Leinster House cabinets priced at £250k
The circa-1775 cabinets, known as encoigneurs, were made for William FitzGerald, second duke of Leinster.
Apter-Fredericks said the cabinets only recently came to light, having been in the possession of the FitzGerald family since the late 18th century. They are listed in the firm’s latest catalogue.
Following the sale of Leinster House to the RDS in 1815, the cabinets were removed to Carton House — home to the dukes of Leinster until 1949. They are recorded in the ante-room at Carton circa-1887.
After Carton, they went to Kilkea Castle, Co Kildare, and finally to Ramsden in Oxfordshire.
Leinster House was built in 1745. By the 1770s, when it was owned by the second duke, only the great first floor gallery remained to be completed.
So William FitzGerald commissioned renowned neo-classical architect and designer James Wyatt to design the gallery.
Almost all the decorative elements in the room — winged sphinxes, scrolled acanthus, and urns — are echoed in the decoration of the corner commodes.
The furniture would have worked with the door cases and chimney pieces to create a neo-classical space.
Apter-Fredericks describe the commodes as: “A magnificent, museum quality pair of corner cabinets or encoigneurs in satinwood, with purple heart and tulip wood bandings, and inlaid neo-classical designs to the most exceptionally high standard.
“Furniture of this quality could only have been made by one of a small handful of cabinet makers from this period, namely Mayhew and Ince and Thomas Chippendale.”
Apter-Fredericks, Important English Furniture, is at Fulham Rd, London SW3.
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