As you know Ignite had me focused, once again, on Irish vernacular furniture.

And this focus prompted the thought that it is remarkable the extent to which it is the furniture of the 'big house' and the ascendancy that has hijacked the description of itself as 'Irish furniture'.

It is, of course, Irish furniture in so far as it was made in Ireland by Irish people and for Irish people.
But in truth and in large measure, it was made to the designs of the great English designers and cabinet makers of the eighteenth century: Chippendale, Hepplewhite, Sheraton, Kent and others for a clientèle that culturally and politically looked to Britain.
It is also true that this furniture developed distinct features and characteristics which, in the substantial literature that has grown up around it, has allowed for terms such as 'Irish Chippendale' to become an identifiable, and highly valued, sub strata of the great man's legacy.

But the Irish furniture of which I speak (and spoke) was also made in Ireland, by Irish people and for Irish people and what distinguishes it as peculiarly Irish is that it was made to fulfil the specific needs of life, as it was lived and developed, of the ordinary, indigenous people of Ireland.

What prompted these thoughts was the image selected by the Knight of Glin for the cover of his Irish Heritage series pamphlet (16): Irish Furniture (published back in 1978) and my selection of James O'Keeffe's portrait of a woman to conclude my Ignite presentation. What connects them is that they are both 'masks' on table supports.

The Irish Heritage pamphlet (46): Irish Country Furniture by Nicholas Loughnan was published in 1984.

This is not the place or the moment for a major polemic or diatribe on these distinctions but, in my view, it is Loughnan's pamphlet that should be awarded the 'pure' title, Irish Furniture and the Knight's, the 'qualified' title, Irish Ascendancy Furniture.

But maybe I am just dancing on the head of a pin?....................