A figure group featuring Daniel O’Connell (1775-1847), ‘The Liberator’ of Ireland, will go under the hammer at Fonsie Mealy Auctioneers on March 7 in Castlecomer, County Kilkenny.
The 8in (21cm) long figure is made from wood, plaster (or ceramic) and papier-mâché and consists of a central cloaked figure of O'Connell, holding a parasol, surrounded by country peasants.
The auction house believes only about four or five of these groups are known, and no two are the same. It has been consigned from a private collection in County Carlow and is estimated at €1500-2000.
fonsiemealy.ie or see this item on thesaleroom.com
Bedfordshire dealership Doe & Hope is selling a provincial-style Victorian picture of three English terriers.
The profiles of a Manchester terrier and two English white terriers, both now extinct breeds, are painted on the 9 x 12in (23 x 30cm) oil on board.
It comes from the estate of artists Joe and Mary Hope and is priced at £875.
This early 20th century oil on canvas above depicts the Norwegian icebreaker Fram, a wooden exploration ship used by Roald Amundsen on his successful trip to the South Pole in 1911.
Fram, meaning ‘Forward’ in Norwegian, was a three-masted steam sailship originally built for the Norwegian explorer (1861-1930) Fridtjof Nansen, who planned to freeze the ship into pack ice and float it over the North Pole in 1893. His plan ultimately failed.
The 17in x 2ft 2in (44 x 65cm) picture shows the ship amid pack ice and has traces of inscription on the lower left of the canvas and the verso. It was last purchased at Sotheby’s in 1988 and is estimated at £600-900 in an antiques and collectables sale held at Fellows of Birmingham on March 5.
fellows.co.uk or see this item on thesaleroom.com
A tranche of antique books from the collection of Ampleforth Abbey & College in North Yorkshire has been consigned to a sale at Tennants Auctioneers of nearby Leyburn on March 7.
Among the books, dating from the 16th-early 20th centuries and covering various subjects, is a copy of Cosmographia by Sebastian Münster (1488-1552). First published in 1544, this was the earliest German language description of the world, covering astronomy, mathematics, geography and cartography.
Illustrated with woodcuts, including some by Hans Holbein the Younger (1497-1543), it became one of the most successful books of the age. Twenty-four editions were published over 100 years and translated into Latin, English and Czech.
This example shown above, printed in Italian, was published in 1558. Estimate £500-1000.
