A Firm of Dublin Cabinet-Makers Mack, Williams & Gibton

Irish Arts Review

A Firm of Dublin Cabinet-Makers Mack, Williams &GibtonAuthor(s): Angela AlexanderSource: Irish Arts Review Yearbook, Vol. 11 (1995), pp. 142-148Published by: Irish Arts ReviewStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20492825 .

Accessed: 14/06/2014 20:19

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

.

Irish Arts Review is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Irish Arts ReviewYearbook.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 194.29.185.216 on Sat, 14 Jun 2014 20:19:08 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=iar

http://www.jstor.org/stable/20492825?origin=JSTOR-pdf

http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp


A FIRM OF DUBLIN CABINET-MAKERS MACK, WILLIAMS & GIBTON

Angela Alexander has located several items offumiture which were produced by this important firm between the years 1812 and 1829.

1. MACK, WILLIAMS & GIBTON: Mahogany breakfront sel table bearing the trade label of the firm. Made for Lord

Bellew, Jenkinstown, Co Kilkenny, c.1825-29.

T he furniture examined in this article forms an important group produced

by the Dublin cabinet-makers Mack, Williams and Gibton between 1812 and 1829. It gives, however, only a sample of the varied work of this long lived and suc cessful partnership, one of many firms of cabinet-makers who were in business in Dublin in the nineteenth century, as indi cated by trade directories of the period.

The work of Mack, Williams and Gibton is distinctly recognisable, possess ing, as it does, an individual and particular quality in their choice of the finest wood, richly figured, their use of ornament and the quality and individual ism of their carving. A detail of a massive serving table, (Fig. 1) showing a magnifi cent sea creature, one of four imposing creatures which support the table, has carving of the highest quality.' They have lion heads and their bodies are covered

with acanthus scrolls which emerge from scaly twisted fish tails (Fig. 2). The table already bore the trade label of Mack, Williams and Gibton but when it was dismantled, a second label was dis covered with 'Lord Bellew, Kilkenny' written on it. A photograph dating from around 1900, of the dining room at Jenkinstown, Co Kilkenny, a Gothic mansion built in the early nineteenth century to the designs of William Robertson, shows this table in situ.2

The partnership of Mack, Williams and Gibton was established in 1812 after the death of Robert Gibton who had founded the firm with John Mack in 1803. John Mack is first listed in the

Dublin Trade Directories as a cabinet maker at no.188 Abbey Street between 1784 and 1800, during which period he also advertised frequently in the Dublin Evening Post as an 'Upholder and Auctioneer'. In 1801 he supplied beds to Lettyville for the Dillon family of Clonbrock, Co Galway.' A document dated 18 March 1803,4 which shows that

Mack lived and worked at no. 39 Stafford Street, Dublin, registered his purchase of the adjoining premises, no. 40 Stafford Street, an indication that his business was expanding. A charming bill head, from Peter Eggleso to the Provost of Trinity College,5 (Fig. 3) giving an idea of the elegant shop facades of

Georgian Dublin, shows Eggleso's shop-front at no. 41 Stafford Street, next door to Mack's premises..

The earliest surviving accounts of the Board of Works6 indi cate that John Mack supplied them with furniture in 1802. Fumiture was also supplied to the Board by Peter Eggleso and by Hall Kirchoffer, who was in business at no. 62 Henry Street from 1796 until 1812. By 1806, however, it is clear, from these

2. Detail of Fig.1 showing one of the richly carved imposing sea-creatures which support the table.

142 IRISH ARTS REVIEW



A FIRM OF DUBLIN CABINEr1'-MAKERS: MACK, WIHJAMS & GIBTON

'J W

3. Bill-head of Peter Eggleso, no.41 4. Bill-head of George Gillington, Dublin, dated 1837. The Gillingtons were contemporaries of Stafford Street, Dublin. Eggleso's shop -Mack, Williams & Gibton in the Dublin furniture trade. shown on the bill-head - was next door to

John Mack's in 1803.

accounts, that John Mack had become the principal supplier to the Board, superseding the other two cabinet-makers.

