ADAM'S IMPORTANT IRISH ART 25 MARCH 2026

124 111 JOHN LUKE RUA (1906-1975) Study for the Coat of Arms of Lord Wakehurst at Hillsborough Castle Pencil, 68 x 72.5cm (263 x 281”) Provenance: The Artist’s Estate; Private Collection, Northern Ireland Exhibited: Belfast, ‘John Luke: A Hidden Archive ’, Naughton Gallery, Queen’s University, 2013 Joseph McBrinn writes that ‘In May 1957, [Luke] was commissioned to design and carve the coat of arms’ of Lord Wakehurst, which remains in place at the main entrance to Hills- borough Castle. ‘Luke went to a local stonemasons yard…and reacquainted himself with the with the tools and skills of direct carving and letter-cutting.’ ‘He worked in Ancaster stone…a stone used by contemporary artists he admired such as Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth’. (Joseph McBrinn, Northern Rhythm: The Art of John Luke , NMNI, 2010, p.75) The detail and highly resolved nature of this drawing suggests that it was a final study for the carving, at close to scale. € 1,000 - 1,500