Ince & Mayhew were closely involved with the architect William Chambers in the replenishment of Blenheim Palace for the 4th Duke of Marlborough in the 1760s and 1770s up to 1789. Ince & Mayhew’s directory The Universal System, published in book form in 1762, was dedicated to the Duke.
Hugh Roberts has written about their work for Blenheim Palace in his article for the Furniture History Society ‘NICELY FITTED UP': FURNITURE FOR THE 4TH DUKE OF MARLBOROUGH.[i] Apart from providing a great deal of furniture including the State Bed, some beautiful Commodes, chairs for the Hall, the Dining room and the Saloon, and a pair of mahogany steps for the Duke’s Observatory in 1785, the firm was also involved in decorating and refurbishment. They provided items such as silk damask curtains and leather table covers, and they cleaned the tapestries. They also provided bell glass lamps and a Triangle Mahogney Musick stand. I was interested to read that they provided a number of mahogany doors for the palace in 1776-7 and again in 1787. These doors all had a three-panelled design, some plain, some with fluted panels. The locks on some of the doors were stamped E. Gascoigne, and some of the hinges were stamped INVENTER. In 1787 these were provided by Mrs Gascoigne. The Stewards Day Book noted that on May 18 1787 Came from Mr Mayhews 3 pr. Mehogny doors ..4 Pair of Mehogny doors… from Mrs Gascoigns 2 Strong locks for Iron Doors; 7 mortice locks, 42 hinges, and furniture for 7 Pr. of door. Writing in the Catalogue of Commodes[ii], Lucy Wood relates that the Gascoigne family worked from 37 Bury Street, Westminster, the address from a 1789 bill to Lord Monson from R. Gascoigne. James Gascoigne paid the rates for this address for 1777-78 and 1784 to 1787. Edward Gascoigne paid for 1780 to 1782 and Rachael Gascoigne paid from 1786 to 1795. Edward was presumably the inventor of the high precision self-closing hinges. According to the Freemasonry Membership Records[iii], Edward was described as a lockmaker when he became a freemason in 1772. He was buried in St James Piccadilly in 1785 and it may have been that he had met William Ince or John Mayhew through church, as both the Ince and Mayhew families had their children christened there. Alternatively they may have met through the freemasons. Both William Ince and Edward Gascoigne were members of Lodges that met in New Bond Street in the 1770s, William of the Lodge of Felicity and Edward The Corner Stone Lodge. Or the firms may have been employed independently. It is worth noting that the lockmaking business was continued by Racheal Gascoigne, who may have been the sister, daughter or widow of James or Edward, just as William Ince’s mother, Mary, continued the glass-making business when her husband, John, died in 1745: two examples of women business proprietors in eighteenth century London. [i] Roberts, H. (1994). 'NICELY FITTED UP': FURNITURE FOR THE 4TH DUKE OF MARLBOROUGH. Furniture History, 30, 117-149. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/23407923 [ii] Wood, Lucy, Catalogue of Commodes 1994 London:HMSO p.184 [iii] Library and Museum of Freemasonry; London, England; Freemasonry Membership Registers; Description: Register of Members, London, vol I, Fols 1-597 A beautiful sycamore and marquetry serpentine commode has come up for sale which has only recently been attributed to Ince & Mayhew. Lucy Wood, the author of Catalogue of Commodes, has carried out a detailed study and has identified a number of Ince & Mayhew characteristics. For example the commode has an unusual frieze of sunflowers which is identical to a frieze on a pair of tables formerly at Mersham-le-Hatch in Kent and the marquetry of the medallions on the doors uses a three-dimensional ornament of a string of beads looped over and under the urn, which can be found on a dressing table from the Bute collection. Overall there are nine other items of furniture linked to this commode by various marquetry motifs. Most of these pieces have been ascribed to Chippendale, as he was originally thought to be the maker of the Mersham-le-Hatch tables. However, Lucy Wood has checked and there are no accounts for Mersham for 1773-78 for Chippendale. She also reminds us that the furniture he supplied to Mersham was much more sober than the tables. (C. Gilbert, The Life and Works of Thomas Chippendale (1978) Vol 1, p222) Looking at the other linked items, she confidently attributes them all to Ince & Mayhew and suggests that stylistic comparisons support this claim. Lucy Wood reports another unusual aspect in that expensive veneer has been put on faces that would not have been seen, eg on three sides of the stiles and the fourth