The Board of Works was a government board with an appointed architect who was in charge of official architecture.7 It was re-organised in 1802 but its system of patronage did not alter, and the Lord Lieutenant continued to spend freely. By 1811, complaints were made that Francis Johnston, who had been appointed in 1805 as Architect to the Board, had a lax control over estimates and costs were rising. The Board was dis banded in 1831 and reconstituted in 1836 by Act of Parliament. In 1807 John Mack received his official appointment from the

Board and was allowed to place the King's Arms and Royal Tablets over the door of his premises, as seen in the bill-head of Peter Eggleso.8 Furniture supplied to the Board furnished 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. The Board remained remarkably faithful to its suppliers and was a steady source of income to them. In 1802-1803, the account of John

Mack totalled ?265. 9s. lid.; this increased to ?2925. 7s.7d.in the 1803-1804 period, indicating a major refurbishing project. For 1804-1805, John Mack's bill amounted to ?1782. 18s.5d. and in the last year of this surviving abstract account, 1805 1806, his total was ?823. Os. lid. John Mack's position as principal supplier of cabinet and upholstery work continued through the Mack and Gibton partnership and throughout the

Mack, Williams and Gibton alliance between 1812 and 1829. From 1801 to 1806, Mack and Gibton are listed in the

Directories at no. 188 Abbey Street and no. 39 Stafford Street, both the property of John Mack. From 1803, Mack and Gibton also advertised frequently as auctioneers, selling a variety of lands and properties. The partnership may have initially been formed to allow John Mack to expand his business; perhaps

Robert Gibton brought a particular talent and expertise in the areas of design and craftsmanship. At this date John Mack is the

more established of the two and possesses capital. The partner ship appears to have been formalised in 1805 from which date the Board of Works accounts are drawn to Mack and Gibton.9

Robert Gibton is listed in the Directories at no. 21 Aungier Street from 1790 to 1793, and at no. 28 Aungier Street from 1794 to 1796. From 1800 to 1806 he is listed as cabinet-maker, upholder and auctioneer at 10 Stephen Street (sic). Robert Gibton's trade card appears on a deed box in the National Museum.'" He publicises himself as a maker and seller of trunks, portmanteaus, gun cases and musical instrument cases and states that he is a new beginner. Robert Gibton's father,

William, had died young and he had served an apprenticeship with one William Fernsly for a term of seven years."

An apprentice was expected to have a good appearance and a good standard of education. He had to obey his master and com plete an agreed term of years; the master in turn ideally fulfilled the role of a father and passed on his skills'2 in return for a fee

which varied according to the status of the firm or the training offered. It was more expensive to serve a managerial apprentice ship than to obtain a straightforward craft training. Fees were high for upholstery training which was held in high esteem; the working conditions were cleaner than in a cabinet-maker's workshop and, although the work was not artistic in the way that a carver's was, it required specialised training to cut and handle expensive textiles. The job of cutting and nailing was done by men, while women were employed to carry out general sewing, including curtains, cushions and other soft furnishings, and did not serve an apprenticeship.'3

This was a period of relative prosperity for Ireland. After the Union the early years of the nineteenth century were a compara tively peaceful and increasingly prosperous time.'4 Trade improved during the war between Britain and France which had begun on 1

February 1793. It abated briefly when the Peace of Amiens was agreed on 25 March 1802, revived in 1803 and continued until 1815. Between 1792 and 1815 the volume of exports to England




A FIRM OF DUBLIN CABINET-MAKERS: MACK, WILLIAMS & GIBTON

5. Francis JOHNSTON (1760-1829): design for a wine cooler, c.1810 (Private collection, Belfast). The design is based on a

plate from Sheraton's Cabinet Dictionary (1803).

