London, Thomas

'Fancy' cabinet painter, profilist and latterly a tea dealer, THOMAS LONDON (ca.1781-1826) is recorded using ivory for 'standard' sized profiles, a medium usually reserved for smaller jewellery pieces and portrait miniatures. Three trade labels evidence him active in Kidderminster, Worcester and Cheltenham. Relatively rare and distinctive even without a trade label, his work is easily attributable.

 

London's silhouettes, all housed in papier-mâché frames, are finely painted in deepening shades of grey water-colour, darkest grey being reserved for sitters' faces. Chinese white is sometimes used for highlighting and the attire of female sitters is produced with an obvious relish for detail. A distinctive feature of earlier works is a grey-green background filling three quarters of the ivory oval, but leaving clear the space behind a sitter's face. In later works the shading can be absent.  Absent too, excepting on some later profiles, are bustline terminations. London's last known work, dated 1817, with clear background and bustline termination, was sold by Drewett Neate Auctions in 2019.

 

Three printed trade labels are now recorded. The first (ca. 1798-1803?) offers "...CORRECT LIKENESSES IN PROFILE by his machine...to any size, at 5 Minutes' Sitting...upon Paper or Ivory at 6s to 10s each at Mrs. Platers', Bull-Ring, Kidderminster". The 2nd trade label (ca. 1803 - ca.1817?) offers the same terms but now from "...his House, 26, Cross, Worcester". Though work on paper is advertised, none has yet been recorded.

 

Recently discovered, a 3rd trade label, actually a cut-down handbill, records London 'on the road' in the fashionable spa town of Cheltenham. Prior to this discovery, it was long assumed he worked solely in Worcestershire. Printed by the CHELTENHAM CHRONICLE, the handbill can only have been produced after the newspaper's initial issue in May 1809. Operating from "...his shop at Old Well Walk...Profiles...in a superior style..." are offered from 5s 6d to 7s 6d each, which is cheaper than the terms on his 2 previously recorded trade labels. "CHINESE FIGURES...IN BRILLIANT COLOURS [were offered, as was]...instruction in his peculiar and much-admired style of PAINTING IN IMITATION OF IVORY inlaid in different kinds of Wood...Lessons for 1 guinea". This offering is very odd, probably unique and probably linked to his known career as a 'fancy' cabinet painter. The "Chinese Figures..." are significant insomuch as he advertised a cabinet of "Chinese characters..." for viewing in Bath in 1824, which strongly suggests he was the producer of the cabinet's artistry.

 

No evidence has been found of London's activities between the burial of his 10-month-old daughter Frances in Worcester in October 1819 and February 1824, when on the 5th of that month he advertised his tea business in the BATH CHRONICLE. Why he moved to Bath is unknown. However the 1820 WORCESTERSHIRE GENERAL and COMMERCIAL DIRECTORY lists a Thomas Harris, agent to the 'East India Tea Company' residing at what was London's 26 Cross Street address. Given that London sold the company's tea, it seems possible Harris was the conduit for London's new source of income.

 

From recent research it appears London's main income derived from 'fancy' cabinet painting. In July 1837, when his widow applied to 'Doctor Williams' Library', London (the registration centre for certifying Non-Conformists exempt from Established Church baptisms), for birth certificates for a son and daughter, she gave London's occupation as 'Fancy Cabinet Painter'. Likely she was involved in the business, as PIGOTS 1830 and 1833 directories record her a "Tea Dealer and Fancy Cabinet Maker". As small items of furniture such as workboxes and tea caddies, 'fancy' cabinets were often embellished with porcelain or ivory roundels or ovals, decorated with profiles or some other composition. Obviously Thomas London would have had a ready stock of prepared ivory for cabinets and profiles alike. Interestingly, a generation earlier, in the BATH CHRONICLE 31st December 1778, Francis Torond (1743-1812) offered "...shades copied to any size for furniture".

 

First advertising his tea business in the BATH CHRONICLE 5th February 1824, his address is given as 3 Lower Walks opposite the Literary Institute. Built from the fire-damaged Assembly Rooms in 1820, the Institute had only just opened. London also used his tea advertisements to promote "...a magnificent cabinet of Chinese characters" to be viewed at his premises for 1 shilling admission. Likely inspired by his oriental tea business and as evidenced by his 3rd trade label, the "characters..." were almost certainly painted by him. In the 1837 BATH DIRECTORY his widow offered the cabinet and a similar one for sale for £300 (or £28,500 in 2025 values).

 

Regarding his family circumstances, his birthplace and forebears are unknown. On 24th July 1803, he married Frances 'Fanny' Yarnoll (1776-1868), daughter of a shoemaker, at St. Nicholas, Worcester. Fanny gave birth to 2 sons and 5 daughters between 1804-1819.  Four were baptised in Non-Conformist chapels. Only 2 offspring survived to adulthood. Both inherited artistic skills. Thomas Jnr (1809 - 1893) is recorded a drawing master and photographer, while Elizabeth (1813 - 1898) is listed as "Miss London - Miniature Painter" in the 1846 BATH DIRECTORY and after marriage as "Elizabeth Raphael - Miniature Painter" in 1861 - 1891 Census returns.

 

Thomas London died 5th September 1826, aged 45, his 14th September BATH CHRONICLE obituary stating "...deeply regretted by all who knew him, Mr. Thomas London of the Lower Walks". His widow Fanny died in August 1868, aged 93. Both were buried along with daughter Mary (1816 -1832) in the Argyll Chapel burying ground, Bathampton, Bath.

 

Revised 27th January 2025 (Brian Wellings)