British picture framemakers, 1750-1950

A selective directory, to be revised and expanded annually. 1st edition November 2007. Contributions are welcome, to Jacob Simon at jsimon@npg.org.uk. Cross-references to other makers are indicated by adding '(qv)' after the relevant name. Bibliography and resources

William Waters. A candidate for a proposed supplement to this Directory, to include framemakers active before 1750. Contact Jacob Simon at jsimon@npg.org.uk.

Edward F. Watson, 2 Poland St, Oxford St, London 1830-1831, 49 Poland St 1833-1837, St James's Gallery of Art, 201 Piccadilly 1838-1877. Carver and gilder, picture dealer and restorer, artist.

It seems probable that Edward Façon Watson (1804-92) was the individual christened at Kirton in Holland, Lincolnshire, on 13 February 1804, when he appears to have been recorded as Edward Faken Watson. He was a very occasional exhibitor at the Royal Academy and the Royal Society of British Artists from 1839 to 1870. In the census in 1861 he was listed as an artist and picture restorer, age 50, and in 1871 as a carver and gilder, age 68, born in Lincolnshire. The business had an account with the artists' colourmen, Roberson, 1842-63, from 201 Piccadilly (Woodcock 1997). At his retirement in 1877, Watson held a sale of watercolours and picture frames (The Times 10 March 1877). He died at home at the age of 88 or 89 in 1892 (The Times 12 July 1892).

In 1843 E.F. Watson advertised, as agent to the Art Union of London, a 'Characteristic Frame expressly for the Engravings given to its members' (The Art-Union June 1843 p.133). The following year he advertised that he continued to restore old paintings, 'upon the most approved and scientific principles' (February 1844 p.50). He offered imitation ormolu frames in carved and gilt wood, 'enclosed in a highly-polished rosewood case, faced with plate glass, and backed with velvet' (November 1844 p.321); these cost one-fifth the price of ormolu frames. In the same advertisement he referred to paintings added to his Picture Gallery. Watson published A few observations on picture cleaning and restoring, 1863 (copy in V&A National Art Library, 40.B Box II).

As Façon Watson, artist and picture restorer, he advertised that he restored paintings including pictures on copper, crayon and other drawings, engravings and miniatures on ivory, also offering carved Florentine and other frames (The Artists' Directory 1875, p.190). William Clifford took over his business as a picture restorer in 1877.

Ernest Walter Wesson, see A.E. Burling

Charles Henry West 1895-1947, Charles H. West Ltd 1948-1960. At 115 Finchley Road, London NW4 1895-1901, 117 Finchley Road 1902-1960. Picture framemaker and artists' colourman.

Charles Henry West (b. c.1868) took over premises of Henry West, picture framemaker, at 115 Finchley Road. In the 1901 census, he was living at 179 Belsize Road, his father-in-law's house, where he was listed as an artists' colourman, age 33. West acted as an agent for Cambridge colours, 1897, made by Madderton & Co Ltd, and had an account with the artists' colourmen, Roberson, 1899-1908 (Woodcock 1997).

As an artists' colourman, picture framer and gilder, West advertised 'Power-driven machinery' and offered 'Vans to all Exhibitions' (The Year's Art 1903). In 1934, he advertised as 'Artists' Colourman, Exhibition Agent, Frame Maker', reproducing a view of his picture frame showroom (The Artist, vol.7, March 1934), and claiming, 'The framing of your R.A. picture will provide no problem if placed in the hands of Chas. H. West, who has specialised in this class of work for the past 50 years. He holds very large stocks of mouldings of all descriptions, and a vast number of frames of all sizes for selecting purposes'.

In April 1940, the Ministry of Information obtained quotations from three firms, Alfred Stiles & Sons (qv), J. Tanous (qv) and C.H. West, for the framing of works by official war artists, the contract going to Stiles (Simon 1996 p.135). By 1962 the business was being run as a branch of Clifford Milburn & Co (The Artist April 1962).

West's label as a picture framer can be found on several portraits by Reginald Grenville Eves, including Sir Frederick Pollock, c.1926 (National Portrait Gallery, label on stretcher), Sir Frank Robert Benson, 1927 (Theatre Museum, see Geoffrey Ashton, Catalogue of Paintings at the Theatre Museum, London, 1992, p.129), and on the Spanish-style frame of William Reid Dick, 1933 (Scottish National Portrait Gallery).

West's canvas mark as an artists' colourman can be found on John Collier's George Smith, 1901, Charles Buchel's Marguerite Radclyffe Hall, 1918, Philippe Ledoux's Sir William Reid Dick, exh.1934, with stretcher rather than canvas stamp, and R.G. Eves's Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, 1935 (all National Portrait Gallery).

Charles Wharton, 'The Crown and Two Sceptres', Queen St, in the Park, Southwark, London. Picture framemaker.