6. A mahogany wine cooler in Aras an Uachtarain by Mack, Williams & Gibton incorporating the emblems of The Knights of St Patrick, c.1812. The design shown in Fig. 5 has been executed in a more

vigorous and robust spirit.

rose by forty per cent with a sharp rise in prices as England needed more supplies for its army and navy. After the Napoleonic

Wars, there was a sharp fall in prices resulting in an economic slump. A series of advertisements by the furniture makers Gillingtons of Abbey Street (Fig. 4) indi cates the difficulties experienced by the trade during this period. Samuel and

George Gillington refer to the 'present stagnation of Trade throughout the Country' and offer their stock at reduced prices.'5 Gillingtons survived this crisis and in 1837 they advertised expansion of their business, opening a second showroom at no. 34 College Green.'6 Others were not so fortunate; surviving correspondence refers to 'the misfortunes of Mr Eggleso' and in another letter there is a reference to Henry Eggleso, a bankrupt.'7

On 16 May 1812, the following announcement appeared in The Dublin Evening Post:

In consequence of the Death of Mr Robert Gibton, a partner of the House of Mack, Gibton & Co., the remaining Partners beg leave to acquaint their Friends and the Public, that the Business of their

House, in all its branches, will in future be carried on by them in the same extensive manner as heretofore, under the firm of Mack,

Williams and Gibton, (son of their late Partner), and they respect fully request their Customers will, as soon as possible, settle their

Accounts, and that all those to whom the late firm are indebted, wil fumish theirs, in order to close the late Partnership account. May 5, 1812 39, Stafford St'8

John Mack Zachariah Williams

William Gibton

Mack and Gibton had expanded to include a younger partner, Zachariah

Williams, in about 1810 as from this date they advertised as Mack, Gibton & Co. It

must be presumed that Zachariah Williams served his apprenticeship with

the firm. He sustained a close relationship with John Mack, being named as executor of his will alongside his wife Elizabeth Mack.'9 Williams continued to work suc cessfully with William Gibton after John

Mack's death in 1829, until the death of Gibton in 1842. In 1810 he married

William Gibton's sister, Mary, and received a loan of ?1,000 from John Mack and William Gibton, which he then invested in the firm to make provision for his wife.20 Partnerships were not uncom

mon but they were rarely as enduring or successful. William Gibton would certainly have served his apprenticeship with the firm and his large set of tools, with his name impressed on each, survives.2' In 1809 he was advertising as an auctioneer with premises in Bishop Street.22

There are scant surviving references as to how workshops were organised within the Dublin trade. How did Mack, Williams and Gibton run their firm? Who controlled the various elements which comprise a workshop, including supplying designs, dealing with clients, buying wood, training apprentices and running the upholstery room? The success of the firm with three full partners confirms that they had a well organised work shop and their expansion throughout the period would have necessitated the business having distinct spheres of duty, with consultation occurring for important orders. When the sale of the stock of Peter Eggleso was advertised on 17 November 1803, after his death, the diversity of stock and upholstery materials included confirms that there was a demarcation of areas of

7. A mahogany wine cooler bearing the crest and motto of the Smith family of Ballynegall, Co

Westmeath. A virtuoso carver's piece, it is now in the National Museum of Ireland

and on view in No 29 Fitzwilliam Street, Dublin.

1 4 4

IRISH ARTS REVIEW




responsibility and labour. The sale included, along with a collec tion of fumiture:

several hundred yards of the richest fumiture Calicots, elegant Paris Fringes, Lace, ornamental Brass Work and pier Glasses

executed to the newest Parisian style, many hundred stone of the best seasoned Bed Feathers, a quantity of large English Blankets, a State Four-post Bedstead and Curtains finished for a nobleman abroad,

in the highest style of elegance, Mahogany Logs, Timber, Veneers, a

large quantity of Iron and Brass Work.23

A foreman may have been

8. A mahogany pew bench supplied by Mack, Williams & Gibton to the Board of Works for the Chapel Royal, Dublin Castle c. 1812. Regency taste had changed in favour of furniture based on antique models with richly carved detail.

