The embarkation of King George IV at Kingstown by artist William Sadler II on September 3rd 1821 is one lot offered at Whyte's forthcoming Irish Art Sale at the RDS on March 9th.
The work shows what some describe as an exaggerated attendance to mark the departure shows the town's East Pier in all its glory. As regular Afloat readers will know, it's a quay that 200 years later was almost washed away due to lack of maintenance during 2018's Storm Emma. Happily though, two years later, vital repair works to maintain the pier for the next two hundred years are well underway.
With a guide estimate of €12,000 - €18,000, the oil on canvas depicts the first visit of an English monarch to Ireland since William III had landed, in very different circumstances, at Carrickfergus a hundred and thirty years earlier.
Of course, back in 1821, Dun Laoghaire was renamed Kingstown to commemorate the King's departure from the port.
