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Lot Essay
This grand armorial serving-table with the arms of the Creagh family belongs to a group of large serving-tables, all in the same slightly naive style, which are likely to have been made in Limerick or Cork, rather than in the capital, Dublin. Like the FitzMaurice table, still in the hall at Glin Castle (Irish Furniture, fig. 148), it has a shelf towards the back for the display of silver plate; however, whilst that on the FitzMaurice table is sloping, the shelf on the Creagh table is of pierced fretwork, a characteristic Irish motif. This has subsequently been rotated and moved backwards, presumably around 1820-40, when the rather more florid carving to the side rails was also added; presumably originally the sides would have been plain, as are the sides of the writing-cabinet made for George St. George (d.1762) of Woodsgift, Kilkenny. The acanthus leaf carving on the legs, the rope and the dotted trellis ground are typical of mid-18th Century Irish tables as is the carved apron with its profusion of flowers and foliage symbolizing abundance. However, it departs from the norm with its human masks bearded with acanthus. This is a feature of the group: the FitzMaurice table has lion masks; the Ballynagarde table has mythical Green Men and the Lincoln table has male masks (Irish Furniture, figs. 148-151, cat. no. 121). All are likely to have been executed by the same cabinet-maker, possibly in Limerick.
The Creaghs, whose coat-of-arms appears on this table, were a well-known landed gentry family with substantial land holdings in Counties Cork and Clare.
The Creaghs, whose coat-of-arms appears on this table, were a well-known landed gentry family with substantial land holdings in Counties Cork and Clare.