side of the legs, as well as on the back face of the end panels which were only converted to doors later. The top of the commode has wonderful marquetry which was presumably requested by the client and may give some clues as to his or her interests and profession. There is a caduceus, which is a winged staff with two snakes entwined. This was an ancient symbol of commerce and negotiation and is associated with Hermes. It was also used as a symbol of printing, from the attributes of Hermes as Mercury the messenger. There is a triangle with rings, an instrument which had recently been accepted into the eighteenth century orchestra and another implement. If you would like to hazard a guess as to what it is, please do so, using a comment. These three items are interlinked with a chain of husks. Either side of the top of the triangle lie a dragonfly and a scallop shell. The latter is a symbol of a pilgrim to the Holy Land or one who has walked the Camino de Santiago. The dragonfly may just represent an interest in nature. Who was this person with so many different interests, and sufficiently wealthy to have this commode made for them? Presumably a pilgrim who was engaged in commerce or printing and interested in music and nature, but their identity is likely to remain unknown. It is very pleasing to see Ince & Mayhew described by the antique dealer as one of the finest cabinet-makers of the mid-late eighteenth century and for items previously attributed to Chippendale to be attributed to them. A GEORGE III FUSTIC, WENGE, MAHOGANY AND EBONISED COMMODE
I was very taken with this description of an Ince & Mayhew commode which in June 2008 was bought for the highest known price for the firm’s furniture at £679,650 in the Christie’s auction Simon Sainsbury The Creation of an English Arcadia. It was made for George Finch, 9th Earl of Winchilsea and 4th Earl of Nottingham for Burley-on-the-Hill, Rutland. From his account book George Finch appeared to use Ince & Mayhew as his main suppliers of furniture when first modernising his mansion. He wrote to his mother in the winter of 1774 'I have got a number of things from Mayhew. I am sure the house will soon have a more furnished look' [i] The commode was described by Christie’s as one of the firm's masterpieces of the 1770s, and later influenced the design of their work at houses such as Broadlands, Hampshire and Chevening, Kent. So what are fustic and wenge? They are not a comedy duo, nor a term like ‘bunburying’, but exotic woods. Ince & Mayhew used a number of exotic woods in their veneers including East Indian satinwood, purplewood from northern South America, ebony from India and Ceylon, padouk from West Africa and Burma, kingwood and tulipwood from Brazil and rosewood from the East Indies. According to the Wood Database, Fustic is a medium to large tree, growing up to eighty foot tall. A member of the mulberry family and found in tropical America from Mexico to Argentina, it produces a yellow dye. The wood itself is a golden to bright yellow but darkens to a medium brown with time. It is a hard, dense wood, so not easy to work. Wenge grows up to ninety foot tall in Central Africa (Zaire). It can be difficult to work as it blunts tool edges. It also sands unevenly due to differences in density between light and dark areas and is very splintery. The dust can cause severe allergic reactions damaging the central nervous system. It is medium brown to black. Both woods are reportedly very resistant to termites! The use of woods such as these meant the furniture would have originally been brightly coloured when first displayed. The expansion of British trade, such as the East India Company, and the exploration of new territories led to an enormous increase in the amount and variety of wood that was imported. However, these were luxury woods and only the wealthy could afford them. [i] C. Hussey, 'Burley-on-the-Hill', Country Life, 17 February 1923, p. 217 Following on from the card tables from Clytha Castle, I wondered what card-games were in vogue in the eighteenth century. I found mention of Whist, Loo – which could cause spectacular ruin, Brag – a forerunner of Poker, Pope Joan - a mild and homely gambling game for all the family, especially that of clergymen, Reversis – an ancestor of Hearts and Speculation – a mild domestic gambling game mentioned by Jane Austen. Edmond Hoyle wrote A Short Treatise on the Game of Whist in 1742; the twelfth edition contained the new laws of ... whist, as played at White's and Saunders's chocolate houses[i]. In 1770 Mr. Hoyle’s Games was published containing Easy Rules for Playing the Games of Whist, Quadrille, Cribbage, Piquet, Chess, Backgammon.
