Stunning and Rare Vintage Kilkenny Design Workshops Eider Duck Hand-Painted Ceramic Model by Oisin Kelly RHA (1915-1981), Excellent Condition

I am continuing my effort to downsize as unfortunately we will have to move all our belongings into temporary storage due to builders carrying out major remediation works to our brand new home.
I’m trying to minimize the pain by reducing the amount of packing required to be done!

I’ve quite a few eclectic items of décor which I am currently displaying, and using and they bring me joy, but as everything has to go back into storage again, some things needs to go!!!
Latest on the chopping block are some Irish Pottery items by different makers.

For sale here is a Stunning and Rare Vintage Kilkenny Design Workshops Eider Duck Hand-Painted Ceramic Model by Oisín Kelly RHA (1915-1981), Excellent Condition

This is a fabulous example of the work that Oisín Kelly produced during his part-time residency in the Kilkenny Design Workshops. He produced a number of bird models including Puffins, Grouse, Mallard and Eider Ducks.

This hand-painted ceramic Eider Duck is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks or pattern loss. It is hand-painted in a matte glaze which results in a very realistic model. Underneath, there is an incised backstamp with the Kilkenny Design Workshops logo and Eidir Duck, Stoneware, Republic of Ireland.

These bird models do not come up that often, especially on Adverts.ie, and mostly if available for sale, they are through Irish Art Auctions, such as Whytes, Sheppards and Morgan O’Driscolls. See this Auction Report from the Irish Independent, 13th September 2025:

Sheppard’s Important Irish Art Sale
Best known as a sculptor of works in bronze, Oisín Kelly worked several days a week at the Kilkenny Design Workshops until his death in 1981.
His ceramic birds are iconic of that place and time. They’re increasing hard to come by, but there are two in Sheppard’s Important Irish Art Sale on September 16 at 6pm.
One is the Snowy Owl (Lot 34: estimate €500 to €800) with a simplified form and textured detailing
The other is the Eider Duck (Lot 62: estimate €400 to €600), hand painted in shades of black, brown and cream. Both are stamped “The Kilkenny Design Workshops” on the underside.

Buy this here, at a great price and no auction house fees!

A little bit about the Life and Work of Oisín Kelly RHA (Royal Hibernian Academy), 1915-1981:

Oisín Kelly completed a degree at Trinity College in French and Irish. He also studied at the Metropolitan School of Art and during his Trinity years he pursued his interest in art while on an exchange program at the University of Frankfurt.

After college, Kelly followed a career path in both teaching and art with school stints in Monaghan, Galway and Waterford before returning to Dublin where he taught at St Columba's College from 1946 to 1964. During this period, he studied with Henry Moore at the Chelsea Polytechnic for two semesters.
In addition to Moore, Kelly was influenced by Picasso and Brancussi along with archaic Irish art forms which he successfully fused with the modernest tradition. Kelly worked across multiple mediums including, bronze, wood and earthenware.

He is likely best known for his 1964 monumental Children of Lir in the Garden of Remembrance and the 1977 James Larkin on O'Connell Street in Dublin. The latter work base on a 1923 Joseph Cashman photograph which captured the labour leader in full oratorical flow on O'Connell Street.

Kelly had ceased to teach at St Columba’s in favour of becoming a part-time artist-in-residence at the Kilkenny Design Workshops, where he worked for two days a week, commuting to and from Dublin by train. In this capacity, he designed a variety of objects, ranging from silver statuettes, metal candleholders and these ceramic bird models. It was in these workshops that he died suddenly on 12 October 1981