employed to run the workshop while the owner dealt with I clients and perhaps design. In 1809 James Jesson J announced that he had opened an Upholstery and _ Cabinet Warehouse and that he had been the late fore -

man to Mr Eggleso, of Abbey Street.24 Eggleso and Power, advertising in 1812, refer to their 'ware-rooms hav ing a selection of fine and well seasoned materials'.25 This advertisement mentions 'The number of artists and mechanics, as well as the large capital necessar ily employed in their concern, together with the extensive stock 4- ' ; . kept.' This reference to artists is sig nificant as the sphere of design in p relation to Dublin cabinet-makers is ; largely an unexplored area. Design

was a fundamental and vital ele ment in the work produced by Mack, Williams and Gibton. The furniture referred to here merges classical decorative motifs with architectural components. Drawing - classes were available at the Dublin Society Schools to 'painters, carvers ... and others whose profession

depends unon Design' including cabinet-makers.26

The furniture produced by Mack, Williams and Gibton during this period shows an understanding of the change in taste in the

Regency period and a knowledge of the increasing number of pattem books being published during this period. A wine cooler which is one of a pair, relates closely to an elegant drawing by Francis Johnston (Fig. 5).t7 This drawing is in fact based on a plate in The Cabinet Dictionary,' published by Thomas Sheraton

in 1803. In this he applied to furniture motifs, such as animal elements, which

were to become fashionable essentials of Regency design.29 The wine coolers as executed by Mack, Williams and

Gibton correlate closely to the design by Francis Johnston but the spirit has altered (Fig. 6). Their design is more

robust, the vibrantly carved lions are more vigorous and fierce, the outline

of the sarcophagus shape is more extravagant. Incorporating the emblems of the Knights of St. Patrick, they date from around

1812 to 1815 and are of the finest mahogany. A wine cooler dating from the same period, which is allied in taste and

style, bears the coat of arms of the Smith family (Fig. 7), per

haps of Ballynegall, Co Westmeath, a house designed by Francis Johnston and largely fur

nished by Mack, Williams and Gibton.30 The coat of arms and the

family motto 'Delectat Amor Patriae' are placed within a

quatrefoil. This wine cooler is stamped with an

impressed number of Mack, William and Gibton, B3795.31 and is

a virtuoso carver's piece, similar in outline to the piece in Aras an Uachtarain, and especially comparable in the design of the lid with carved grapes and vine leaves. On this

piece the contour of the sarcopha gus is edged by tied bunches of bamboo which again terminate in paw feet. As previously, the

.'rA-'~ mahogany is of the finest quality; the firm were always particular in their choice of wood and displayed it to its best advantage.

Mack, Williams and Gibton received a major commission from the Board of Works to provide fur nishings for the Chapel Royal in

* Dublin Castle.32 The Chapel, designed by Francis Johnston, with

* whom the firm continued to work

closely in his official position as An."'1', -A architect to the Board. was begun

in 1807 and is an early example of 9. Design for antique marble seats from Tatham's Etchng, 1799.





Gothic Revival, its exterior built in Black Calp Limestone. Inside is an elaborate confection of carving and decorative fan-vaulted plaster work by George Stapleton. A water colour, dated 1842, attributed to George Petrie, shows the interior as originally laid out," with projecting galleries for the Lord Lieutenant and the Archbishop, facing each other and covered in sumptuous upholstery. In the centre aisle are placed a set of mahogany pew benches (Fig. 8). A later water colour by James Mahony, dated 1854, shows the benches placed across the centre.34 These benches,

which are numbered and bear an impressed mark B W 409 DC, com plete the interior scheme and relate in design to the fixed seating placed at the bases of the private boxes, which, as shown in James Mahony's charming watercolour, had been removed by 1854. For such an important commission it can be accepted that Francis Johnston contributed to the design.

