Adam's Country House Collections Day II - 10th October 2023

80 395 THE ‘BLESSINGTON COMMODE’ ATTRIBUTED TO JOHN KIRKHOFFER AN IMPORTANT IRISH WALNUT AND SEAWEED MARQUETRY SERPENTINE CHEST, C.1745 the top inlaid with the arms of William Stewart, Earl of Blesinton, of four short drawers and one long drawer, with rounded corners, decorated overall with Berainesque marquetry inlay, fitted with elaborate ormolu side carrying han - dles en suite with the drawer handles, and raised at a somewhat later stage on wooden blocks fitted with wide wood barrel castors. 122cm wide, 66cm deep, 87cm high Provenance: From a Private Collection Ireland Literature: Knight of Glin, Irish Arts Review , Vol. 13 (1997), The Marquetry Decoration of Early 18th Century Irish Furniture (illus- trated). The Knight of Glin and James Peill, Irish Furniture , Yale, 2007, p.58, illustrated. € 100,000 - 150,000 It was the renowned furniture historian and col- lector R.W Symonds who first posited in 1956 that a curious collection of early to mid-18th century marquetry inlaid writing cabinets had an Irish origin. Indeed, the piece in the Victoria & Albert Museum was traditionally known as ‘ Dean Swift’s Cabinet’ . The Knight of Glin, who had worked in the furniture department of the V&A, was convinced that this was so and went on a hunt to find other examples. This culminated in his arti - cle in the Irish Arts Review Vol 13 (1997) where he conclusively demonstrated that the marquetry inlay incorporated into unequivocally Irish types of furniture was supplied by the same workshop which must have been in Dublin. The ‘ Blessington Commode ’ had just appeared on the London Art market and the armorials of an Irish nobleman, similarities of the motifs in the inlay and the use of native veneers such as holly, were enough for him to publish it in this article as ‘probably Irish’ and assigned the date of 1745, the creation of Stewart’s earldom. The continental influenced design of the piece and this late date puzzled him. A breakthrough came when in 2007 the Art Institute of Chicago revealed that their desk was signed John Kirkhoffer/fecit/1732 . Kirkhof- fer from the Palatinate is recorded in Dublin in the early 18th century, and he founded a cabi- net making business that lasted into the 19th century. Indeed, it became “by appointment to the Lord Lieutenant and The Board of Works,” and supplied most of the official buildings with fur - niture, fitted bookcases and fixtures. The same inlay on the Chicago cabinet of opposed winged griffins appears on the ‘ Blessington Commode’ and the continental shape of the base of the Chicago cabinet clearly demonstrates that Kirk- hoffer continued to work in this style. Also, the V&A revisited the inscription on their piece which connected it to Dean Swift. It didn’t, but, more