Bonhams

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In my last blog post about a picture that was Not Oscar, I related the story of how an image purporting to show a young Wilde in an assembly of pupils at Portora Royal School, had to be withdrawn from an auction at Bonhams in 1998.

Merlin Holland explained the reasons for the removal in his recent book After Oscar (pp. 576-578), also confirming that the withdrawal was made immediately prior to the sale.

On account of this last fact, I was asked whether the late decision had left Bonhams time to amend the offering of the withdrawn items, or had the catalogue already been printed?

As you can see from the picture below, it was too late. The spurious items did indeed appear in the printed auction catalogue: they are listed as Lots 357 and 358.

Bonhams had thought enough about their provenance to print the image prominently beside the listing—which is notable in a catalogue where only select lots warrant accompanying illustrations.

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Withdrawing Lots

At the auction the two items were duly passed over. Accordingly, as you can see below in Bonhams’ sequential record of prices realized, lots 357 and 358 do not appear.

Next, Lot 359

Some better news came for Bonhams with the very next lot No. 359—which also had a Wilde association.

The lot was a bronze by the Wilde protégé John Donoghue variously titled ‘Young Sophocles Leading the Chorus of Victory after the Battle of Salamis’—which sold at the auction for $15,500 (c. $32,000 today).

In the description of the Donoghue piece (above), Bonhams promoted the Wilde tie-in by noting that a bas-relief by the same artist was owned by Wilde and installed in a custom mantelpiece at his home in Tite Street.

This should come as no surprise to readers of the Oscar Wilde Society journal who may recall a study made by Rob Marland of this bronze plaque, its decorative installation, its subsequent disappearance, and latterly its fortunate rediscovery. (The Wildean No. 64 January 2024).

Rob’s article on the bas-relief neatly completes the circle because it chronicles that Wilde was present at Donoghue’s studio in 1882 where he witnessed the original clay maquettes of the Sophocles statuette.

Later, in 1885, Donoghue’s modeled the sculpture at monument scale in plaster for future casting. It was one of these castings that appeared in the Bonhams’ sale, and several others have appeared at auction over the intervening years.

© John Cooper. 2026

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