AN EARLY 18TH VIZAYAPATAN WRITING DESK, in inlaid rosewood decorated with ivory floral marquetry, set on an ebony ground, the lift writing slope enclosing fitted drawers and pigeon holes and a removable tray set on an Irish 18th century mahogany stand with carved frieze centred by a recessed scallop shell and flanking scrolls, raised on cabriole legs. 86cm high, 56 x 41cm Provenance: The Penrose Family (Cooper Penrose) formerly Woodhill House, CorkA similar example is shown in Christopher Gilbert The Life and Works of Thomas ChippendaleThe Penrose family were a prominent mercantile family throughout the 18th century and early 19th century in Cork and Waterford. Although glass making was not their principal business, the Penrose glass houses in Waterford and Cork meant that they became, literally, a household name. Their house in Cork was a mycenae of art. The portrait of Cooper Penrose by J. C David done in Paris at the time of the revolution, exhibited in the recent Chicago Exhibtiion of Irish Art, represents one of the most careless and devastating losses of art that this country has suffered. A gallant attempt to repair the damage is the Penrose Room that has been created in the Crawford.