These pew benches disclose a knowledge of the work and publica tions of Charles Heathcote

Tatham. In 1799, Tatham pub lished Etchings Representing the Best Examples of Ancient Ornamental Architecture Drawn from the Originals in Rome and Other Parts of Italy during the Years 1794, 1795 and 1796.35 Tatham made drawings of

marble benches (Fig. 9), thrones,

10. Trade label of Mack, Williams & Gibton.

11. One of a pair of mahogany console tables, c. 1812 15, in a pri vate collection. They bear the impressed mark D52 19 and the

makers' label (Fig. 10) and are related in style to the table in Fig. 12. The flat panelled back supports are a favourite device of the firm.

stools, tripods and friezes in Rome. These drawings, sent in a series of illustrated letters to Henry Holland, architect to the Prince of Wales, provided inspiration in his work and formed the basis of Tatham's Folio. In Etchings almost half of the 102 plates are engravings of classi cal furnishings, including chairs, tables, stools and pedestals. The

mahogany benches of the Chapel Royal have swirling acanthus leaf carving, the end supports terminat ing in a plumed effect, with the royal coat of arms placed within a shield. A version of Tatham's draw ing also appeared in George Smith's publication of 1808, which shows the seats with four supports and alternative designs for scroll or paw feet.36 The robust quality of the benches by Mack, Williams and Gibton is closer in spirit to the heavier, more resonant drawings by Tatham and the Regency designs of George Smith. Their vigorous char acter is in contrast to the elegant sweeping curves of the hall benches formerly at Townley Hall, Co Louth, also attributed to Johnston.37

These Regency benches under line the change in taste from the

Neoclassical period, which favoured painted decoration. Sheraton had commented that most of the carved decoration on chairs was on gilt or painted chairs and consisted mainly of flat strap work and scrolls. The price of mahogany had risen in the

12. A magnificent mahogany hall table, c. 1812, in Dublin Castle. Over 12 feet long, it bears the impressed number D2583 and a fragment of a Mack,Williams & Gibton trade label.

146 IRISH ARTS REVI-EW




13. A mahogany serving table, c. 1812-15, in Dublin Castle, bearing the trade label of Mack, Williams & Gibton. The frieze is carved in egg and dart and the elegant cabriolet supports end in paw feet.

14. One of a pair of mahogany wash-stands, c. 1815, which also bear Mack,Williams & Gibton trade labels. These were part of a large order of furni

ture supplied to Ballynegall House, Co Westmeath, which was designed by Francis Johnston and built in 1808. The contents were sold in 1964 and the

house stripped in 1981,

1770s and 1780s, which encouraged the use of softwoods. With the fashion for furniture based on antique models, with robustly carved detail, carvers were once again in demand, their numbers increasing in the first half of the nineteenth century. The use of carved animal monopodia and Greek and Roman elements was popularised by the published work of George Smith. In 1808

George Smith published his Collection of Designs for Household Fumiture, which contained 158 coloured plates, mainly of fumi ture in the Greek revival style. Smith's designs were inspired by the fumiture and interior decoration of Thomas Hope's house at

Duchess Street, London. Hope had published his designs in 1807 and in these he assimilated all the motifs and pattems he had studied, in particular from Roman and Greek remains.38 He combined the motifs and designs, which were to form the basis of the Regency style, to create highly original fumiture, imposing in outline, with a daring use of omament.

The Board of Works records show the following payments relating to work on the Chapel Royal:

Dublin 31 December 1814: Castle Chapel Dr To Mack, Williams & Gibton To Upholsterers Work ?1,053.0.11 Dublin 11 March 1815: Castle Chapel Dr To Mack, Williams & Gibton To Upholsterers Work ?522.1.8 Dublin 8 December 1815: Castle Chapel Dr to Mack, WIlliam & Gibton To Upholsterers Work ?18.10.739

From this date Mack, Williams and Gibton regularly stamped and/or labelled their furniture. The firm Gillow & Co of Lancashire had been the first to adopt a numbering system in 1785.i This may have been used for stock control or a piece may have received a number when the order was placed. A magnifi cent mahogany hall table, (Fig. 12) which remains in Dublin Castle, bears an impressed mark D2583.4' This splendid archi tectural piece is over twelve feet long, the front pair of supports being fluted Doric columns, the panelled back incorporating crossed brass arrows centred by a circle. A pair of console tables in a private collection (Fig. 11) related in style, bear trade labels and the impressed mark D5219. The label (Fig. 10) states that

