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Lot Essay
This table is conceived in the George IV French/antique manner popularised by George Smith's Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer's Guide, 1826. Its plinth is carved with Grecian ribbon-frets. A related centre table from Ballynegall, Co. Westmeath and attributed to Mack, Williams and Gibton, was sold anonymously, Christie's, London, 23 April 1998, lot 119.
The partnership of John Mack, Zachariah Williams and William Gibton traded together from 1810 in Stafford Street, Dublin until John Mack's death in 1829, when Williams and Gibton continued to work together until the death of Gibton in 1842. This table dates from between 1810 and 1816, the year when the Royal arms changed: the escutcheon was ensigned with a royal crown, rather than an electoral bonnet as shown on Mack, Williams and Gibton's label on the bookcase. A four-figure numbering system, as seen on this table, was used by the firm.
The Board of Works was a government board with an appointed architect who was in charge of official architecture. Mack, Williams and Gibton were the principal furniture suppliers to the Board, furnishing the State Apartments and other rooms at Dublin Castle, the Four Courts, the War Office, the Barracks Office, the Treasury and the Viceregal Lodge (now Aras an Uachtarain). A large hall table and a serving-table by Mack, Williams and Gibton and in Dublin Castle are illustrated in A. Alexander, 'A Firm of Dublin Cabinet-Makers, Mack, Williams & Gibton', Irish Arts Review, 1995, pp. 146-147, figs. 12 and 13.
The partnership of John Mack, Zachariah Williams and William Gibton traded together from 1810 in Stafford Street, Dublin until John Mack's death in 1829, when Williams and Gibton continued to work together until the death of Gibton in 1842. This table dates from between 1810 and 1816, the year when the Royal arms changed: the escutcheon was ensigned with a royal crown, rather than an electoral bonnet as shown on Mack, Williams and Gibton's label on the bookcase. A four-figure numbering system, as seen on this table, was used by the firm.
The Board of Works was a government board with an appointed architect who was in charge of official architecture. Mack, Williams and Gibton were the principal furniture suppliers to the Board, furnishing the State Apartments and other rooms at Dublin Castle, the Four Courts, the War Office, the Barracks Office, the Treasury and the Viceregal Lodge (now Aras an Uachtarain). A large hall table and a serving-table by Mack, Williams and Gibton and in Dublin Castle are illustrated in A. Alexander, 'A Firm of Dublin Cabinet-Makers, Mack, Williams & Gibton', Irish Arts Review, 1995, pp. 146-147, figs. 12 and 13.