Royal and Noble
Royal and Noble
KILLADOON HOUSE, PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT IRISH ESTATE
A PAIR OF CHINESE EXPORT GILT-HEIGHTENED RED AND BLACK LACQUER SIX-FOLD SCREENS, CIRCA 1800
Auction Closed
January 21, 06:17 PM GMT
Estimate
6,000 - 10,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
KILLADOON HOUSE, PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT IRISH ESTATE
A PAIR OF CHINESE EXPORT GILT-HEIGHTENED RED AND BLACK LACQUER SIX-FOLD SCREENS, CIRCA 1800
the rule joint panels decorated one side with birds, butterflies and foliage in gilt on a red ground, the reverse with leaves and fruit sprays in gilt on a black ground, one screen now in two parts
each panel 217cm. high, 72cm. wide; 7ft. 1½in., 2ft. 4½in.
Probably supplied to Robert Clements, 1st Earl of Leitrim (1732-1804)
Inventory, 26th September 1807, '2 Indian screens with six leaves each' in the Dining Room;
Inventory, 10th February 1812, 'Two Indian Skreens 6 leaves in each' in the Dining Room;
Inventory, April 1830, 'Two Indian Screens six leaves in each red & black' in the Dining Room;
Inventory, 27th June 1836 (revised February 1855), 'Two six leaved Indian screens seven feet high red gold and black varnished' in the Dining Room;
John Cornforth, 'Killadoon, Co Kildare - II', Country Life, 22 January 2004, p. 54;
The Knight of Glin and James Peill, The Irish Country House, China, 2010, p. 147.
These exquisite 'Indian' screens were likely supplied with the other Chinese Export wares in the late 18th/early 19th century, shortly after Robert Clements was elevated to Earl in 1795 (see lots 32-41).
First listed in the Dining Room in 1807, the bright red ground of the screens, together with the 'scarlet Morocco' leather upholstered seat furniture (see lots 44-45) and 'Turkey' carpet, would have complemented the original decorative scheme which analysis of paint scrapes has revealed to be a rich plum-porphyry colour (Cornforth, op. cit., p. 55).