Charles Wharton's impressive trade card, dating to the early 18th century, describes him as picture framemaker and features picture frames, either in gold, lacquered or black, maps and prints (ready-framed) and paintings on glass (repr. Heal 1972 p.192; Johnson Coll. Trade Cards 24 (67).

Benjamin Wheatley, see Doig, Wilson & Wheatley

Arnold Wiggins A candidate for a proposed supplement to this Directory. Contact Jacob Simon at jsimon@npg.org.uk.

Thomas Wilson, see Doig, Wilson & Wheatley

John Woodburn 1797-1811, Allen Woodburn 1818 (as a gilder), Messrs Woodburn, also known as Woodburn brothers 1817-1836, Samuel Woodburn 1826-1827, Samuel and Allen Woodburn 1836-1853. At 112 St Martin's Lane, London 1799-1853. Picture and old master drawing dealers, print dealers and publishers, picture framemakers.

The business was set up by John Woodburn, who was listed by 1799 as a 'picture warehouse', and who was presumably Woodburn the dealer mentioned by artist Joseph Farington in his diaries in 1797 and 1801 (Farington, vol.3 p.876, vol.4 p.1511). Woodburn's business was continued by his children, of whom Samuel Woodburn is best known. He has been described by Frits Lugt as the principal art dealer of his period, working in association with his brothers William, Allen and Henry ('four highly respectable brothers', according to the draughtsman, John Thomas Smith in 1828. Lugt provides the best summary account of Samuel Woodburn's dealing activities and his posthumous sales.

John Woodburn and Frances Klema (or Clama) Palmer were married at St Clement Danes in 1775. Samuel and Allen Woodburn were among many children, born over the next twenty years, and christened at St Martin-in-the-Fields or St Anne's Soho. Samuel Woodburn (c.1780/5-1853) was in business publishing prints by 1811. His considerable activities as a leading print dealer and as a print publisher have been the subject of recent study by Antony Griffiths and Simon Turner. Samuel Woodburn was responsible for assisting in the assembly and then the dispersal of Sir Thomas Lawrence's superb collection of Old Master drawings. His portrait by Lawrence is in the Fitzwilliam Museum. The considerable history of this business as picture dealers is not traced here. In the 1841 census, Allen and Henry Woodburn were both listed as picture dealers at 112 St Martin's Lane, while Samuel was listed in Park Lane.

The younger brother, Allen Woodburn (1786-1851), seems to have been responsible for the framing activities of the business. His frame label, the main text in a central oval with an image of a frame in each of the outer four corners, describes him as, 'A. Woodburn, Picture Frame Maker & Gilder, No. 112 St Martin's Lane, Charing Cross. B. Paintings, Prints & Needlework neatly Framed and Glazed. Old Frames Regilt' (found on Nathaniel Hone's General Lloyd, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, part of Lord Fitzwilliam's founding collection in 1816; information from David Scrase, March 2007).

Descriptions such as ''Woodburns corners' and 'Woodburns ogee bubble' in the ledgers of another framemaker, John Smith (qv), from 1817 until 1828, suggest that Woodburn was among the sources used by Smith for composition ornaments for his picture frames, whether as a subcontracting supplier or a source of moulds (see Simon 1996 p.140).

John Constable had one of his paintings on sale through the business in 1818, as we find from a letter from Allen Woodburn to the artist (Correspondence IV, p.165). He is documented as using Woodburn for some picture framing and perhaps for other services between 1821 and 1831. In 1821 he was using ' Mr Woodburn' to pack pictures (Correspondence VI, p.65). On 10 September 1825 Constable noted in his journal, 'I called on Mr. Woodburn ­ found my frame bill £65 which was more than I expected, but it was all right', and on 24 November he recorded, 'I dined with Allen Woodburn in St. Martin's Lane', adding on 6 December, 'Two Mr. Woodburns called-Allen & Samuel-the "Gentleman", for he really is.' (Correspondence II, pp.390, 412, 417). In correspondence with C.R. Leslie, perhaps in 1830, Constable referred to paying some old debts to Woodburn and others, and there is a payment of £50 in Constable's bank account to Woodburn on 3 September 1831 (Correspondence III, p.26, IV, p.167). Later, Samuel Woodburn called Constable to act as an expert witness in a court case in 1835 (Correspondence IV, p.168).

Sources: John Thomas Smith, Nollekens and his times, 1828, vol.2, p.31; Frits Lugt, Les Marques des Collections de dessins & d'estampes, Amsterdam, 1921, pp.483-5; Antony Griffiths, in Landmarks in Print Collecting: Connoisseurs and Donors at the British Museum since 1753, 1996, pp.90-112; Simon Turner, ' Samuel Woodburn', Print Quarterly, vol.20, 2003, pp.131-44.