The German cabinet-maker David Roentgen produced an ingenious games table (c.1780-83) which has different leaves for playing different games. The Metropolitan Museum of Art has produced an animation to show how it unfolded. Ince & Mayhew produced three round Loo tables for the Prince of Wales at Carlton House in 1788-89[ii]. They were billed at £5, £9 and £9 9s and the most expensive had a central mahogany pool, five counterwells and a three branch adjustable light. The third Lord Monson hired card tables and chairs from Ince & Mayhew presumably for a party at his home, Burton Hall in Lincolnshire. Sir John Griffin Griffin Bt. paid for a neat Morroco Backgammon Table and Leather Boxes in 1774 at a cost of £2 for Audley End or his London residence 10 New Burlington Street. At Goodnestone Park, Kent there were a pair of Ince & Mayhew yew-wood card tables with ebonized borders inlaid with engraved flowersprays bought by Sir Brook Bridges. Sir Brook’s daughter, Elizabeth, married Edward Austen, the brother of Jane Austen. Jane would visit them at Goodnestone and started writing Pride and Prejudice immediately after staying there in 1796[iii]. Did she perhaps play Speculation on an Ince & Mayhew card table?! [i] British Library catalogue [ii] Roberts, H and Cator, C. 1986. Mayhew, John and Ince, William. In Beard, G and Gilbert, C eds. Dictionary of English Furniture Makers 1660-1840 Leeds,London : Furniture History Society: W.S. Maney & Son Ltd, pp. 589-598. [iii] http://www.goodnestoneparkgardens.co.uk/history-of-goodnestone.php I was recently contacted about some Ince & Mayhew furniture from Clytha Castle, described by the National Trust as one of the outstanding 18th-century follies of Wales. It stands on top of Clytha Hill, on the edge of an old grove of chestnuts, and is currently cared for by the Landmark Trust. The Castle has rather romantic origins as it was built by William Jones as a memorial to his recently deceased wife, Elizabeth. The dedication, inscribed on a tablet set into the walls, reads as follows: This Building was erected in the year 1790 by WILLIAM JONES of Clytha Houfe Efq Fourth Son of JOHN JONES of Lanarth Court Monmouthfhire Efq and Hufband of ELIZABETH the laft furviving Child of Sir WILLIAM MORGAN of Tredegar KB and GrandDaughter of the moft Noble WILLIAM Second Duke of Devonfhire It was undertaken for the purpose of relieving a mind fincerely afflicted by the lofs of a moft excellent Wife whofe Remains were depofited in Lanarth Church Yard A.D: 1787 and to the Memory of whofe virtues this Tablet is dedicated. Though on a different scale, the castle has been likened to the Taj Mahal in its purpose. However a contemporary commentator also pointed out that Elizabeth, the grand-daughter of the Duke of Devonshire, had given her husband a huge fortune. The castle was designed by William Jones himself, assisted by the architect John Davenport, who had earlier designed an orangery for Warren Hastings at Daylesford House – Warren Hastings was also a client of Ince & Mayhew. William Jones kept a handwritten account book, recording all the costs of building and furnishing the castle, including craftsmen’s wages, transport costs and building materials. From 1791-1792 he paid Ince & Mayhew £1000 for ‘Gothic style’ furniture for the house. In 2013 Sotheby’s New York sold two games tables from Clytha Castle for $100,000, and now a mahogany dumb waiter, also by repute from Clytha Castle and attributed to Ince & Mayhew, will be on sale at the San Francisco Antiques Fair this October. Did Ince & Mayhew supply any other furniture for William Jones? If so, where is it? On 29th April last year there was a terrible fire at Clandon Park, the National Trust property in Surrey, where I first saw some Ince & Mayhew furniture and was inspired to find out more about my Ince ancestors.
I went back to photograph the three items that had been identified as by the firm: a chair and two matching tables, one with a lion and one with a bull. According to Lucy Wood in the Catalogue of Commodes[i], the tables are related in design to a set of side tables made for the Earl of Kerry. The bull cartouche is similar to the one on the Bull Cabinet in the Lady Lever Art Collection. A parquetry kingwood and yew bombé commode in Louis XV style attributed to Ince & Mayhew, was also in the house[ii]. Sadly all these items were destroyed in the fire. They had been part of the collection of Hannah Gubbay which she had bequeathed to the National Trust. Mrs Gubbay was born Hannah Ezra in Bombay India and was related, through her mother to the wealthy Sassoon family. She was widowed at a comparatively early age with no children, and after her husband died, did not remarry. An avid collector, she left porcelain, textiles and 18th century furniture to the National Trust on her death in 1956. [i] Wood, Lucy, Catalogue of Commodes 1994 London:HMSO p.216 [ii] Thanks to Christopher Rowell of the National Trust for this information. There were a number of artisans in the Broad Street area in the late eighteenth century. Ince & Mayhew took over from Charles Smith in the cabinet-making trade in 1759 and were based at the western end of Broad Street in Marshall Street. When Thomas Sheraton produced his Cabinet Dictionary in 1803, there were four other cabinet-makers in Broad Street: Hudson and Corney at Nos.4 and 13, Jermain at No.10 Broad Street, Lonsdale at No. 7 and Owen an Upholsterer at No. 54.
