This amazing Irish Tea Service dates to 1853 and was made by John Smyth of 16 Wicklow Street Dublin. The Service is in good condition with clear assay marks. The remarkable find inside the teapot came in the form of the original letters written by members of The Pakenham Mahon family whom gifted this service on the occasion of a younger relatives wedding in 1854. One letter written 11 Oct 1854 at The Kildare Street Club Paper and one from Harcourt Street in Dublin an the following day. Strokestown House in Roscommon was one among many great houses built shortly before mid-eighteenth century. The build was commissioned by Thomas Mahon, MP (1701-1782) the design is that of a Georgian Palladian mansion, a popular style at the time displaying the wealth of the landowning family. The Mahon family, (later Pakenham-Mahon through marriage) owned and ran Strokestown Park House and estate for over three hundred years. The original owner, Captain Nicholas Mc Mahon, was given lands by Cromwell in the 1660's as reward for services in the Cromwellian army taking part in conquering Ireland. The Mahons were also famed due to co-founding The Guinness and Mahon Bank in Dublin in 1836 with Robert Rundell Guinness. The letters and superb provenance sends this Tea Service into a very rare space in our history on this island of Ireland and I was fortunate to discover it here in Dublin.
Teapot Dimensions Height 7.7" (19cm) Width 10" (25.5cm) Depth 7" (17.5cm)
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