IRISH & INTERNATIONAL ART 29 SEPTEMBER 2025

32 19 Harry Clarke RHA (1889-1931) ILLUMINATED ADDRESS TO JIM BRINDLEY FOR HIS 50 YEARS SERVICE TO THE WARD UNION HUNT, 1916 ink on vellum with gold leaf; presented in ornate, bespoke cushion frame signed with initials and dated [April 1916] lower right 29 by 20in. (73.7 by 50.8cm) Frame Size: 44.25 by 25in. (112.4 by 63.5cm) Provenance: Fonsie Mealy’s, 30 May 2023, lot 815; Private collection Also with pencil sketch drawings of James Brindley and a listing of the contributors, in ornate cushion frame. This illuminated address dedicated to “Jim”, James Brindley, dates to April 1916 on the occasion of what we can assume is his retirement from the Ward Union Hunt. This is a rare and exquisite example of Harry Clarke’s original illustrations in pen and ink with gold leaf. The borders of the address are profusely decorated with layers of patterning visible from the faintly applied decoration against the yellow background through to the heaviest, velvety black inks which punctuate the design. A sense of pageantry is created in the upper margin where a framed horseshoe, representing good luck, and a stag’s head, representing the hunt and prestige, are flanked by horses with medieval style riders holding up heralding trumpets. Spiralling tendrils of foliage, plumes and flowers together with other hunting motifs and intricate patterning in check, dots and stripes, all come together to create an artwork that is inimitably Harry Clarke. The illuminated address also includes three portrait miniatures in pencil, one of which we can assume depicts “Jim”. The 1911 census of Ireland records a James Brindley, 61 years, of Ashbourne, Donaghmore, Meath, as a “Professional Huntsman”, a widower and head of a family of five children, two daughters and three sons, among them Charles (recorded as a “Professional Whip” on the 1901 census) and listed on the Ward Union Hunt Steeplechases Race Card, Easter Monday April 1916 under Officials as Stakeholder Mr C Brindley. The address is dated April 1916 and is likely to have been presented to Brindley on the occasion of the Ward Union Hunt Steeplechases at Fairyhouse on Easter Monday. This was a pivotal moment in Irish history. These races were attended by a large number of the British garrison and administration and their absence from Dublin at the beginning of the Rising facilitated the insurgents in establishing their strongholds around the city. Harry Clarke and the Clarke Studios, located in North Frederick Street, less than ten minutes walk from the heart of the fighting, were also directly impacted by the Rising. Nicola Gordon Bowe writes, “The military refused permission for the men to leave the building, so they were held there for four days, and work was at a standstill until 8 May. Joshua Clarke (Harry’s father), confined to his house in Shankill for twelve days, had to endure the anxiety of not knowing ‘whether my house was blown down or my sons killed in Dublin’. Luckily North Frederick Street was some distance from Sackville Street, the epicentre of the action, although a few bullets grazed the walls of No. 33 and struck its balcony.” 1 Most of Harry Clarke’s drawings for ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’ by S.T. Coleridge were lost during the Rising when the building of Maunsel & Co., 96 Middle Abbey Street, was completely destroyed. How Harry Clarke came to be commissioned by the Ward Union Hunt to create this illuminated address is unknown, however the presence of the name “Waldron” amongst more than 250 members and subscribers suggests a possible connection to Clarke’s friend and patron Laurence Ambrose Waldron (1858-1923) the stockbroker, epicurean, patron of the arts, and MP who lived in Marino House overlooking Killiney Bay (now Abbeylea, the residence of the Australian Ambassador). Also a former student of Belvedere College in Dublin, Waldron befriended Clarke in 1912 and the artist was a regular guest in his Killiney home, a hub for literati including John Millington Synge, George Moore and Oliver St John Gogarty. Through Waldron Clarke received numerous significant commissions and was introduced to some of his most important patrons including Thomas Bodkin, cousin of Sir Hugh Lane and Director of the National Gallery of Ireland (1927-1935). Adelle Hughes August 2025 1 Gordon Bowe, Dr Nicola, Harry Clarke The Life &Work, The History Press Ireland, Dublin, 2012, p.87 €10,000-€15,000 (£8,700-£13,040 approx.) Click here for more images and to bid on this lot19