The catalogue for the forthcoming Victor Mee Decorative Sale – an online only auction on Tuesday and Wednesday, January 26th and 27th – makes comforting reading.
There is a large selection of oversized leather fireside seats to suit all tastes. From rough enough tanned club chairs from the 1940s at €200-€400 apiece, a ribbed leather and metal chair and sofa set (€1,200-€1,800 for the two chairs, and €750-€1,050 for the sofa) to what Mee describes as “a pair of exceptional quality art deco style leather and wood aviator style chairs” at €2,000-€4,000.
Many of them evoke thoughts of lounging with a good book in front of the fire, and for many of us that may be the limit of our current ambition.
Also in there are a number of Chesterfield sofas ranging from €300 to €650 and a couple of leather office chairs, from ones that swivel to retro chrome offerings (€200-€400).
Should you consider leather to be a bit passé, there is also a swivel wing-backed 1970s model in peacock blue (€300-€500) and a pair of Edwardian inlaid mahogany deep-buttoned chairs that look made for fireside snoozes, however, you might want to replace the crushed green velvet upholstery (€200-€400).
Further fireside accessories are the large number of fuel buckets, with the top lot “an exceptional quality Irish mahogany brass bound estate peat bucket”. Its height of almost a metre means it is generous enough to hold a weeks’ worth of fuel (€2,000-€4,000).
More affordable lots include a copper coal bucket (€80-€160) and a good quality 19th century embossed brass coal scuttle with ebony handles, which comes with its original shovel (€200-€300). For those who like a roaring fire, there’s a large Edwardian oak log box (€200-€400) and a few blanket boxes ranging from €200-€450 that could also be repurposed to hold fireside fuels, along with a brass-bound half barrel (€150-€250).
Some may be sticking to their annual dry January, but for those who are not the sale has a number of interesting wine coolers. Lot 623 is a nice Irish Georgian mahogany brass-bound wine cooler on a stand (€350-€550) and should you prefer to hide your tipples out of sight from temptation, lot 462 is a really lovely Georgian mahogany cellaret. At just under half a metre in height its neat proportions and flat top would also allow it to work as a lamp table in addition to accommodating bottles (€300-€600).
Lot 395 – also Georgian – is unusual in that it has a metal-lined ice box neatly hidden away in the lid of its sarcophagus design (€800-€1,200).
Curiosities include 13 lots of taxidermy from leopards and wild boars to two caiman’s. Like alligators – their closest relatives – these small but ferocious creatures have but three natural predators namely jaguars, anacondas and humans (€100-€200).
Also in there is a rare child’s vintage Vespa scooter (€600-€1,200) and a most interesting 19th century mahogany ship’s washstand, where everything folds away into a neat looking chest (€300-€600).
Architects, designers and artists may well have an interest in the mid-century bank of eight architect drawers, which comes in two sections (€200-€300), and there will surely be interest in the “exceptional quality” 18-drawer collector’s cabinet that is hidden discreetly behind two long blind doors (€600-€1,200).
Some lots in the sale come from the collection of the estate of Annie Molihan, the late antique trader of Old Town House in Co Longford.
Of particular interest are lots 752, 753 and 761; a William IV mahogany server standing at almost 3 metres long (€1,500-€3,000); a giltwood and gesso over-mantle mirror (€500-€800); and a mahogany D-end dining table, all of which originally came from Lissard House in Co Longford (€800-€1,600).
One of the nicest lots in the sale and in keeping with the comfort theme is a really lovely and quite rare French copper roll-top bath. Copper baths are becoming increasingly popular, not just for aesthetic reasons, but also due to the fact that the metal is almost bacteria and mould resistant – where bacteria only survives for a matter of hours on the metal – compared to days on steel and other bath surfaces. Another benefit is copper heats up faster – retaining heat longer than other surfaces – allowing for longer winter soaks.
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