The Stapleton Collection: Designs for the Irish Neoclassical Interior (2007)
By Conor Lucey
Published by Churchill House Press in association with the National Library of Ireland
By Conor Lucey
Michael Stapleton (1747-1801) was the most skilled stuccodor working in the neoclassical or ‘Adam’ style that dominated Dublin interior decoration in the final decades of the eighteenth century. Although the astonishing quality and variety of Dublin’s eighteenth-century decorative plasterwork has long been celebrated, this is the first full length exploration of Stapleton’s work. It publishes for the first time the remarkable collection of drawings from his workshop which are held at the National Library of Ireland.
Conor Lucey’s study of Stapleton’s career presents new research drawn from a broad range of sources and examines the collection of designs within the broader context of neoclassical stuccowork in Dublin, considering it as evidence for the late eighteenth-century plastering trade in general. Working outside of the established guilds, by virtue of his Catholic faith, Stapleton created one of the most successful decorating and house-building practices in Dublin of the period and designs for many of the city’s most notable late eighteenth-century interiors are included here, including studies for Trinity College, Belvedere House and Powerscourt House. Over the years Stapleton’s name has been erroneously attached to many Irish interiors with which he had no involvement. This important publication attempts to define more closely the nature of his decorative neoclassicism, and establish his oeuvre more accurately. More generally, its offers a fascinating account of the many forces at play in how the Irish Georgian interior was created.
Product details
Pages: 352
Illustrations: 320
Price: €65 hardback
ISBN: 978-0-9550246-2-7
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Reviews
From the Foreword by Christine Casey
"This splendid volume does full justice to its subject and maintains the very high standards we have now come to expect from Churchill House Press."
John Harris, Apollo
"[A] scholarly and most luscious publication…it provides a firm foundation for any further study of Stapleton and of Irish decoration of the period. No author could have hoped for such a lavish book, which has colour reproductions of the highest quality. Author and publisher are to be congratulated."
Joseph McDonnell, Irish Arts Review
"This exciting and important book is a most welcome addition to the literature on Irish art and architecture."
Deirdre Conroy, Image Interiors
"This covetable and handsome volume is replete with exquisitely reproduced material from the sole surviving album of its kind by an Irish craftsman of the period and is an essential reference as well as a fascinating read."
Ireland of the Welcomes
"A scholarly and sumptuously produced book which would enrich any library."
Books Ireland
"This is a big and handsome book and its overall delicacy of design and typography reflect the refined artistry – the Adam Style – of the late eighteenth-century stuccodors which it illustrates so completely."
The Knight of Glin, Magill
"Impeccable scholarship….stupendous…Quite simply this is one of the most ravishingly elegant books to have been published in Ireland in recent years. A strange combination of chaste clarity and sensual pleasure it encapsulates the neoclassical aesthetic which is the book’s subject matter."
The Stapleton Collection has been nominated for the prestigious Berger Prize for art history (2007).
