WHYTE'S IRISH & INTERNATIONAL ART MONDAY 31 MAY 2021 AT 6PM

33 IRISH & INTERNATIONAL ART MONDAY 31 MAY 2021 AT 6PM The open floor level turf fire caused draughts, so raising the bedding kept it dry and sheltered the sleepers, with a curtain usually draped across the open front. Brenan shows the end of one of these dominating structures, with its boarded canted roof. Others had arched roofs, or square tops, but this one matches rare surviving examples precisely, with its hipped form. The mother is kneeling to pray facing the open front of the bed, where a homemade patchwork quilt is draped, as a covering. Above her head hang fishing nets, suggesting that they live in a coastal area. Inside the open doorway, the barefoot daughter kneels at a ‘carpenter’s chair’ of a type typical of county Cork cottages. Just enough of the slightly tattered, old, red painted dresser, is shown on the far right, for us to recognise its old dated open fronted design, with two drawers; typical of county Cork in its form. Local wheelwrights usually produced such objects, and made provision for the display of spoons in slots at eye level, which feature clearly in Brenan’s oil Committee of Inspection (Crawford Art Gallery collection). By this time, the most desirable dressers had glazed tops and enclosed bases, to reduce housework. The cat, with his saucer of milk in the foreground, was worth feeding as he kept rats at bay. Such social realism with its depiction of careful frugality, lack of ostentation, and keeping of the faith encouraged sympathy for the poor. It is the only known oil painting to show one of these extraordinary beds, which now survive in museums or appear in early illustrations showing poor housing. The medical profession condemned them as ill ventilated, so encouraged their replacement with hygienic brass and iron beds. Dr Claudia Kinmonth MA (RCA) €10,000-€15,000 (£8,700-£13,040 approx.) Click here for more images and to bid on this lot23