A REGENCY MAHOGANY OPEN BOOKCASE

In 1801, Gillows of London and Lancaster supplied a closely related pair of bookcases to Luke Dillon, 2nd Lord Clonbrock to furnish his new library at his ancestral home, Clonbrock in Co. Galway. They were sold by Mr and Mrs Luke Dillon-Mahon, Clonbrock, Christie's house sale, 1 November 1976, lot 12. Another very similar pair, probably supplied to Robert Ferguson, M.P. (d. 1840) for Raith House, Kirkcaldy, Fife, was sold anonymously, Christie's, London, 6 July 2000, lot 84 (£75,250 including premium). Another was sold by Michael Lipitch, Christie's, London, 4 October 2001, lot 97 (£10,575 including premium).
The fashionable 'moving bookcase' of this type featured in Thomas Sheraton's Appendix to the Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer's Drawing Book, 1802 (pl. 23).