An important Irish George I walnut and featherbanded, sycamore, cedar and marquetry ‘architectural’ secretaire cabinet c1725, possibly by John Kirkhoffer, comes up at Bonhams in London next month. It is among the highlights at The Connoiseur’s Library sale in Knightsbridge on February 7 and 8 and estimated at £20,000-£30,000. This is one of a group of four similar walnut and marquetry secretaire cabinets, dated circa 1720, which all appear in the 2007 seminal work on Irish furniture by Desmond Fitzgerald, Knight of Glin and James Peill. The authors re-affirm that such walnut cabinets are of Irish origin.
John Kirkhoffer was probably the son of a German Palatine called Franz Ludwig, who arrived in Ireland as a refugee in 1709 after escaping the Rhineland-Palatinate area. The Kirkhoffer family of Protestant immigrants made it to the counties of Kerry and Limerick before ultimately settling in Dublin. There is some confusion as to the exact identity of this particular John Kirkhoffer. One was recorded as leasing premises for cabinet making in 1736, others are documented as cabinet makers active in Dublin in the 18th century.