menu
Departments
.svg)
In our June 2022 sale of Important Irish Art, Adam's is delighted to offer two rediscovered masterworks by William Ashford, a pair of paintings showing Dublin Bay looking north and south. These are extraordinarily important paintings from both historical and artistic points of view and, without doubt, the most important eighteenth-century Irish landscapes to come to market for many decades.
Given their significance, we have taken the unusual step of dedicating a stand-alone catalogue to the Dublin Bay views. Adam's is grateful to Michael Branagan and William Laffan for contributing essays to this volume.
Ashford, who decades after he painted these pictures, would become the first president of the Royal Hibernian Academy, is one of the key figures in Irish art history while perhaps the only works of comparable topographical significance in the corpus of Irish art are Ashford’s own View from Phoenix Park in the National Gallery of Ireland, Joseph Tudor’s view of the city from the same angle (private collection) and John Butts’s View of Cork (Crawford Art Gallery, Cork).
The pictures were first sold almost two hundred and fifty years ago at Christie’s, in its original home in London’s Pall Mall, with its legendary founder James Christie at the rostrum. They have been lost sight of in the intervening centuries with their authorship by William Ashford and their subject, Dublin Bay, forgotten.
Adam's is proud to re-present these works of immense national importance to the public and the scholarly community alike.
.png)
.png)
.jpg)
John ffrench was an instrumental figure in the design industry in Ireland and a distinguished pioneer of Irish studio pottery.
)%20(1).jpg)
%20(002).png)
%20(2).jpg)
%20(1200%20x%20768%20px)%20(2).png)
.png)
.png)
"I should declare my hand. I have a weakness for pictures that punch above their physical weight, and for artists who have been quietly underrated for too long. This pair is both. They are intimate enough to live with at close quarters and serious enough to repay any amount of looking. If the market has lately shown signs of catching up with eighteenth-century Irish painting and I think it has, these two small panels feel, to me, like exactly the sort of thing that will look obvious in twenty years’ time."
Adam’s is honoured to present works from the collection of Lord Rossmore in the upcoming Country House Collections auction at Howth Castle on 28th April. It is seldom that an influential Irish family collection that has survived through the generations comes to the open market.
Works Sold at Adam’s Now in the Irish National Collection
A great opportunity to purchase both established and lesser-known artist’s work at an accessible price point, the Online Picture Auction is the first of many sales to be hosted at Adam’s in 2026. It is perfect for those looking to start a collection and the discerning collector alike.
Through this article, let our expert Adam Pearson guiding you to the (re)discovery of the once established Irish painter Richard O’Neill.
Buying at Auction and the Role of Antiques in a Modern Home
Important Irish Art Auction Highlights
Oliver Dowling Collection by Aidan Dunne
2024 is a year in which Adam’s wants to recognise the key role buying antique furniture and furnishings at auction contributes greatly to the sustainable initiative. In 2019 the Environmental Protection Agency reported stark figures that each year in Ireland 1.2 million reusable bulky items, primarily furniture goes into landfill. Similar to the problem of ‘fast fashion’, the constant production and consumption of new items is leading to rapidly growing waste problem. We want to acknowledge those who are already buying second hand or antique furniture at auction and to encourage new buyers by highlighting the benefits of acquiring affordable, well-made quality items that are built to last.
Irish author, recipe creator and lifestyle influencer, Indy Parsons, selects her favourite pieces from our upcoming Fine Jewellery & Watches auction
James Adam & Sons Ltd, Fine Art Auctioneers and Valuers, 26 St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2,
D02 X665, Ireland
