Irish Georgian Society members will be interested to know that Pat Murray, well-known member of the society’s events committee, is now making his custom-designed and hand-made 18th century-style door furniture and other decorative items available for sale. Fine 18th century houses were distinguished by refined items that included brass escutcheons, ornate locks and classical picture frames and pedestals and it is these timeless items, so beautiful and exceedingly rare and hard to find, that are essential to complete a Georgian interior. Pat Murray will now offer for sale his William Kent/Palladian-style frames, 18th century-style Irish hall door locks and other decorative items – current stock is for sale and commissions are welcome.

Pat Murray inherited a love of furniture, architecture and antiques from his father and exercises an extraordinary degree of empathy with the architecture and interior decoration of the 18th century. His favourite book at the age of 10 was The Destruction of the Country House: 1875-1975 (Strong, Binney, Harris); it motivated his life-long interest in conservation. He describes Georgian decoration as a link to a very interesting time in history ‘when every trade became an art’. His expertise is based on a lifetime spent creating and embellishing refined decorative items of the Georgian era; he describes their appeal: “18th-century tradesmen knew the classical rules – the proportions are always right, the materials are always beautiful, the designs are confident and well-mannered – and always pleasing to the eye”. He continues: “Many people nowadays restore Georgian and Georgian-style houses beautifully; the addition of beautiful, historically-accurate, decorative features enhances the architecture and adds the finishing touch to the beautiful properties.”

Pat Murray has studied the proportions of original William Kent / Palladian frames in detail and has developed a number of designs for high-quality frames that may be custom made to any size. His frames are made of pine and may be painted or gilded to order. Every fine 18th-century house in Ireland had a mahogany and brass lock on the back of the hall door; these locks are now frequently missing and when, very occasionally, one appears for sale at auction – but usually without a key and or a receiver – it is sold at a very high price. Pat Murray has studied the design of these locks in detail and his reconstituted locks are virtually indistinguishable from the originals; the working lock mechanisms are antique and encased in Georgian mahogany decorated with hand-cut brass fittings. Brass escutcheons and pedestals are available to order.

Born and living in Dublin, Pat Murray is a collector and a member of the Irish Georgian Society; he is known to many of the society’s members as an organiser of day tours, picnic tours and fine-dining tours. He can be contacted at patmurrayesq@gmail.com.

For more information contact Pat Murray (patmurrayesq@gmail.com)