Lovers of antiques, fine furniture and interesting house contents should be making their way to Co Westmeath in the coming days.

Matthews of Kells will hold a three-day house contents auction in Castlepollard on Saturday 15, Sunday 16 and Monday 17 August.

The house is that of the late Dr Donal Slattery, who also ran a farm outside the town. According to auctioneer Damien Mathews, the doctor’s grandparents began collecting furniture and other items around 1916 and the collection was added to over the following 100 years by the family.

Now the 1,900 or so lots are going under the hammer on the premises, with the action starting at 1pm each day.

The illustrated catalogue and other auction details can be viewed online on the auctioneer's website, www.matthewsauctionrooms.com, while the house itself will be open for public viewing from 11am to 5pm on Thursday 13 and Friday 14 August.

A marquee has been erected to the rear of the property to allow for COVID-19 restrictions on the auction viewing days.

Damien Mathews said the collection is eclectic, like a forgotten time capsule. “There’s good Irish silver in the house.”

For the poughman - a Victorian model of a steam engine, made to scale. It's in working condition, say the auctioneers. It was made in the 1800s. Guide price €60 to €90.

A finely detailed urn.

An old petrol or diesel container.

This seascape - of ships in a storm at sea - is by Thomas Bush Hardy. He was born in Yorkshire in England and died in 1897. He was well known as a painter of seascapes. Guiding at €600 to €900.

This butcher's bicycle is in working condition.

A fine regency office chair, in working condition. Guide price is €100 to €150. This was made in the 1800s and has horse hair under the leather, all on a mahogany frame.

This painting of three horses is by Arthur Dodd, from England. He was well known for featuring hunting and similar scenes and rustic landscapes. This is a big painting, 20in high and 3ft wide. The guide price is €500 to €800. His paintings have sold for up to €6,000.

This is one of many attractive vases on to be viewed.

This painting of cattle resting and chewing the cud is by Irish painter Charles McAauley. The guide price is €400 to €700. McAauley was was from Glenaan, in Co Antrim. He was born in 1910 and died in 1999. Many of his paintings are of rural and farming scenes.

If you're unhappy that your local pub is not reopening, perhaps this might help. It's a novelty decanter, with glass inside a silver cage complete with parrot. The guide price is €250 to €350.

The guide price for this display cabinet is €300 to €500. It's Victorian and has inlaid mahogony.

This is one for the historians: a signed letter from the Duke of Wellington, who married a local girl, Catherine Sarah Pakenham of Tullynally Castle, Castlepollard.

The auction includes the entire interior of a Victorian pharmacy. This has already attracted interest from international designers who supply interiors to pubs.

This is an unsigned French impressionist painting, a harbour scene. The guide price is €400 to €700.