Lot Essay
The black and white photograph on the previous page shows one of the pair of mirrors in the entrance hall at Woodhill, just outside Cork city. This was the seat of the Quaker Penrose family who had important interests in shipping, glass and milling in the 18th and early 19th Century in Waterford and Cork. Now demolished, Woodhill was built between 1790 and 1800 by Cooper Penrose (1736-1816). He formed a notable picture collection there and was a particular patron of the Cork-born artist James Barry R.A.. Penrose was one of the few Irishmen to be painted by Jacques-Louis David and this picture, executed in 1802, is now in the Timkin Art Gallery in San Diego, California.
These mirrors are attributed to John Houghton (fl. 1730-1774) and John Kelly (fl. 1739-1759) who were both stone and wood-carvers. They were frequent collaborators, as in the case of the FitzGerald coat-of-arms in the pediment of Carton, Co. Kildare, which was carved in 1739. Houghton executed the oak trophy-decorated frame for Francis Bindon's full length portrait of Dean Swift in St. Patrick's Deanery (see: D. Guinness, Georgian Dublin, London, 1979, pls. 181-182). That frame is documented and from it it is possible to attribute another mahogany frame, again with elaborate trophies, for Bindon's portrait of Archbishop Boulter in the Provost's House of Trinity College, Dublin (ibid., pl. 219). From these it seems clear that the parcel-gilt frame for John van Beaver's portrait of George II that is now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art is from the same makers (see: D. FitzGerald, Irish Furniture, Dublin, 1980, p. 9, fig. 9). The foliate cresting and trellis decoration in this lot relate closely to a carved mahogany mirror with eagles, military and musical trophies and pierced acanthus work that is in a private collection and is illustrated in G. Wills, English Looking-Glasses, London, 1965, p. 119, fig. 139
These mirrors are attributed to John Houghton (fl. 1730-1774) and John Kelly (fl. 1739-1759) who were both stone and wood-carvers. They were frequent collaborators, as in the case of the FitzGerald coat-of-arms in the pediment of Carton, Co. Kildare, which was carved in 1739. Houghton executed the oak trophy-decorated frame for Francis Bindon's full length portrait of Dean Swift in St. Patrick's Deanery (see: D. Guinness, Georgian Dublin, London, 1979, pls. 181-182). That frame is documented and from it it is possible to attribute another mahogany frame, again with elaborate trophies, for Bindon's portrait of Archbishop Boulter in the Provost's House of Trinity College, Dublin (ibid., pl. 219). From these it seems clear that the parcel-gilt frame for John van Beaver's portrait of George II that is now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art is from the same makers (see: D. FitzGerald, Irish Furniture, Dublin, 1980, p. 9, fig. 9). The foliate cresting and trellis decoration in this lot relate closely to a carved mahogany mirror with eagles, military and musical trophies and pierced acanthus work that is in a private collection and is illustrated in G. Wills, English Looking-Glasses, London, 1965, p. 119, fig. 139