Card Table
1851 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This card table was part of a large suite of furniture made of bog yew, designed and made by Arthur J. Jones, Son & Co. of Dublin. The suite was exhibited at the 1851 Great Exhibition held at the Crystal Palace in London. According to a description by John Lambert Jones published in 1853 and dedicated to the Duke of Leinster, ‘The main characteristic of the collection is wonderful Picturesqueness’.
Everything in the suite, including a wine cooler now in the collection of the National Trust, Sydney, Australia, was intended to illustrate Irish history and antiquities. In the case of this table, this is seen in the incorporation of shamrocks and Irish harps in the carved decoration.
Everything in the suite, including a wine cooler now in the collection of the National Trust, Sydney, Australia, was intended to illustrate Irish history and antiquities. In the case of this table, this is seen in the incorporation of shamrocks and Irish harps in the carved decoration.
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Bog yew, with carved decoration |
| Brief description | Card table of bog yew, with carved decoration, including shamrocks and Irish harps. |
| Physical description | Quadrupod pedestal table, carved bog yew with two flap swivelling table top - before unfolding the flaps they are swivelled anticlockwise by 90 degrees on an off-centred axis. The base of the table richly carved with scrolls, flowers and foliage and a harp. |
| Dimensions |
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| Style | |
| Marks and inscriptions | 217 (Printed paper label stuck to underside of base) |
| Gallery label |
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| Object history | This card table was part of a large suite of furniture, made of bog yew by Arthur J. Jones & Son of Dublin for the Great Exhibition held in London in 1851. The carved decoration of a harp and shamrocks on the card table was typical of the rest of the furniture which was designed and decorated to illustrate the history, antiquities, animals and vegetation of Ireland. The suite included an upholstered armchair, a pole screen, a tea poy, a wine-table, a chair and a wine cooler. The wine cooler is now in the collection of the National Trust of New South Wales, Sydney. |
| Historical context | New ideas for materials and techniques, and designs inspired by national history and culture, dominated the displays of different furniture-making firms in the 1851 Exhibition. Several Irish firms, including Arthur Jones, Dawson Bell of Belfast, and J. Curran of Lisburn, exhibited examples of furniture made from native timbers such as bog yew or bog oak. These pieces were decorated with national emblems, such as harps, shamrocks and the Irish wolf-hound, as well as with motifs illustrative of Irish history, some copied from drawings of original relics, such as horns and bronze reaping hooks. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Association | |
| Summary | This card table was part of a large suite of furniture made of bog yew, designed and made by Arthur J. Jones, Son & Co. of Dublin. The suite was exhibited at the 1851 Great Exhibition held at the Crystal Palace in London. According to a description by John Lambert Jones published in 1853 and dedicated to the Duke of Leinster, ‘The main characteristic of the collection is wonderful Picturesqueness’. Everything in the suite, including a wine cooler now in the collection of the National Trust, Sydney, Australia, was intended to illustrate Irish history and antiquities. In the case of this table, this is seen in the incorporation of shamrocks and Irish harps in the carved decoration. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | W.33-1976 |
About this object record
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| Record created | January 25, 2001 |
| Record URL |
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