Fonsie Mealy

“A disgusting object” that may be of “some whimsical interest to an obsessive collector” is how Auberon Waugh described a telescopic ear trumpet as used by his father in his later years. Disgusting he may have regarded it, but far more palatable to auctioneers and dealers are the prices of such objects that collectors are prepared to pay.

Fonsie Mealy Auctioneers are selling hundreds of items from Fort William, a quirky Tudor Revival-style mansion in Lismore, Co Waterford, Ireland.

IN a world where instant electronic communication and exchange of information is available to all, two lengths of original Morse code ticker-tape seem akin to tele-antiquities.

THE highlight of a Gerald and Sheila Goldberg collection of predominately Irish decorative arts sold by Mealy’s in Douglas, Cork earlier this month was this finely-preserved Aubusson tapestry, right, designed by Louis le Brocquy (b.1916).

A POSTCARD sent by Joyce to the publisher Elkin Mathews sold for €12,000 (£8170) in a May 18 sale held by Mealy’s in Dublin.