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Lot 52
A SET OF THREE ANGLO-IRISH PORTRAITS OF THE FALKINER FAMILY REVERSE PAINTED ON GLASSVARIOUSLY DATED 1724 Portrait of girl in red jacket inscribed to reverse in ink "This picture was drawn by Mary Falkiner for me in ye year 1724 and was life like- R Card", 25 x 30cm overall; another of another girl (presumably her sister) inscribed to reverse "Mary Card", 37.5 x 25.5cm overall; and another the largest inscribed in the same hand; "Richard Falkiner Esq, that built Mnt Falkin house in 1720, this picture was drawn for him in 1724 and for his *** sister and his half sister Ruth Falkiner ** Mary Kean, Charlotte Bayly" 43.5 x 32.5cm overall (3)Research has found mention of Richard Falkiner (1691-1733), a Justice of the Peace, who lived in County Tipperary. He is recorded as having one child, a daughter Charlotte who married Constanine Bayly in 1748 and is, presumably, the person who penned the inscriptions to the reverse of these three portraits. "Mount Falkin" house, or as it's known today "Mount Falcon", still stands and carries on its pediment the inscription "RFM 1720".Condition Report: Painting of lady in blue:Some areas of paint have slightly detached from the glass giving a mottled opaque almost silvery grey appearance.There are some minor scratches and marks to the glass.The giltwood frame has sections of gesso that have dried and chipped off, with cracks and variously bright and matt gilding. The pine backboards split, with some paper tape missing and peeling.Painting of lady in red:Some areas of paint have slightly detached from the glass giving a mottled opaque almost silvery grey appearance. There is also flaking/scratching of the paint where the paint is missing, most noticeably to the right arm, forehead and face, and to the dress where the the red paint also has a crystalline almost iridescent quality when viewed in certain angles.The giltwood frame has sections of gesso that have dried and chipped off, with cracks and variously bright and matt gilding. There is a split to the pine backboard, with later brown paper glued as tape.Painting of the gentleman:Some areas of paint have slightly detached from the glass showing the brushstrokes in an opaque almost silvery grey appearance. Some paint loss to the hand.The glass has a subtle bevelled edge. One air bubble.The giltwood frame has sections of gesso that have dried and chipped off. Some tears to the paper tape on the backboard. All that said, the pictures have an authentic and un-touched look, and some of these comments on condition are only apparent on close inspection.Please see additional images for a visual reference of condition.Condition Report Disclaimer
Lot 457
In the style of Francis Newton Souza (India, 1924-2002), abstract black and white painting of a vase and claret jug etc. to brown ground, signed 'Souza 61', oil on board, inscribed to verso 'Still Life With Claret Jug Mr & Mrs Bloom With Thanks Souza', 40 x 51cm, unframed, together with a small monochrome watercolour of birds with boats in the distance, signed 'YC Fung 1979', glazed and framed, 18 x 20cm (2)
Lot 420
Francis Bindon (1690 – 1765)Portrait of Jonathan Swift, 1735, oil on canvas, 87 1/2" x 5' (222cms x 153cms); 102" x 75" (260cms x 190cms) including frame, the contemporary frame carved with oak leaf sprays and acorns, and carved floral head corners, egg n' leaf carved moulded edge and inside border with interlaced floral design. (1)In his History of Howth and its Owners, published by the Royal Society of Antiquaries in Ireland in 1917, Francis Ball describes the artworks in Howth Castle, focusing on the most important canvas: “ On the walls there hung a whole-length portrait of Swift by Francis Bindon, unique amongst portraits of him, in that its history is determined with absolute certainty. .” This same painting is mentioned by Jonathan Swift in a letter he wrote to his friend Sheridan on 16th June 1735: ‘I have been fool enough to sit for my picture at full-length by Mr. Bindon, for my Lord Howth’ He had sat that day for two and a half hours. Standing full-length, wearing wig and clerical robes, Dean Swift is depicted holding a scroll on which is written “The Drapier’s fourth Letter to the Whole People of Ireland.” Alongside him, grovelling on the ground, is a caricature of William Wood, clutching his ‘patent’. In 1722, the British government had granted the Duchess of Kendal a licence to issue copper coinage for Ireland. A mistress of George I, Kendal quickly sold the patent to William Wood, for ten thousand pounds. In Dublin, alarm spread and a campaign was mounted to stop the issuing of ‘Wood’s Halfpence’, as it would devalue existing Irish currency. Using the pseudonym “Drapier”, Dean Swift wrote letters, pouring scorn on the proposal. He also wrote songs, ballads and poems ridiculing Woods. Faced with almost universal opposition, the proposal to issue the coinage was quietly withdrawn. However, in Ireland the campaign had united disparate mercantile and political interests, and so laid the foundations for Grattan’s parliament. In the fourth of Drapier’s letter, Swift waxed eloquent: “One great merit I am sure