AN IRISH MAHOGANY GEORGE II SIDE TABLE, C. 1750, the apron carved with a central lion mask on diaper ground and raised on leaf carved cabriole legs and hairy paw feet (with later top). 130cm wide, 64cm deep x 85cm high The conceit of a lion mash centred frieze overlaying a scallop shell (indicating the priority of Mars over Venus, perhaps) became a favoured motif of the Dublin cabinet makers. Earlier the mask tended to be superseded below, or pierced through the line of the apron. As in this lot, it is incorporated into the design of the frieze. See Knight of Glin & James Peill, Irish Furniture (Yale), 2007 for comparable examples (p. 226/7).