WHYTE'S IMPORTANT IRISH ART 29 NOVEMBER 2021 AT 6PM

122 92 Rory Breslin (b.1963) MASK OF THE SHANNON bronze; (artist’s proof from an edition of 3) signed at top 35 by 16 by 6in. (88.9 by 40.6 by 15.2cm) Positioned on the Northern entrance of the Custom House as part of the central group of three, the adaptation of Edward Smyth’s Shannon presents a youthful visage, dignified though perhaps slightly pensive in terms of expression. The forehead, cheeks and beard of the Shannon are framed with oak leaves, acorns and the intertwining boughs of the oak. Classical cornucopias, ‘horns of plenty’, over- flowing with grains and fruit such as corn, plums, damsons and pine-cones rise on each side of the trident at the apex of the head. The speculation is that the trident represents Limerick’s sovereignty over the estuary and/or Athlone’s jurisdiction of the grain and fruits of the central plain. In John Payne’s Universal Geography (1797), he describes the river as flowing through a fruitful and fertile land. The depiction of the emblems of the oak are believed to be a reference to Cratloe Woods in County Clare, an important relic of Ireland’s primeval forests. It is said that the beams for the roof of Westminster Hall were from these woods. €5,000-€7,000 (£4,240-£5,930 approx.) Click here for more images and to bid on this lot92