we have, which those of English birth can have no pretence to, that our ancestors reduced this kingdom to the obedience of England, for which we have been rewarded with a worse climate, the privilege of being governed by laws to which we do not consent, a ruined trade, a House of Peers without jurisdiction, almost an incapacity for all employments; and the dread of Wood's halfpence.” Although a reward was offered for the exposure of the author of the letters, Swift was not betrayed. The campaign won Swift the admiration of families such as St. Lawrence and during the early 1830’s he became a frequent guest at Howth Castle. He was a great admirer of Lucy, the young wife of William St. Lawrence, referring to her as a ‘nymph’. Lucy wrote him several letters, prompting Swift to advise that she ought ‘to go to a writing-school and spelling-book’. In 1735, Lord Howth commissioned Francis Bindon to paint a portrait of the Dean. The result is a sympathetic portrayal, showing Swift at a time when several of his close friends, including the writers John Gay and John Arbuthnot, had died, while the great love of his life, Esther Johnson, or ‘Stella’, had passed away seven years before, leaving him increasingly disillusioned and facing a lonely old age. Bindon depicted the Dean being crowned with laurel by a muse, while in the background, in a classical tempietto, a winged figure of Victory blows a trumpet. In a letter written from Kilfane on July 6th, William St. Lawrence thanked Swift for agreeing to sit for Bindon, adding that he had asked Dr. Grattan to carry the portrait to his own house, in order that a copy might not be substituted for the original.Born in County Clare, as a young man Francis Bindon had travelled extensively in Italy, and later studied with Godfrey Kneller in London. As a landowner and member of the Royal Dublin Society, he was independently wealthy and not obliged to produce flattering images of sitters. Apart from churchmen such as Dr Delany and Archbishop Cobbe, he is thought to have painted the blind harper Turlough O’Carolan in a portrait now in the National Gallery of Ireland. Bindon also studied architecture with Edward Lovett Pearce, and designed houses such as Bessborough, Woodstock and Castle Morres, in County Kilkenny. Jonathan Swift is without doubt the most important Irish writer of the eighteenth century. Born in Hoey’s Court, Dublin, he attended Kilkenny College before going on to study at Trinity College Dublin, where he received his BA in 1686. When William of Orange became King, Swift moved to England, becoming secretary to the diplomat Sir William Temple. At Temple’s home, Moor Park, Farnham, Swift was also a tutor, and among his pupils was a young orphan, Esther Johnson, who he nicknamed ‘Stella’. After receiving his MA degree from Hertford College Oxford in 1692, Swift was ordained a priest in the Church of Ireland and when Temple died in 1699, Swift returned to Ireland, becoming chaplain to Lord Berkeley, a job that allowed him time to write and also to visit London, where he lobbied government on behalf of the Irish clergy. He became a key negotiator for the Tory party, and fell in love with another orphan, Esther Vanhomrigh, whom he nicknamed ‘Vanessa’, presumably to distinguish her from his other Esther. Infatuated with Swift, Vanessa followed him to Ireland in 1714, where seventeen years later their relationship ended with a confrontation involving Stella. Between these complicated love affairs Swift attempted to progress his career, but Queen Anne stymied his efforts. With the Whigs in power in England, he accepted the post of Dean of St Patrick’s Cathedral, which he regarded as a disappointment, and indeed a form of exile, having hoped for a bishopric in England. However, at St Patrick’s, Swift began to turn his writing skills in support of Irish causes and also began to write his best-known work, Gulliver’s Travels. Published in 1726, this was an instant success and established Swift as a writer of note.Important Note:In view of the cultural and historic importance of this lot , the vendors have granted an option to the Irish State to acquire same at a price equal to the hammer price realised at the auction date, should a private or trade buyer successfully bid for same. This option shall be valid for a period of three months from the auction date, and the Irish State ( as represented by the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, in conjunction with the National Museum, National Gallery and National Library of Ireland and Office of Public Works) shall have the option to acquire and purchase this lot within this time frame, at the final hammer price achieved at the auction date, plus buyer's premiums. This lot shall be retained within this jurisdiction, and collection and shipment of same shall only be permitted on the expiryand non-exercise of this option by the Irish State bodies. A binding purchase contract shall still exist in relation to any private or trade buyer who successfully bids for this lot on the sale date and the full purchase price plus buyer's premiums due, shall become payable immediately following the expiry of the above option period.
