A George III satinwood, gonçalo alves mahogany and marquetry bureau-bookcase Probably by William Moore of Dublin, circa 1780

in neo-classical style, with a pierced swan-neck pediment above an inlaid frieze and a pair of glazed doors enclosing adjustable shelves, the flap inlaid with an urn flanked by paterae and garlands of husks enclosing a fitted interior of nine drawers, two secret drawers and pigeonholes, above four graduated drawers inlaid with flowers and fruiting vines, on ogee bracket feet

Generally this piece is in good condition. The cresting is slightly warped consistent with age. There are some replaced panes. The flap has age cracks throughout and is slightly warped. The interior is rather ink stained and marked. All escutcheons have been replaced and there are marks on the flap and drawers where the originals were sited and also where the covers have marked the adjoining surfaces. There are two keys.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

The unusual and slightly eccentric use of marquetry on this bureau-bookcase suggests an attribution to the London-trained Irish cabinet-maker William Moore of Dublin. Possibly the son of William Moore, a cabinet maker recorded at Inns Quay and Charles Street, who died in 1759, he appears to have attended the School of Landscape and Ornament Drawing at the Dublin Society of Drawing Schools in 1768, after which he was employed in the workshop of John Mayhew and William Ince, before returning to Ireland at some time before December 1777. The firm of Mayhew and Ince is recorded in London between 1758 and 1804 and, although their actual work is not well documented, they were 'the most significant......of the major London cabinet makers of the 18th century' (Beard & Gilbert, The Dictionary of English Furniture Makers 1660-1840, 1986, pp. 589-597) . In 1782 Moore placed an advertisement in Faulkener's, Dublin Journal, addressed 'To the Nobility and Gentry' informing 'those that may want inlaid work'....that....'he has brought the manufacture of such perfection to be able to sell for almost one half its original prices; as the greatest demand is for pier Tables, he has just finished in the newest taste a great variety of patterns, sizes and prices......card tables of new construction...also small pier tables with every article in the inlaid way'. In a very similar advertisement in the Dublin Evening Post he also mentions 'his long experience at Messrs. Mayhew and Ince'.

The design of the marquetry on the current bureau-cabinet is closely related to the design of the frieze found on a commode, one of the few documented piece by Moore which he supplied to the William Cavendish Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland in 1782 and which is illustrated  by W. A. Thorpe, 'William Moore, Inlayer', Country Life, 3 May 1946, p.806, fig.1 and also in The Knight of Glin and James Peill, Irish Furniture, Yale University Press, 2007, p. 163, fig.220. The design of the bellflower garlands supported between neo-classical urns and anthemia is also apparent on a similar commode attributed to William Moore in the Victoria and Albert Museum, a pair of commodes sold at Christie's in 1929 by Lady Binning and noted as having formerly been in the possession of the Duke of Devonshire at Lismore Castle and a pair of pier tables in the collection of the Cooper-Hewitt Museum, New York, see The Knight of Glin and James Peill, op. cit., p.164, figs. 221-223.

Further support of an attribution to Moore may be made in the comparison of the manner of the floral tendril and vine marquetry of the drawer fronts of this piece and which is similarly apparent on the aforementioned commodes and tables and which also features on a pier table of circa 1785, likewise attributed to Moore, currently in a private collection and illustrated in The Knight of Glin and James Peill, ibid, p. 165, fig. 224. The use of the vine motif is also a particularly Irish motif and is found both in carved detail and inlay from the 1740s onwards. This is most apparent on a suite of furniture, including twenty-four dining chairs and four library armchairs supplied to Thomas and Lady Louisa Conolly for Castletown, Co. Kildare and currently in a private collection (see The Knight of Glin and James Peill, ibid. p.122-3, figs, 166-7). The motif is also found on a chair formerly with Norman Adams Ltd. and illustrated in the Norman Adams Catalogue, Q, 2002, pl.9.