| Notes |
- The firm of James Curran and Sons, carver, was in business in Lisburn, Co. Antrim in the mid 19th century at premises in Castle Street and later in Piper’s Hill. The firm exhibited at the Great Exhibition of 1851 with a catalogue entry describing ‘A sculptured and perforated armchair from the antique with fruit and foliage from nature but with grotesque figures of Irish Bog Oak found in Moytagh’s Moss, Ballinderry, Antrim. Made by three poor working men expressly for the Exhibition, it occupied the workmen for eight months of unlimited hours. The covering of the seat and back are of crimson silk manufactured by E. Jones 3, St. Andrew’s Street, Dublin; also… a piece of wood in its seasoned but unfinished state with original pencil designs by the carvers who are self-taught.’
A similar chair, by Curran and Sons, was commissioned by the Countess of Eglinton, wife of the Earl of Eglinton, Ireland’s Viceroy 1851-1852, who played a major part in the organisation of Ireland’s Industrial Exhibition held in Dublin in 1853. The chair was displayed in the Exhibition held in Dublin 1853. The chair was displayed in the Exhibition and was described in the official catalogue as ‘made from Irish Bog Oak, richly sculptured and perforated, the design from the antique’. The chair is now on display in Lisburn Linen Centre and Museum. The chair is ornamented with shamrocks, roses, thistles, vine leafs and berries, all symbols of the Union. The inscription on the back of the chair reads ‘Designed and made for her Excellency the Countess of Eglinton, from Irish bog oak, by Curran and Sons Ireland AD 1852.’ A similar chair, by James Curran and Sons, is on display in Holyrood House in Edinburgh.
http://www.iada.ie/bog-oak-carving-2/
|
- Bef 1885
d. Bef 1911 (Age ~ 56 years)