1 47

IRISH ARTS REVIEW



A FIRM OF DUBLIN CABINET-MAKERS: MACK, WILIJAMS & GIBTON

Mack, Williams and Gibton are 'Upholsterers and Cabinet Makers to His Majesty, His Excellency the Lord Lieutenant.' This pair of tables relates in their use of architectural compo nents to the Dublin Castle table. A pair of fluted columns, decorated with floral paterae, supports a frieze decorated with bead and reel and egg and dart; the back has flat panelled pilasters. The use of flat panelled back supports is a favoured device of the firm and reappears in the work of Williams and Gibton between 1829 and 1842. A mahogany console table in the style of Mack, Williams and Gibton with panelled galleried back and narrow shelf above a panelled apron and supported on two horned panther monopodia with claw feet, c.1830, was sold by Hamilton Osborne King at Tudor House, Dalkey, Co Dublin on 31 August 19934, lot 16.

Another handsome piece at Dublin Castle is a dining room serving table (Fig. 13). On this the frieze is carved with egg and dart, the elegant cabriolet supports terminate in paw feet. The design is polished, refined and elegant. The intent of this table is close in spirit to a pair of mahogany wash-stands also with labels from Ballynegall,42 Co Westmeath (Fig. 14). The wash-stands have acanthus leaf carving on the curving cabriolet legs which are placed on block supports and date from around 1815. Ballynegall was designed by Francis Johnston for James Gibbons and built in 1808. It was a classical two-storey house, with an

Ionic portico. The entrance hall had a screen of fluted, Ionic columns and the fine delicate plasterwork was by George Stapleton, who, as already mentioned, worked with Johnston for the Board of Works. Mack, Williams and Gibton supplied a large order of furniture to Ballynegall, indicating the working partnership between Johnston and the cabinet-making firm dur ing this period. This furniture is part of another significant component in the history of Mack, Williams and Gibton, which was the important commissions they received to fumish country houses - but that is a story for another day.

ANGELA ALEXANDER is researching the work of nineteenth-century Dublin cabinet-makers.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am grateful to the following who have given me information and encouragement since I began researching Mack, Williams and Gibton: Glascott Symes, great great-grandson of William Gibton, allowed me to study family papers in his possession and discussed his knowledge of the firm; the Knight of Glin for his enthusiasm and many valuable contributions; David Griffin for information and suggestions. Sincere thanks to Geraldine Walsh who read the text; Mairead Dunlevy; Dr Edward McParland; Nicholas Robinson; Gordon Nichol; the Johnston brothers; Willie Flynn; aU the staff at the Irish Architectural Archive, the Public Record Offices in Dublin and Belfast, Dublin Castle, Number 29 Fitzwilliam Street and the Manuscript Department, Trinity College, Dublin.

1. This table was sold at Tudor House, Dalkey, Co. Dublin, by Hamilton, Osborne King,

31Augustl993,Lot281. 2. This photograph is in the Irish

Architectural Archive.

3. This reference was extracted from the

Dillon manuscripts of Clonbrock, Co

Galway, by the Knight of Glin.

4. Registry of Deeds B554/218/36690. 5. TCD Manuscripts, Mun/P/4/78/16. 6. Public Record Office(PRO) 2D/56/25. 7. Maurice Craig, The Architecture of Ireland

from the Earliest Times to 1880, London

1982, p.285. 8. PRO. 2D/57/34. 9. PRO. 2D/52/83.

10. I am grateful to Mr Glascott Symes for

bringing this to my attention.

11. The indenture between William Fernsley and William Gibton is in the possession of

Glascott Symes. 12. Pat Kirkham, The London Furniture Trade,

1700-1870, Furniture History, England, 1988. A comprehensive history of how the

London trade was organised. 13. A bill, dated 1814, from C Stephens,

Upholsterer includes the item; 'To 8 Days Work for the 2 Women Sewing curtains &c

@ 2.6. per Day-Total 1.' TCD Manuscripts, Mun/P/4/143/7.

