Fletchers Shamrock Table from 1852 and a magnificent contemporary table set by Joseph Walsh – both masterpieces made in Cork – are among the highlights at Sheppards two day Great Irish Interiors online sale next Wednesday and Thursday (April 28-29).
John Fletcher was a cabinet maker at 71 Patrick St. in Cork in the 19th century. His remarkable nationalist table is shaped like a shamrock with a central inlaid motif of a female figure of Erin in flowing robes leaning on a harp. It is composed of 13 different woods. When it was sent to America after failing to sell at the Irish Industrial Exhibition of 1852 the Cork poet Daniel Casey wrote a lament. The table – now estimated at €80,000-€120,000 – was exhibited to acclaim at the New York Exhibition of 1853.
The art of contemporary maker Joseph Walsh is exhibited regularly to similar acclaim these days in America and everywhere else. The work of Joseph Walsh is in the Permanent Collections of The Metropolitan Museum and The Cooper Hewitt in New York, The Centre Pompidou in Paris, our own National Gallery and many other prestige collections. His Prism round dining table and six Figure of Six chairs is estimated at €40,000-€60,000.
With everything from an African Ashanti headrest to a Clonmel longcase clock to crystal chandeliers, a 19th century Irish cased brass theodolite, antique furniture, art and a papier mache and leather artwork of James Joyce seated in a chair by Graham Knuttel the sale at Sheppards is brimful of interest. The catalogue is online.