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In commercial terms ecclesiastical silver is not the strongest area of the market but there is no doubting its social and historical interest, especially when it has retained its links to the church for which it was made.

The title page of Hugh Maccaghwell’s On the Sacrament of Penance which, printed at Louvain in 1618, is recognised as “the first original work by a living author in Irish”. The few works printed in Irish that preceded it were the Bible, liturgical texts or translations of the works of others, but this was one of five works produced in the years 1614-18 at a press operated by the Irish Franciscans at St. Anthony’s in Louvain – the first press to print and promote Irish writing in the vernacular.

THIS Oxfordshire outing at Holloways on 27 January not only boasted a bountiful supply of silver-mounted coconuts but included a great deal of other decorative entries and quality furniture consigned by the same local private vendor. Among these pieces was the sale highlight – a pair of Victorian ‘golden oak’ inverted breakfront library bookcases, well carved with lion’s masks and cartouche-moulded cornices.

ALTHOUGH it is now in its 11th year, the Spring Fine Art and Antiques Fair, which will be held at Olympia in West London from March 2 to 7, is the most recent of the three annual Olympias. To many eyes it is the most stylish and best looking of the three – to others it is the most problematical. It is certainly different.

IF asked to nominate the subject of a commercial painting by Montague Dawson (1895-1973), most specialists and collectors would think of a clipper ship, preferably an American clipper in full sail on picturesquely choppy, but not too choppy, seas.

London’s Asian auction scene will not get into full swing until next month when the capital’s main rooms field sales of mixed Asian or Export wares before the action moves across the Atlantic for the New York fairs and sales.

SILVER SALES: Although different in size, the 451-lot silver sale at Bonhams’ Knightsbridge (17.5/10% buyer’s premium) sale on February 10 and the 263 lots offered at Christie’s South Kensington (19.5/12% buyer’s premium) on February 17 were both fairly routine affairs by London standards.