14. Louis M Cullen, An Economic History of Ireland since 1660, London 1987.

15. The Dublin Chronick, 17 April 1816.

16. George Gillington's trade label showing his

shop-front is published in The Knight of

Glin, 'Dublin Directories and Trade Labels', Furniture History, vol.XXl (1985). Figure 10.

17. TCD Manuscripts Mun/P/4/196. 18. The Dublin Chronick, 20 May 1816.

19. Registry of Deeds 846/90/566590. 20. Registry of Deeds 627/198/430368. 21. Collection of Glascott Symes. 22. The Dublin Evening Post, 29 June 1809. 23. The Dublin Evening Post, 17 November,

1803.

24. The Dublin Evening Post, 26 October, 1809.

25. The Dublin Evening Post, 16 May, 1812.

26. Anne Crookshank and The Knight of Glin, The Painters of Ireland, c. 1660-1920, London

1978,pp.70-71. 27. This wine cooler is at Aras an Uachtarain,

the second is from the National Museum of

Ireland and is of unknown provenance. It can be seen in Number 29, Fitzwilliam

Street, Dublin, which is open to the public. In photographs of Kilmore, Co Armagh,

family seat of Francis Johnston, a wine cool er can be seen in the drawing room window.

These photographs were published in 1909 in Robert M Young's Belfast and the Province

of Ulster in the Twentieth Century. Young mentions that the sarcophagus was a replica of one in Dublin Castle and that there was

another in the room, smaller and bearing the arms of the Johnston family. Young also

claims that much of the furniture in the room was designed by Francis Johnston. An

identical wine cooler was illustrated in

Country Ufe, 21 October, 1993 having been

sold at auction in England. 28. This drawing, in the collection of Anthony

Malcolmson, has been attributed to

Johnston by The Knight of Glin. 29. Thomas Sheraton, The Cabinet Dictionary,

London 1803( reprint, New York, 1970). 30. The Knight of Glin, David J Griffin and

Nicholas K Robinson, Vanishing Country Houses of Ireland, Dublin 1988. This con

tains photographs of Ballynegall which was

stripped in 1981. The contents were sold by Christie's in 1964.1 am grateful to the

Knight of Glin for suggesting the probable connection of this wine cooler to the Smith

family of Ballynegall, Co. Westmeath. 31. The Mack, Williams and Gibton partner

ship regularly use a letter, most commonly D, but also A and B, with four numbers.

32. PR0.2D/52/88. 33. This watercolour is in a private collection.

A colour photograph is in the Irish

Architectural Archive.

34. James Mahony, The Nave of Dublin Castk

Chapel, 1854, National Gallery of Ireland. 35. Charles Heathcote Tatham, Etchings

Representing the Best Exampks of Ancient

Ornamental Architecture Drawn from the

Originals in Rome and Other Parts of Italy

during the Years 1794, 1795, 1796, London

1799. 36. George Smith, A Collection of Designs for

Household Furniture and Interior Decoration, London 1808. 'Hall seats for recesses.',

pi. 34.

37. These elegant hall benches are no longer at

Townley Hall, Co. Louth. Photographs of the hall interiors showing these benches are

in the Irish Architecture Archive. 38. Thomas Hope, Household Furniture &

Interior Decoration, London 1807, (reprint, New York, 1971).

39. PRO. 2D/52/87. 40. Gillow, A Record of a Furnishing Firm During

Two Centuries, London, 1901.

41. Part of an damaged Mack, William &

Gibton label survives on this table.

42. These wash-stands were resold by Christie's

and Hamilton & Hamilton, on 2 and 3

November 1987, at 19 North Great Georges Street, Lot 468.




A Firm of Dublin Cabinet-Makers Mack, Williams & Gibton

Documents

Transcript of A Firm of Dublin Cabinet-Makers Mack, Williams & Gibton