AN IRISH GEORGE II MAHOGANY SIDE TABLE

MID-18TH CENTURY

Details

The moulded portor marble top above a double cornice, the frieze carved with vitruvian scroll flanked by scallop shells, the angles carved with flower heads above an apron centred by a lion mask flanked by scrolling acanthus leaves on four cabriole legs headed by shells terminating in paw feet
32 in. (81.5 cm.) high; 47 in. (119.5 cm.) wide; 25 in. (63.5 cm.) deep
Provenance

Anonymous sale; Sotheby's London, 8th July 1994, lot 70.
Lot Essay

The bold and rich carving, ornamental vocabulary and original portor marble top of this console table indicate that it was a commission of some prestige and likely adorned one of the great houses of Ireland.
Such tables have long been sought after by elite-collectors of Irish furniture. A closely related side table with a similar combination of a Vitruvian scroll frieze and cetnral lion mask was formerly in the Percival Griffiths collection, illustrated in R.W. Symonds, English Furniture from Charles II to George II. An Irish mahogany side table with a lion's mask in the apron and birds perched on foliage swags, was sold anonymously, Christie's, London, 5 June 2008, lot 115 (£87,650), another was sold from Glin Castle, Co. Limerick, 7 May 2009, lot 96 (£73,250 including premium). Portoro marble was mined in Italy principally from the late 17th century and was particularly valued for its striking combination of black and gold. Its rarity and expense meant that its use in the British Isles was reserved for the grandest commissions, as indicated by the present lot as well as chimneypieces at Houghton Hall and Clandon Park.