Furniture with Irish provenance comes up for sale at Christie's in London next week, and while many of the lots were made in this country, the two finest pieces originally came from England. These are a pair of mid-18th-century chairs in the manner of Thomas Chippendale and a George III mahogany library drum table made by the London firm of Gillows.
The latter item, lot 45 in next Thursday's auction, was supplied by Gillows to Luke Dillon, second Lord Clonbrock, to furnish the new library at his ancestral home, Clonbrock, near Ahascragh, Co Galway. The bill for the entire suite of furniture survives, revealing that Lord Clonbrock spent £1,054 on the set, which also included a "large and handsome Mahogany Bookcase with 6 Doors above & 6 Doors below." The table itself cost £13.15.0 and remained in Clonbrock until the contents of that house were sold by Christie's in November 1976. On this occasion, the table is expected to make £25,000-£40,000 sterling.
A pair of George II armchairs, meanwhile, carries a pre-sale estimate of £100,000-£150,000. Described as being "in the manner of Thomas Chippendale," these were probably first supplied to John Bury whose son Charles became Earl of Charleville and built Charleville Castle on the outskirts of Tullamore, Co Offaly.
The gilded chairs, conceived in a "picturesque" manner, have wonderfully florid carving on almost every part of their frames. They remained in Charleville Castle until the 1960s when they were removed to Belvedere, a house that has recently been restored by Westmeath Co Council. However, it is unlikely the local authority could afford to bring the pair back to Ireland.
Among the other lots of furniture in the same auction next Thursday are several believed to have come from the workshops of Michael Butler of Dublin. Butler's was a highly reputable firm in the latter part of the 19th century, specialising in producing reproduction items, usually in the style of 100 years earlier. Lot 31, for example, is a set of eight mahogany dining chairs in George II style. They feature many elements of the earlier period, such as square lion-paw feet and flat-carved apron, and they are expected to make £12,000-£18,000 for the set. The following lot is a pair of mahogany open armchairs, again considered to be by Butler and in George III style (£5,000-£8,000). In design, they are related to a mid-18th-century Irish chair now at Malahide Castle and featured in Gerald Kenyon's book on furniture on that building; this piece provided the pattern for much of Butler's furniture.
Lot 33, for example, is a triple-chairback settee (£3,000-£5,000) very similar to one made by Butler and sold by the Iveaghs in the house-contents auction of Elvedon Hall, Norfolk, in May 1984.
But not all the chairs on offer at Christie's are reproductions, however fine, of earlier designs. Lot 36 is a set of six Irish George III mahogany side chairs featuring relatively rare carving of swagged drapery along the toprail, as well as the more customary shell motif on the legs. At the front, the latter end not in lion's claws but in hoof feet, which again sets these chairs somewhat apart; their estimate is £15,000-£25,000.
An Irish George II mahogany side-table is expected to make £25,000-£40,000. This is a very lovely piece, with a particularly exuberant apron, decorated with foliage, pierced in many places and centred on a mask. The sale takes place on Thursday morning beginning at 10.30 a.m.
