Fine rugs, interesting boxes and intriguing miniatures at country house sales

The autumn months are a good time to enjoy your indoor spaces and consider how certain rooms might need a little freshening up before the really dark days dominate. With this in mind, there are a few house content auctions of note in the next 10 days that might just have what you’re looking for.

These include Adam’s annual Country House Collections auction, which can be viewed in Townley Hall, outside Drogheda in Co Louth, from October 11th-13th. The Francis Johnson-built Georgian country house – which has been hosting Adam’s for 10 years now – is a wonderful setting for the auction viewings.

“There are so few real country house sales any more, but this auction at Townley Hall feels like a country house auction. It suits large items like long diningroom tables and bookcases,” says Stuart Cole, managing director of Adam’s.

Most of the 800-plus lots of furniture and historic paintings on view come from Irish country houses, according to Cole.

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“We get a lot of people from Belfast who come to the sale, so the location is perfect as it’s equidistant from Belfast and Dublin,” he adds.

A wool rug made by the Bakhtiari people in Iran (€600-€800) at Adam's Country House Collections auction

A quick perusal of the catalogue reveals a fine selection of antique Irish silver, and a wide range of Turkish, Persian and Afghan rugs with some French Aubusson carpets as well. A wool rug made by the Bakhtiari people in Iran (€600-€800) and a Dobag prayer mat from Turkey (€1,000-€1,500), are a couple of colourful specimens.

Adam’s auction also has a large variety of portrait miniatures. These tiny portraits first appeared on illuminated manuscripts in the 15th century and were then adopted by artists as small watercolour portraits on vellum laid on to a piece of card. Later miniatures were painted on ivory or enamel.

Throughout the 16th and 17th centuries, these works of art were referred to as “limnings”, and only became known as miniatures in the 18th century, according to Christie’s specialist Jo Langston.

A miniature of a nobleman by Isaac Oliver (€8,000-€12,000) at Adam's Country House Collections auction

They first appeared in the European royal courts in the 16th century, and flourished during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, but the 18th century is deemed to be the golden age of portrait miniatures, particularly in London and Dublin. Their primary function was a memento or token of love, but the invention of photography led to their decline.

Cole points to a miniature by Isaac Oliver (€8,000-€12,000) as one of the most striking for sale. Oliver was an apprentice to Nicholas Hilliard, one of the early pioneers of portrait miniature paintings in Elizabethan England.

The Adam’s auction is divided into two parts: the first, online, section will begin to close at 2pm on Monday, October 13th. The second section (lots 400 onwards), will be live on Tuesday, October 14th at 11am at Adam’s on St Stephen’s Green.

Auctions are also great places to find quirky pieces that add to your interior style while also being functional. Take for example ornate storage boxes that have become fashionable pieces of furniture, while also useful for holding stuff.

A 17th-century painted coffer (€2,500-€3,500) at Sheppard's Legacy of the Big House auction

Sheppard’s Legacy of the Big House auction, from October 7th-10th, includes plenty of interesting boxes of all shapes and sizes. These include a 17th-century painted coffer (€2,500-€3,500), two canvas and leather-bound storage trunks (€300-€500), a 19th-century Chinese storage chest (€200-€300) and an oak cutlery box (€100-€150).

A Georgian octagonal wine cellarette in mahogany (€400-€600) is another unusual piece. The hinged lid opens to a lined interior perfect for a selection of drinks – hidden from view to prevent over-consumption yet close by for celebratory occasions. Similarly, the liqueur cabinet in the shape of three leather-bound books whose hinged covers open up to reveal compartments for decanters (€50-€80) is a novel item. And perhaps the most elegant of all is the tall mahogany panelled cylinder drinks cabinet with a brass circular top (€1,200-€1,800).

tall mahogany panelled cylinder drinks cabinet with a brass circular top (€1,200-€1,800) at Sheppard's auction

There are lots of smaller boxes for jewellery, stationery or other tiny treasures worth looking at in the in-person viewing on Saturday, Sunday and Monday from 10am-5pm at Sheppard’s auction house, Durrow, Co Laois.

19th-century pair of Chinese Qing lacquer cabinets (€1,400-€1,800) at Sheppard's auction

Auctions are also great for finding ornate mirrors and more unusual chests of drawers. The large Victorian gilt wood overmantel mirror (€3,000-€5,000) at Sheppard’s would look well in a modern or period house, while the 19th-century pair of Chinese Qing lacquer cabinets (€1,400-€1,800), could also add a touch of style to any home.

Mullen’s of Laurel Park’s current online auction begins to close on Sunday at 6pm. It also has plenty of bureaus, bookcases, tables and cabinets. Viewing continues Saturday and Sunday from 10am-4pm.

Readers of this column might recall a report on the sale of an Edwardian silver tea service originally gifted to Sir Ernest Shackleton, the Kildare-born Antarctic explorer, some weeks ago at Roseberys’ silver auction in London. On sale with an estimate of £2,000-£3,000, it sold on Tuesday of this week to an Irish buyer for £20,990 (€24,043), our London source tells us. It had been hoped that the tea set might move to Ireland from its home at the Scott Polar Research Institute in Cambridge.

Finally, owners of historic paintings and furniture might be interested in the one-day seminar entitled Country House Collections: Care, Digitisation and Best Practice, on Friday, November 7th in Maynooth University. Paper conservators Patrick McBride and Ciara McQueirns will launch a conservation report on caring for country house collections. Virginia Teehan, chief executive of the Heritage Council, and Ciarán Reilly, assistant director of the Centre for the Study of Historic Irish Houses and Estates in the Department of History at Maynooth University, will also speak at the event.

Adams.ie; sheppards.ie; mullenslaurelpark.com; Maynoothuniversity.ie