Fonsie Mealy Auctioneers CHATSWORTH AUTUMN FINE ART SALE 28,29,30 SEPTEMBER 2020

5 • The Garech de Brún Collection, Luggala including the Wine Cellar • The Murnaghan Collection, Fitzwilliam Street, Dublin. Several items of valuable furniture and paintings which were purchased at that sale are also included. • Paintings and furniture etc. from the late Dr. John P. Gilmartin, well-known Collector, Art Historian, and Curator, benefactor to various Institutions. • The contents from Ardmanagh House, Glenbrook, Co. Cork on behalf of the Coomber Family. • An interesting collection of antiques, paintings, etc. from Lisnabin, Co. Westmeath on behalf of the Purdon Family. & from many titled, private, and executor estates I n Father Brown’s Dublin (1980) Marie Jones is photographed as a Feis Ceoil prize-winner, seated at her piano in the section on Dublin in the 1930s. The great photographer was a family friend, “a wonderful man”, as Marie described him. As for the lady herself, dying quietly in her sleep in her own bed in her 93rd year, she represented not just a bygone age but the personification of vast cultural interests that centred on music but embraced art, architecture, literature and even politics. She had an extraordinary education. Graduating from the Royal College of Music in London, she was accepted into the class of Czesław Marek (1891-1985) in Zurich and studied with him for four years, graduating with first-class honours from the Swiss conservatoire. Marek was a pupil of Theodor Leschetizky (1830- 1915), himself a pupil of Liszt, who had studied with Czerny, who in turn was Beethoven’s pupil and assistant. Many pianists nowadays falsely boast of a lineage of teachers but that may involve a masterclass or a week’s study. Marie had real expertise and real music. She played many concerts in Europe, and with the RTÉ Symphony and other orchestras and made a Wigmore Hall debut, but her career as a concert pianist morphed into teaching. For those of us who were her pupils, many were lucky enough to become her friends. What a thrill when she sat at one of her two Steinway grand pianos and modestly said “I’ve been working on” some piece and then played it all from memory. These concerts often lasted an hour or more. Offering to turn the pages, she’d say “I don’t need the music.” Like so much, it was all in her heart. From a family involved in theatre and architecture, Marie inherited pieces from them but also collected what was beautiful, all that had structure and poise. Her home was a wonder of taste and a cave of treasures, every piece fascinating. She cared as much for people and followed her friends’ careers with pride. Her modest suburban house was a treasure trove; but that was not surprising as the woman herself was a hidden wonder, a person whom it was a privilege to know. Peter Charleton Further Collections in this sale include: Marie Jones (1928-2020)