Dealers and collectors spend over £300,000 on the first day of auction antiques from Malahide Castle.
There is a carnival atmosphere on the first day of the three day auction of the contents of Malahide Castle in Dublin. The sale is on behalf of the executors of the late Lord Talbot of Malahide. Death duties following the death of Lord Talbot made it necessary to sell the castle contents.
The auction, conducted by Christie's of London, in conjunction with the Cork firm of Keane Mahony Smith, attracted over 500 bidders who assembled in a giant marquee set up on the front lawn of Malahide Castle.
Dealers spent over £300,000 on furniture, paintings and pieces of silver.
The highest bid of the day was for a Louis XIV piece of furniture bought by a dealer from Paris. One of the most historic pieces to come under the auctioneer's hammer is a 17th-century Dutch ebony cabinet, once the property of James Boswell, the Scottish diarist and biographer.
Many of Boswell’s writings were discovered in its drawers long after his death.
It was knocked down for £7,500 to an American dealer for a private collector.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 10 May 1976.
