robert Taylor Carson(Irish, 1919-2008)Harvest Time, Co. Kerry 51 x 61 cm. (20 x 24 in.)

Frank McKelvey R.H.A., R.U.A.(Irish, 1895-1974)Market Day 35.6 x 45.7 cm. (14 x 18 in.)

Carolyn Mulholland(Irish, 1944)Glimpse (I) Figure Leaving 30.5 cm. (12 in.) high; 34 cm. (13 3/8 in.) wide

Carolyn Mulholland(Irish, 1944)Portrait of St. John the Evangelist 61 cm. (24 in.) high

Ross Wilson(Irish, born 1957)Word Angel 27.4 x 20.7 cm. (10 3/4 x 8 1/8 in.)

Ross Wilson(Irish, born 1957)Yeats and the Blue Moon of the West 99.1 x 11.2 cm. (39 x 4 3/8 in.)

Maeve McCarthy(Irish, born 1964)Mild Fire of Wine 40 x 27 cm. (15 3/4 x 10 5/8 in.)

Maeve McCarthy(Irish, born 1964)At the Lace Fringe of the Tide 99 x 103.5 cm. (39 x 40 3/4 in.)

Maeve McCarthy(Irish, born 1964)Steps 86.5 x 91.5 cm. (34 x 36 in.)

Donald Teskey R.H.A.(Irish, born 1956)Coastline Narrative IV 180 x 230 cm. (70 7/8 x 90 1/2 in.)

William Crozier H.R.H.A.(Irish, 1930-2011)Untitled (Landscape) 28 x 37.5 cm. (11 x 14 3/4 in.)

William Crozier H.R.H.A.(Irish, 1930-2011)Untitled (Landscape) 28 x 37.5 cm. (11 x 14 3/4 in.)

Graham Knuttel(Irish, 1954-2023)Two Fish 25.7 x 30.3 cm. (10 1/8 x 11 7/8 in.)

Liam O'Neill(Irish, born 1954)Herding Sheep 76 x 101 cm. (30 x 39 3/4 in.)

Gearóid Hayes(Irish, born 1980)Self portrait 42 x 42 cm. (16 1/2 x 16 1/2 in.)

Gary Trimble(Irish, 1928-1979)Sean Keating 51 cm. (20 in.) high (including the stone base)

Imogen Stuart(Irish, 1927)Christ figure 173 cm. (68 in.) high (including the metal base)

Additional information