state coach / Lord Chancellor's Coach, 1790

Lord Chancellor’s Coach. State coach of the Earl of Clare, Lord Chancellor of Ireland. Built in London by Godsal of Longaere, 1790, for John Fitzgibbon, who was appointed as the Lord Chancellor of Ireland in 1789. It was transported in September 1790 from London to the South Wall docks by the ship 'Draper' under a Captain Murray, accompanied by Godsal and several journeyman coachbuilders to assemble it at the stables in the Lord Chancellor's house in Baggot Street. It made its first public appearance on 4 November 1790 at a levee in celebration of King William III's birthday at Dublin Castle. the coach is 11 fett and 6 inches high and 19 feet and 10 inches long. Interior lining of crimson velvet with gold fringe and shamrock patterned lace. Decoration include the Lord Chancellor's Arms, Lord Fitzgibbon's coronet on the roof, 'Prudence, 'Justice', 'Liberty' and 'Concorde'. Carved heads of Solon and Numa to the front, and the head of King Alfred to the rear, representing the three great Law-Givers. Door panels with paintings; Temple of Fame with figures of Britannia and Hibernia crowned with Peace and Plenty, representing national prosperity. Off door panels show the Courts of law and Equity represented by Justice seated on a throne. Irish Manufacture represented on the panel on the front of the coach body. Agriculture is represented on the hind panel of the body. Paintings by William Hamilton R.A. The total cost of the coach was estimated to be £7,000. Harnesses of red morrocan leather with mountings of chased ormolu. The buckles bear the Harp, the Cap of Liberty, the Caduceus and the Chancellor's Purse. The blinkers are edged with a pierced ormolu pattern with the harp in the centre. See article 'The State Coach of the Lord Mayor of the City of Dublin and The State Coach of the Earl of Clare, Lord Chancellor of Ireland', by W.G. Strickland, Royal Society of Antiquities of Ireland, read December 1919. RSAI 1921.;