O’REILLYS Fine Jewellery, Watches & Silver Auction Starting 22nd February 2023 at 12pm

11 Lot 545 is an oil on canvas work by John Schwatschke entitled Testing Only. The painting in its simplest terms shows a luas dividing a busy crowd in Dublin city.When looking closer at the details of the painting, we see behaviours familiar to us in everyday Irish life. One woman walks right across the tramlines without any regard for the oncoming train, a large group seem to be attempting entry to the luas that clearly states ‘testing only’, and an onlooker carries a tray of two pints of Guinness; albeit stopped by a conductor before walking across the tracks and losing both her life and the pints. Lot 546 is another oil on canvas, this time entitled Ballroom of Romance. This painting is a satirical work of the contrasting side of Ireland to the first work; a comment on rural life and a comedic take on the community in the countryside. The painting shows ‘The Rainbow Ballroom, Glenfarne:The Ballroom of Romance’, a country dance hall with a swarm outside of men in paddycaps and women in their ‘good dresses’.The Rainbow ballroom is a real dance hall in Leitrim and many happy marriages are attributed to ‘the romantic interlude’ that took place for twenty minutes each dance.The group outside the hall in this painting is representative of these happy couples. Schwatschke has painted heads of State, Church, and notable celebrities, including Ingrid Berman and Cyril Cusack. He has painted the por trait of HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Lot 546 Isobel Morgan LIVE AUCTION OF FINE JEWELLERY, WATCHES, SILVER & COINS • WEDNESDAY, 22nd FEB 2023 AT 12PM