Brilliant bronzes show a feeling for elephants

An 18th-century armillary spherical sundial painted in the O’Brien colours

At Fonsie Mealy’s Chatsworth sale, the O’Brien lots come with indisputable proof of their provenance. The top lot is a superb set of ten 19th-century Irish mahogany hall chairs, the shield-shaped sunburst backs bearing the O’Brien armorial crest. An early photograph shows that the family used them as dining room chairs (€10,000-€15,000).

Portrait of James Butler, Duke ...