State acquires parts of Yeats family collection

Following the conclusion of the auction by Sotheby’s in London of material from the Yeats family collection, the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Heather Humphreys, has  announced that the State, through the National Library of Ireland and the National Museum of Ireland, has acquired significant elements of the collection with financial support from the Minister.
“Over the past nine months, I have been working with the National Library and the National Museum to ensure the purchase for the State of significant items, as identified by both institutions, which were due to be auctioned in London today. These items will now form part of the national collections of our cultural institutions. In particular, the correspondence acquired by the National Library will significantly enhance what is already the largest collection of Yeats material in the world - a collection which began, as far back as 1936,” stated Minister Humphreys.
“In total, over the past two years the State has acquired material from the Yeats family collection amounting to a value of over €4m through direct purchase and donation using the tax relief system provided for under Section 1003 of the Taxes Consolidation Act.”
In July this year the Minister provided €650,000 to the National Library and National Museum as follows:
•    €500,000 was provided to the National Library for the purchase of a collection of letters between WB Yeats and his wife George (purchase price of €725,000);

•    €150,000 was provided to the National Museum for the purchase of furniture and other artefacts (purchase price of €170,800).

Towards the end of 2016, the Minister provided the National Library with two tranches of funding for elements of the collection as follows:

•    €118,000 towards the purchase of 10 letters between James Joyce and Yeats and the Yeats Dream diary (purchase price €293,256);

•    €400,000 to enable the Library to purchase the Yeats Family library – which will complement Yeats’s own library, which is already in the possession of the National Library (purchase price €436,349).

In addition to these purchases, the donation by the family of Yeats’s Nobel medal and certificate in 2016, and a further donation of material which is currently being finalised under Section 1003 this year, will have a total value of almost €2.5m.

The acquisition of additional sets of letters and items of furniture adds substantially to the State’s archive of Yeats material.  The co-operative approach in managing the acquisition between the Museum and Library will also allow for major exhibitions to be held using the collections of both institutions. 
The Minister also noted that the National Library had also purchased a number of additional artefacts at today’s auction to the value of over €72,000.

The National Museum stated: "We are grateful to the Yeats family for affording the NMI the opportunity to view the collection and to select a number of objects for acquisition in advance of the sale in London on 27th September. The NMI worked closely with colleagues in the National Library of Ireland (NLI) to ensure that our purchases complemented one another and could be shared for future exhibition and research. 
The artefacts selected were withdrawn from sale and were purchased by the NMI for the sum of €170,000. This was made possible by a generous grant of €150,000 for the purpose provided by the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. 
The objects that have been added to the National Collection include:
•    A walnut writing table that fitted over the side of WB Yeats’ bed, which he used while convalescing towards the end of his life
•    A Burmese giltwood coffer used to store manuscripts
•    A chest of drawers decorated on the inside with paintings by his brother, Jack
•    A collection of ‘occult’ artefacts which show the influence of occultism and spiritualism on his work
•    A series of Japanese masks; Yeats incorporated elements of Noh Theatre into his own playwriting
•    Yeats’ set of the first issue of the Irish Free State coinage, presented to him by the Minister for Finance in 1928. Yeats was the chairman of the advisory committee that selected the winning design. Seven artist’s entries were considered, the winner being the English sculptor and designer Percy Metcalfe
Catherine Heaney, chair of the NMI’s Board said: “On the 140th anniversary of the founding of our two institutions, the National Museum of Ireland is delighted to work in partnership with the National Library of Ireland to secure this material reflecting WB Yeats’ role in the design of the first Free State coinage as well as his interests in Japanese theatre and the occult.  We are grateful to Minister Heather Humphreys for the provision of additional funding towards this important purchase.”
Raghnall Ó Floinn, Director of the NMI, added: “This is a highly significant acquisition as the first collection of Yeats material to be added to the National Museum of Ireland.”