Lot 545
Attributed to John Lewis (fl 1745-60) Portrait of William St. Lawrence, son of William, 14th Baron Howth c 1640, approx. 48" x 36" (122cms x 92cms), in later painted and parcel gilt frame. (1) Note: Dressed as befits a young Anglo-Irish gentleman, in crimson suit, lace collar, and blue velvet coat with gold trimmings, William St. Lawrence stands beside a table, assuming an elegant pose and paying little heed to the spaniel that dances at his feet. Behind a heavy curtain, a landscape can be glimpsed. There are several books on the table, which is also draped in red cloth, the folds of which contrast with the black and white tiled floor. The portrait is remarkable in that while the artist has portrayed William as a young adult, in fact he was around ten years old?the table top is at the same level as the boy?s shoulder. Born sometime around 1732, William was given the same name as his father, William St. Lawrence, 14th Baron Howth. Although William?s mother, Lucy Gorges, was twenty years younger than her husband, they were happily married and had three children; a daughter named Mary, and two sons, Thomas (who became 1st Earl of Howth), and William, the sitter in this portrait. The St. Lawrences were friends of Jonathan Swift, who was a frequent visitor to Howth Castle and also to Kilfane, their country house in Co. Kilkenny, where William Snr indulged his passion for horses and hunting. In his poem On Rover, A Lady?s Spaniel, written a decade or so earlier, Swift had described the physical features of a toy spaniel and given advice to aspiring artists: Happiest of the spaniel race, Painter, with thy colours grace: Draw his forehead large and high, Draw his blue and humid eye; Draw his neck so smooth and round, Little neck with ribbons bound! And the muscly swelling breast, Where the Loves and Graces rest; And the spreading even back, Soft, and sleek, and glossy black; And the tail that gently twines, Like the tendrils of the vines; And the silky twisted hair, Shadowing thick the velvet ear; Velvet ears, which, hanging low, O'er the veiny temples flow. Swift?s poem is a parody of namby pamby verses written by Ambrose Phillips, in honour of Georgiana Cartaret, daughter of the Lord Lieutenant. An admirer of Swift?s, Lord Cartaret no doubt secretly delighted in the Dean?s parody. The attribution of this painting to the Dublin artist John Lewis, in Toby Bernard?s "Making the Grand Figure: Lives and Possessionsÿin Ireland 1641-1770", is convincing. Although not well-known as a portrait painter, Lewis was at the centre of Dublin?s theatre and cultural life in the mid eighteenth century, when he worked as a scene painter at the Smock Alley Theatre. He painted portraits of actor Peg Woffington, and dramatist Henry Brooke. While on a visit to Quilca House in Co. Cavan with Thomas Sheridan, he painted mural decorations, with images of Milton, Shakespeare and Jonathan Swift. He may have painted the portrait of William St. Lawrence after the boy?s untimely death. Although destined for a life as a professional soldier, and appointed an ensign in the army while still just fourteen years old, William?s military career was shortlived. While still a teenager, in April 1749, he died of smallpox. Dr.ÿPeterÿMurrayÿ2021
Lot 165
An early 19th century Pinxton porcelain circular cabinet plate, finely enamelled in colours with a vase of flowers to centre within gilded floral rim. Diameter 22 cm (see illustration). CONDITION REPORT: The plate is free from any repairs or restoration. There are no hairline cracks. There are two small rim nibbles around the gilt edge and further rubbing to the gilding at this point. The gilt border is in generally good order however there are some losses to the gilding increasingly so on the way down towards the centre of the plate. You will also notice some scratches and paint losses to the main decoration, particularly to the three bottom yellow flowers and in the buff area above the still life. Whilst the plate has a label verso suggesting it is Pinxton, we have had a suggestion that it may indeed be Coalport due to the indentations on the rim.
Lot 445
CHRISTOPHER CAWTHORN (BRITISH, 20TH CENTURY) (3)Still life with fruit, glass and ceramica pair, one signed 'Cawthorn' (lower right), the other signed 'Cawthorn' (lower left)oil on canvaseach 41 x 51cmtogether with a 20th century oil on canvas of still life of fruit by another hand, indistinctly signed, 36 x 52xm(3)ARR
Lot 1413
British School, 19th c - A Ruined Abbey, watercolour, indistinctly inscribed with initials, 25 x 36cm, English School - Still Life with Wallflowers in a Vase, oil on canvas board, 32 x 42cm and a watercolour of a kestrel by Anne Hartley, signed, oval, 29 x 22cm (3) The lot in good condition
Lot 1004
Impressionist style oil on canvas, boats, figures and buildings by a quayside, signed F.S. Bolam and indistinctly dated, 15ins x 18ins, gilt framed together with a 20th Century oil on board, still life and a framed coloured print of carriage and horses before a grand country houseCanvas loose, crazing to paint and slightly dusty/dirty, otherwise okay
Lot 1082
Oval mounted pastel river landscape by R. de Valens, signed, 12.5ins x 15.5ins, an oak framed pastel still life of a statue, signed Kebbell, 14ins x 12ins, watercolour, garden scene, unframed, 14ins x 9ins and a watercolour, floral still life, indistinctly signed, gilt framed, 14ins x 11ins
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