Thomas Sheraton was himself living at 8 Broad Street where copies of the Dictionary could be obtained. It would be very surprising if he and William Ince did not meet occasionally to discuss the trade. Thomas Sheraton died in 1806 and the writer of his obituary in the Gentlemen’s Magazine was concerned that he had left his family ‘in distressed circumstances’ mainly because since 1793 he had been supporting himself as an author. He was described as ‘a very honest well-disposed man; of an acute and enterprising disposition’. Broad Street also housed a number of instrument makers: the harpsichord maker Jacob Kirckman, who came to England in the 1730s, had his business at No.19. He was organist of St. George's, Hanover Square, and the author of several compositions for the organ and the pianoforte which he published himself at the sign of the 'King's Arms' in Broad Street, Carnaby Market. He died in 1777 but the business was continued by his nephew, Abraham. There is record of a square piano inscribed Jacob and Abraham Kirchmann dated 1775 and a grand piano dated 1780 was also theirs[i]. Frederick Beck the piano maker was at No.4 Broad Street, producing square pianos between 1772 and 1788, with attributions to 1798. Thomas Beck, pianoforte maker was at the same address. Beck was also in business with George Corrie of 41, Broad Street about 1790[ii]. Christopher Ganer was a piano maker, inlayer, music publisher and seller initially at 22 Broad Street moving to 47 Broad Street, Soho and also at 48 Broad Street from the early 1780’s. From 1779, he made very elegant inlaid square pianos on a “French” frame stand as well as plain examples.[iii] William Blake, the painter and poet, was born at No. 74 (then No. 28) Broad Street and after his marriage in 1782 he set up in business as a print seller next-door in No. 72 (then No. 27), but had removed to Poland Street by Christmas 1785; his partner, James Parker, remained at No. 72 until 1794.[iv] The two sculptors and carvers, Sefferin Alken and Sefferin Nelson were based in Dufours Place, a little alley off the north of Broad Street. A National School was established in Marshall Street in 1827, described as situated at the end of Broad-street, Golden Square – the exact site that Ince & Mayhew bought from Charles Smith in 1758, as shown on the map in the Victoria County History[v]. Three school rooms were erected with apartments for the masters and mistresses plus a shop used as a depot for the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge. There were two day-schools and two evening-schools, separate for boys and girls, and an infant-school. There were over 1000 pupils in total. The school closed in 1892. [i] https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/A_Dictionary_of_Music_and_Musicians/Kirkman [ii] http://earlypiano.co.uk/2013/arnold-frederick-beck/ [iii] http://earlypiano.co.uk/2013/ganer-christopher/ [iv] http://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-london/vols31-2/pt2/pp196-208#highlight-first [v] http://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-london/vols31-2/pt2/pp196-208#highlight-first I have been reading about the beautiful Rosebery Desk which was made by Ince & Mayhew around 1775 and was in the collection of the 5th Earl of Rosebery. It was sold by his daughter Lady Sybil Grant in 1956 to a private collector in Canada and later loaned to the Metropolitan Museum of New York. To see some photographs of this delightful piece, follow the link below. The desk has superb marquetry throughout and is described as ‘meticulously inlaid’[1]. It has an inlaid roll-top with a leather writing surface inside, with pigeon holes in satinwood and small drawers in burr yew, which flank a small mahogany painted cupboard door. The front has a drawer and a frieze which includes two wyverns with scaly fish tails. The desk is similar to the roll-top desk attributed to Ince & Mayhew at Syon House. The wyvern can be found on other furniture associated with Ince & Mayhew, and appear in heraldry. Two wyverns support the arms of the Dukes of Marlborough and are so depicted on the dedication page of the Universal System of Household Furniture. I wonder if William Ince had enjoyed drawing them and wanted to include them in some of his designs, though it may be that the design came originally from Robert Adam. [1] https://issuu.com/mallett/docs/21_the_age_of_matthew_boulton I had a most enjoyable visit to Christie’s last week to see the giltwood armchairs and stools and the superb serpentine serving table made by Ince & Mayhew in the 1770s. It was a pleasure to meet some of the staff, including Charles Cator. They were very knowledgeable about the pieces and emphasised the quality of the furniture produced by the firm. I wondered if Ince & Mayhew had some sort of quality control, inspecting pieces before they were delivered to make sure the standard of workmanship was satisfactory. It was interesting to see the bottom of one of the chairs with the deep V-notches that were carved to allow clamps to hold the legs in place when they were being glued, necessary with the rounded backs. The Auction was held on 8th March and the armchairs were sold for £20,000, the stools for £25,000, nearly three times the estimate, and the table for £65,000, more than double the estimate. The National Library of Wales owns two letters written by William Ince to Richard Myddleton at Chirk Castle, one on 3rd October, 1782 and the other on 11th September, 1783 (E5126-E5128). I was able to purchase digital copies of them for my research. Interestingly one sheet has the address written on it with the wax seal that was used to seal it. At first I thought the seal said I & M, then I realised that the letter had been folded so the seal should be read the other way up. Turning the photo round revealed a very clear M & I stamped on the wax. I have traced the lettering to create a rough impression of their 'logo', bearing in mind that the wax would have spread and that the letter is over two hundred and thirty years old. The I is very similar to the I in William Ince's signature and is cleverly wound round the front of the M. I am using a mini-version of the seal as the favicon for this website - the little icon on each page. |
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Sarah Ingle is the great great great great grand-daughter of William Ince and has been researching her family history for a number of years. She thoroughly enjoyed the detective work involved in tracing William’s lineage. Archives
December 2022
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