A Superb Mid 18th C Irish Mahogany Tallboy

A superb & rare Irish mid 18th C mahogany tallboy.

The chest of very attractive colour with 7 graduated drawers retaining original brass escutcheon handles & standing on original bracket feet.

This model of tall narrow chest with graduated drawers with central escutcheon handles is unique to 18th C Irish Furniture.

Several similar models are illustrated in the Irish Furniture Book by the Knight Of Glinn & James Peill. ( April 2007

One drawer bears the stamp of Francis De Groot- Upper Liffey Street Dublin.

Francis was born in Dublin on 24 October at 23 Liffey Street, Dublin, the youngest son of Cornelius De Groot a Sculpter of Dutch Huguenot descent, & His wife Mary, ne'e Butler, from a Clonmel family of Norman Irish background and Belvedere colleges, Frank joined the merchant Navy, aged 13. He completed a 5 year apprenticeship to his uncle Michael Butler an Antique dealer before migrating to Australia in 1910.

When the booksellers George Robertson & Fred Wymark opened a city art Gallery that also sold antiquities, De Groots knowledge & connections with the trade & London proved invaluable. He claimed to have been advanced £10,000 by Robertson to purchase antiques for resale in Sydney & quickly became a celebrity as a purveyor of fine antique furniture.

On 19th March 1932 DeGRoot became the unofficial central actor at the ceremonial opening of Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Mounted on horseback, at the crucial moment he slashed the opening ribbon with his sword, declaring the Bridge open

In 1950 De Groot & his wife returned to Dublin where he dabbled in antiques & was active in the Irish Australian Society. He died on the 1st April 1969 in Dublin.

The bridge opening remained a talking point among Sydneysiders. In 2005, sections of the ribbon were in private hands, in the Mitchell Lubrary & in the Australasian Pioneers Club, & De Groots sword was held privately in Sydney.

I have been established as a dealer and antique furniture restorer for almost 20 years.

I have a real love and passion of fine 18th and early 19th century furniture.

As a professional restorer I am always searching for the finest quality and original items but should any restoration be nessesary it will be sympathetically and skilfully carried out in house by myself.

If items are purchased with buy now option I shall do my very best to work with my courier to offer free delivery within most of UK mainland. (Some exclusions to locations may apply)

It has been noted that the system is rounding up measurements added in cm to the next nearest inch so if dimensions are critical for a particular space please work by the cm size listed of please ask.