Lot Essay
This Roman specimen marble and mosaic marble top is likely to have been brought back from Italy to Florence Court by William Cole, 1st Earl of Enniskillen (d. 1803). The stand would have been made in Ireland, probably for his son, the 2nd Earl, especially to display this superb top, of which there are only a few other examples known. There is a pair of related mosaic and specimen marble tops in the Fourth George Room at Burghley House, Lincolnshire, which were purchased in Italy in the 18th Century (Burghley House, Guidebook, 1996, p. 19). Another related top was sold anonymously, in these Rooms, 14 June 1990, lot 138.
FLORENCE COURT
Florence Court, Co. Fermanagh was built in the mid-18th Century by John Cole, MP, 1st Lord Mountflorence (d. 1767), and named after his mother, Florence Wrey. Inside the house was decorated with superb Rococo plasterwork, and circa 1770 Mountflorence's son, the 1st Earl of Enniskillen, added the arcaded wings. The house was given by the Enniskillen family to the National Trust in 1953 (see M. Bence-Jones, Burke's Guide to Country Houses, Ireland, London, 1978, pp. 125-126). Some of the contents that had remained with the family, were sold by the late Dowager Countess of Enniskillen, Kinloch House, Dunkeld, Perthshire, Christie's South Kensington, 22 September 1999.
FLORENCE COURT
Florence Court, Co. Fermanagh was built in the mid-18th Century by John Cole, MP, 1st Lord Mountflorence (d. 1767), and named after his mother, Florence Wrey. Inside the house was decorated with superb Rococo plasterwork, and circa 1770 Mountflorence's son, the 1st Earl of Enniskillen, added the arcaded wings. The house was given by the Enniskillen family to the National Trust in 1953 (see M. Bence-Jones, Burke's Guide to Country Houses, Ireland, London, 1978, pp. 125-126). Some of the contents that had remained with the family, were sold by the late Dowager Countess of Enniskillen, Kinloch House, Dunkeld, Perthshire, Christie's South Kensington, 22 September 1999.