Although Mack, Williams & Gibton was one of the most reputable furniture manufacturing firms in Dublin during the early 19th century, not many pieces from this company now come up at auction. There should, therefore, be some interest in an Irish Regency mahogany serving table which is attributed to Mack, Williams & Gibton and which comes up for sale next Monday.
It forms part of the house contents sale being conducted by Michael Donohue & Sons at Gowran Castle, Co Kilkenny, and is said to have once stood in this property, although it was bought some 40 years ago at an auction in Borris House, Co Carlow.
Gowran Castle was built to the designs of William Robertson of Kilkenny for the second Viscount Clifden after its precursor had been demolished in 1816.
Gowran Castle remained in the family until the mid-1950s when it was sold by Lord Annaly. Since then, it has been home to the late James and Mary Moran; their daughter, Catriona Fennelly, and her husband, Kevin, are now selling the contents. The years of Gowran Castle's construction were also the period when Mack, Williams & Gibton was most successful. Although the company had been formed only in 1812, its origins dated back to 1784 when John Mack established a cabinet-making business on Abbey Street in Dublin. At the start of the 19th century, he was joined in the business by Robert Gibton, and this partnership flourished, being appointed "Upholsterers & Cabinet Makers to his Majesty, His Excellency the Lord Lieutenant and His Majesty's Board of Works" in 1806. Six years later, a former apprentice, Zachariah Williams, who had married Robert Gibton's daughter, joined the management to create Mack, Williams & Gibton.
The firm enjoyed exceptional demand for its furniture, supplying pieces to the Four Courts, Dublin Castle and the Viceregal Lodge, as well as private homes, including Ballynegall, Co Westmeath, Oakley Park in Co Meath and Strokestown, Co Roscommon. After the death of John Mack in 1829, the name was changed again to Williams & Gibton. Writing in the Irish Arts Review (Volume 11, 1995), Angela Alexander summarises the features of the firm's style as a distinctive choice of the finest wood, richly figured, the "use of ornament and the quality and individualism of their carving."
Last May, a pair of Mack, Williams & Gibton carved mahogany diningroom pedestals dating from circa 1835 sold for sterling£4,600 at Sotheby's in London, and although the serving table now being offered has no trade label on it, Michael Donohue is expecting the lot to sell for £8,000-£10,000. It is just one of the items of Irish Regency furniture included in next week's sale. In addition, there will be a 4ft-long console table with heavy Kilkenny moulded marble top, the acanthus scrolled legs terminating in claw feet (estimate £5,000-£6,000), and a pedestal sideboard with ebony inlay, its dropped centre flanked by cupboards fitted with shelves and a lead-lined wine cooler (£3,500-£4,000). And among the lots which have been in the house since it was bought by the Morans is a Victorian oak bookcase 12ft long and 10ft high £5,000-£6,000), and from the same period there is a mahogany dining table with four extra leaves on six reeded legs; both these have the same estimate of £5,000-£6,000.
The auction on the premises will begin at 10.30 a.m.
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