AN IMPORTANT IRISH REGENCY ROSEWOOD BANDED MAHOGANY SEVEN PEDESTAL DINING TABLE, CIRCA 1815, ATTRIBUTED TO MACK, WILLIAMS AND GIBTON

Probably commissioned by Augustus FitzGerald, 3rd Duke of Leinster (1791-1874) for the newly built dining room at Carton House in circa 1815;

By descent at Carton until sold at auction Monday, 16^th May 1949, lot 472 (and catalogued with '6 tripod supports') and almost certainly acquired by Ronald Nall-Cain, 2nd Baron Brocket (1904–1967) who also purchased Carton House;

Remaining at Carton until 1977 when purchased by the current owners, again with Carton House, where it remained until 2017.

Inventory of Carton House, Co. Kildare, 1818, p. 56 (verso), probably part of the 'set of mahogany pillar tables (consisting of 8)' listed in the Dining Room;

Desmond Guinness and William Ryan, Irish Houses & Castles, Switzerland, 1971, p. 189;

Jacqueline O'Brien and Desmond Guinness, Great Irish Houses and Castles, Italy, 1992, p. 75.

This magnificent dining table is arguably the most important Irish dining table of the period having been commissioned for the celebrated Regency dining-room created around 1815 by the architect Richard Morrison at Carton House where it has remained until recently. A 'set of mahogany pillar tables (consisting of 8)' is listed in the Dining Room in an 1818 inventory of Carton House and it is likely the present dining table is made up of the remaining seven pedestals. Each leaf is reeded in the round, pointing to the fact the tables were used individually as is implied in the 1818 description.

Carton House

The history of Carton House and its architectural evolution through the centuries can be traced back to its first owner, Sir William Talbot. M.P. for County Kildare who obtained the lease in 1603. In its early years, Carton House, with its Dutch-Palladian façade, was more practical than magnificent and it received little care or restoration until the lease was handed to the 19^th Earl of Kildare, Robert Fitzgerald in 1739. Lord Kildare bought Carton House for £8,000 and immediately hired the highly-regarded German architect Richard Castle to upgrade the building who extended the house by two bays, connecting them with curved colonnades and added an extra storey.

The next major phase of Carton House’s remodelling came at the turn of the century when, in 1815, the 3rd Duke of Leinster decided to sell the townhouse in Dublin to the Royal Dublin Society and invest in further alterations and developments of Carton, his principal country seat. He instructed the neoclassical architect Richard Morrison to restructure much of the interior space. Morrison had more freedom with the house’s redesign than his predecessor Castle, and he made notable changes that reconciled the different architectural styles added to the house over the past century. The curved colonnade was removed, and a Doric porch was added to the new garden front. Morrison bought the windows down to the ground and harmonised the Doric columns with rope pattern motifs on the shutters. The most impressive feature of Morisson’s redesign is the large dining room situated behind the columns on the right of the garden front. The room, rectangular in shape and spectacular in size runs parallel to the front lawn and is flanked by two robust columns at either ends, drawing the eye up to the vaulted sculptural ceiling above. It is highly likely the present dining table – originally of eight pedestals - was commissioned for this magnificent new room.

Attribution to Mack, Williams and Gibton

The present table relates closely to recorded dining tables by the leading Irish cabinet-making partnership of Mack, Williams and Gibton, including a three-pillar dining table, with almost identical faceted stems and reeded outswept legs, sold Christie’s New York, 21 January 1999, 319 ($101,500 with premium). Although the present example is not stamped, the table displays the finest quality mahogany, exotic cross-banding and peerless craftmanship, all hallmarks of the pre-eminent Irish Regency cabinet-makers.

The firm was formed around 1812, but its history can be traced to the latter part of the 18th century, when John Mack established a cabinet-making business in Abbey Street, Dublin. First recorded in 1784, Mack continued to trade alone from Abbey Street until 1800. It was about this time that he was joined by another cabinet-maker Robert Gibton. The business thrived and by 1803 it had moved to larger premises in Stafford Street. Their furniture appears to have been inspired by Thomas Hope and George Smith and they are celebrated for their use of fine quality timber, with rich figure and their quality of their carving. The firm received the appointment 'Upholsterers & Cabinet-Makers to his Majesty, His Excellency the Lord Lieutenant and His Majesty's Board of Works' in 1806. This lead them supplying many of the more important public buildings with furniture including the Four Courts, the War Office, the Barracks Office, Dublin Castle, The Chapel Royal and The Treasury Viceregal Lodge. In addition to this their commissions include Ballynegall, Co. Westmeath, Oakley Park, Co. Meath and Strokestown Co. Roscommon.

A related four pillar dining table, also attributed to Mack, Williams and Gibton, sold Sotheby’s London, 24 November 2004, lot 68 (£108,640 with premium). More recently, a stamped four pedestal example sold Christie’s New York, Little Cassiobury: The Collection of Susan Lyall, 16 January 2019, lot 128 ($156,250 with premium).