[Inisfada / Genevieve Garvan Brady / William J. Babington Macaulay] American Art Association.

Antique Furniture, Tapestries, Rugs, Other Art Property – Including four famous Gothic Tapestries and a Superb Sixteenth Century Ispahan Carpet – Collection of Genevieve Garvan Brady [Mrs. William J. Babington Macaulay]. [With a large amount of ephemera, newspaper-clippings with reports on the auction, admission-tickets etc.]. With chapters on Linen and Lace / Porcelain / Japanese Carved Ivories / Tsuba and Lacquer Boxes / French, Spanish and Italian Renaissance Furniture and Decorations / Garden Furniture / Lists also famous artwork like James Abbott McNeill Whistler’s “Lady Archibald Campbell, as Orlando” / etc. etc. Public Sale on the Premises INISFADA – Manhasset – Long Island.

Manhasset, American Art Association, 1937. 20,5 x 29 cm. 555 pages – Illustrated throughout. Original Hardcover. Excellent, firm condition with minor signs of external wear. The full auction catalogue from this May 1937 sale of 2115 lots from the estate of Genevieve Garvan Brady (1879-1938), at one time married to Nicholas Frederic Brady (1878-1930) and then to Irish Diplomat William J. Babington Macaulay.

This fascinationg auction catalogue is a plethora of images and historical record for the estate sale of one of the most magnificent catholic residences in 20th century America. The estate sale records not only the interior of the house and its Art, Furniture and Tapestry but is also an important photographical and descriptive record of several of the rooms and furnishings in “Inisfada”, which are now all lost due to the demolishing of the House in 2013.

The collection, which “Inisfada” housed, is legendary and included among the items for sale also a famous painting by Frederic Remington (″Indian Warfare” also known as “Custer’s Last Stand”), Antique Furniture, Tapestries, Rugs, including four famous gothic tapestries and a superb sixteenth century Ispahan carpet.

Genevieve Garvan Brady and William J. Babington Macaulay:

Noteable regarding the “Inisfada” – Sale, is also the irish connection due to the marriage of Genevieve Garvan Brady to Irish Ambassador William J. Babington Macaulay. Macaulay’s obituary, published in the New York Times on January 10th, 1964, reads: “William J. Babington Macaulay, a retired Irish diplomat who became a United States citizen in 1944, died Tuesday in Florence, Italy. He was 71 years old.

Mr. Macaulay had been Irish Free State Minister to the Holy See. He had been abroad since last winter and was living in Florence. His last address in this country, where he had his legal home, was the New Weston Hotel here.
Mr. Macaulay was born in County Limerick, Ireland, attended the Sorbonne in Paris and served in the British Royal Naval Reserve in World War I. He was in the British civil service before the Irish Free State was founded in 1922 — it has been a republic since 1949. Mr. Macaulay entered the new nation’s service shortly thereafter.
He was First Secretary of the Irish Legation in Washington from 1925 to 1929. From 1929 to 1930, he was legation counselor. At times he was chargé d‘affaires during his counselorship.
In 1930, Mr. Macaulay became Irish Consul General here, his country’s first such post in this country. He was instrumental, early in his consulate, in having non-Irish goods that were advertised here as Irish-made properly labeled. He left the post in 1934.
From 1934 to 1941, when he retired, Mr. Macaulay was minister to the Holy See. In 1937, he married Mrs. Genevieve Garvan Brady in the Roman Catholic Church of St. Ignatius Loyola here. She was a Papal Duchess and the widow of Nicholas F. Brady, who had been board chairman of the New York Edison Company, a predecessor of the Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Inc. Mr. Brady had also been a director of about 50 other corporations and a leading Catholic layman. Mrs. Macaulay was internationally known for her philanthropies and welfare activities. She died in 1938 in Rome. She left to her husband $1,000,000 outright and the fur- nishings of their Roman villa. In 1941, it was disclosed in the estate tax appraisal filed here that the net value of her estate was $6,299,000.
Mr. Macaulay formerly lived in Essex, Conn. He traveled widely and had been an active yachtsman and member of the New York Yacht Club. In 1944, he presented a paschal candlestick and matching sanctuary lamps to Fordham University in memory of his wife. In 1958, Mr. Macaulay sent a check for $60,000 to President Eamon de Valera of Ireland to establish a foundation to assist young Irish painters, writers, sculptors, dramatists and musicians to study and create. (NYT – Obituary)

• Keywords: American Architecture · American Art · Art · Catalogue Four – International Art · Catholic Devotionalism in Interior Design · Catholicism · Furniture · Furniture – Rare · Furniture Design · Furniture Design – Rare · Historical Auction Record · Inisfada “Long Island” – Estate Sale · Interior decoration · Interior Design · Interior Design – Rare · Interior Design Rare · Interior Style · Manhasset (Nassau County) · Manhasset House · Remington, Frederic
• Language: English
• Inventory Number: 31031AB

EUR 375,-- 

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