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Lot Essay
The table displays a range of carved motifs that are characteristic of Irish tables of the mid 18th century and set them apart from English counterparts. The frieze which is serpentine to its lower edge is superbly carved with scrolled acanthus leaves, centred by a large scallop shell, and features distinctive rosettes to each end, the legs have further acanthus running down their angles and again, springing from the ankle, while the paw foot is typically squared. It corresponds closely to a table probably supplied to Dr. Richard Marlay, Bishop of Waterford, Celbridge, Co. Kildare, and thence by descent until sold Christie's, London 1 July 2004, lot 74 (£65,725 including premium), and another in the collection of the Knight of Glin, Glin Castle, Co. Limerick, sold Christie's, London, 7 May 2009, lot 116 (£73,250 including premium) (see The Knight of Glin and J. Peill, Irish Furniture, New Haven and London, 2007, p. 228, fig. 92 and p. 229, fig. 96).
Bloomfield house was built circa 1769 by Thomas Ruttledge around an earlier house on land in County Mayo inherited from his father Peter (d.1766), with further alterations in both the late 18th century and early 19th century. By the time of Thomas’s death in 1805 the Ruttledge estate amounted to some 30,000 acres. The estate was subsequently divided within the family with Thomas’s son Robert inheriting Bloomfield which remained in the family until sold in 1924, and the house was later demolished (Mark Bence-Jones, Burke’s Guide to Country Houses Volume 1. Ireland, London, 1980, pp. 44 and 45).
Bloomfield house was built circa 1769 by Thomas Ruttledge around an earlier house on land in County Mayo inherited from his father Peter (d.1766), with further alterations in both the late 18th century and early 19th century. By the time of Thomas’s death in 1805 the Ruttledge estate amounted to some 30,000 acres. The estate was subsequently divided within the family with Thomas’s son Robert inheriting Bloomfield which remained in the family until sold in 1924, and the house was later demolished (Mark Bence-Jones, Burke’s Guide to Country Houses Volume 1. Ireland, London, 1980, pp. 44 and 45).