An unusual William IV amboyna and oak four drawer library table by J. Simpson, working in the workshops of George Spencer of Darlington in 1840

An unusual William IV amboyna and oak four drawer library table by Simpson, the rectangular top with cut corners and a shaped frieze disguising two cushion drawers on each side, raised on four powerful scroll legs and an additional tapered faceted pollard oak central support applied with a double petal collar in figured amboyna, the corresponding base with lion’s paw and acanthus scroll feet, each drawer stamped ‘J. Simpson’ and with a pencil inscription on the underside stating ‘Made by Jas. Simpson at Mr G. Spencers, Darlington, 1840′. Presumably G Spencer was the well-known Darlington Cabinetmaker George Spencer and he must have allowed his workmen to stamp their names on pieces in the same way that workshops like Gillows were known to do on occasion. To find a piece which has both a maker’s stamp and an inscription revealing the identity of the workshop is very rare indeed and makes this a true documentary piece. English, circa 1840.

George Spencer of Darlington

According to the British and Irish Furniture Makers Online database (BIFMO), Spencer flourished at Wellington Place in Darlington between 1827 and 1834. However research published on a Kipling family genealogy site and available here https://genealogy.kipling.me.uk/Spencers.pdf shows that Spencer was trading from at least 1825 and was certainly still trading in 1843 when one of his daughter’s wedding announcements was published in the local press. Spencer died in 1857 aged 75 but the aforementioned article also cites numerous newspaper adverts published after his death which refer to pieces he made coming up for sale by auction etc. One advert in the Northern Echo, Friday 14 November 1873, states that ‘the principal part of the cabinet furniture is from the Works of the Late George Spencer of Darlington’. The furniture concerned had been supplied to ‘Mrs Robson, Park Terrace, Darlington’. Another advert in the Northern Echo, 19th of August 1884, mentions a ‘massive mahogany sideboard, 7 feet long, by G. Spencer, of Darlington’ which was being sold by the executors of ‘Mrs Allison’ of Darlington. The fact that Spencer’s name was still seen as relevant so long after his death is testament to his importance in the local area and the fame his workshops had achieved.