29th Knight of Glin to Sell Portions of Collection

The Irish Times is reporting the 29th Irish Knight of Glin, Desmond FitzGerald will be selling a large portion of his collection of fine and decorative arts from Glin Castle. According to the Irish Times the Knight has run into cash flow problems and needs to liquidate some of his collection in order to maintain the ancestral home. The Knight of Glin is an authority on Irish Furniture and in 2007 published an excellent book on Irish Furniture (see image) with co-author and Christies Furniture specialist James Peill.

This situation of European nobility selling property is not new or unique and has been seen many times in the past. As a matter of fact the article states that in 1903 the 24th Knight of Glin was forced to liquidate most of his personal property to satisfy debts. Christie's London will be selling portions of the Glin Castle collection on May 7th. I will track the sale on the AW Blog. Irish furniture has recently seen an increase in interest, and the Irish Furniture book has help to fuel the demand. For those who love Irish furniture and other fine and decorative arts this sale should be excellent. As brown furniture has recently struggled, it will be interesting to see how this sale performs. Due to the collection provenance and Desmond Fitzgerald standing within the decorative arts field my instinct is that it will do rather well.

According to the Irish Times In 1975 Desmond FitzGerald got a job acting as Irish agent for English auctioneers Christie’s, a position he held for 28 years and which, he admits, “gave me the dubious reputation of being a total hypocrite”, since he was perceived in some quarters to be disposing of Irish fine art on the international market while simultaneously arguing for its better appreciation at home through his involvement with organisations such as the Irish Georgian Society (of which he has been president since 1991).

In response, he points out that regardless of which auction house was selling it, the Irish were as free as anyone else to buy their own heritage. Indeed, for more than 40 years that is precisely what he did, and now most of his extraordinary acquisitions are to be offered to buyers, whether they live in this country or overseas. His earliest purchases, the Booker mirror and the George II tea table, are to go, as is the bureau bookcase. Some of the items being sold in May he brought back to Ireland long after they had gone abroad. An early 18th-century portrait of a lady by James Latham, for example, was discovered more than 20 years ago in Moss Vale outside Sydney, Australia, while he found Philip Hussey’s portrait of the Countess of Brandon in Vermont.

To read the full Irish Times article click HERE. To view or order the book on Irish furniture from Amazon, click HERE.