Josiah Woodgate, see J. Woodgate and Vacani

Edward Wyatt, 360 Oxford St, London by 1784-1860. Carver and gilder, picture framemaker.

Edward Wyatt (1757-1833) has been described by his biographer, John Martin Robinson, as among the most accomplished woodcarvers to work in England. He began his career by making picture frames at 360 Oxford St, next door to the Pantheon, as his trade card specifies, and it has been suggested that he may have got the lease of the premises through the influence of his cousin, James Wyatt, the Pantheon's architect. His trade card describes him as 'Carver, Gilder and Picture Frame Maker', offering 'Looking Glasses, Girandoles, Bordering for Rooms &c in the newest taste. Prints neatly Fram'd and Glaz'd' (repr. Heal 1972 p.202). He published a caricature in 1784 (BM Satires no.6703). In 1787 he subscribed to George Richardson's A Treatise on the five orders of Architecture (Biography database). In 1795 he was chairman of a meeting of fifteen consumers and manufacturers of leaf gold who met to resist the attempt by journeymen goldbeaters to increase their labour charges (The Times 22 December 1795).

In 1798 Wyatt was appointed carver and gilder to the Office of Works and he undertook carving and building work for various royal palaces, especially Windsor Castle and Carlton House, in the period, 1800-12. At Windsor, his work as part of James Wyatt's refurbishment included repairing picture frames. He was responsible for further carving and gilding at Windsor under Jeffry Wyattville from 1824. He undertook work at Belvoir Castle, 1801-13, and apparently at Dodington Park, 1808, under James Wyatt, and at Chesterfield House and Ashridge under Wyattville. Given the large number of members of the Wyatt family active in building work, it is not possible to be categorical that all these references refer to the carver and gilder of Oxford St. Other patrons for carvings and furniture are listed in the Dictionary of English Furniture Makers.

For George IV, James Wyatt made special 'Admiral frames' for portraits of some naval heroes of the early 19th century, with dolphins, anchors, coral and sprigs of oak in the corners, as well as framing other pictures from 1811 until 1830, including in 1825 a picture by William Collins, and in 1830 pictures by James Northcote and the late Sir Thomas Lawrence (Millar 1969 p.xxxi, nos 708, 849, 912, 974, 1024, etc).

In 1825, Edward Wyatt, or his son, attended a meeting of more than fifty master carvers and gilders who resolved to resist the demands of journeymen for an increase in wages (The Times 30 June 1825). In the 1820s he bought a small country estate at Merton for his eldest son. He died a rich man. His business in London was carried on by his second son, also Edward Wyatt (1787-1860), who undertook work at Buckingham Palace, 1838-40, and is recorded working for Queen Victoria, 1850-3 (DEFM; Joy 1969 p.685). He also worked at Hackwood Park, 1850, under Lewis Wyatt.

Sources: John Martin Robinson, The Wyatts: an Architectural Dynasty, 1979, pp.157-60, to which this account is indebted; Gunnis 1968 p.446.

James Wyatt from 1806, James Wyatt & Son by 1839-1853, James Wyatt junr 1853-1882. At 115 High St, Oxford 1805-1882. Printsellers and publishers, carvers and gilders, picture and looking glass framemakers.

James Wyatt (1774-1853) and his son, also James, traded in the High St in Oxford for more than 70 years. The father commissioned work from both J.M.W. Turner and John Everett Millais. Son of an Oxford baker, Thomas Wyatt, he was apprenticed in 1789 to the Oxford carver, gilder and picture framemaker, Robert Archer. In 1802 he was taken into partnership by Archer, an arrangement which lasted until 1806 (Jackson's Oxford Journal 15 May 1802, 25 January 1806). He then set up in business on his own, announcing that he was opening a shop opposite All Saints Church in the High St (Jackson's Oxford Journal 25 January 1806), advertising, 'Colours, and every Article for Drawing. Paintings, Prints and Needle Work, neatly framed and glazed. Carving in all Kinds of Wood, Stone, &c. Concave and Convex Mirrors, Looking-Glass Plates of all Sizes with or without Frames, Girandoles, Sconces, and Bordering for Rooms. Old Frames new gilt, in Oil or burnished Gold', later advertising additionally canvas for oil painting (Jackson's Oxford Journal 12 April 1806).

Wyatt traded from 115 High St, but it is possible that he did occupy these particular premises in the High St from the outset. By 1810 he had begun to deal in pictures and prints, in particular advertising the arrival of J.M.W. Turner's picture, High Street, Oxford, and that it was to be engraved (Jackson's Oxford Journal 31 March 1810 and subsequently). By 1823 he was listed as a printseller in Pigot's Directory. He lived over his shop until his death in 1853.

Wyatt was a prominent figure in Oxford's public life and served as Mayor in 1842. He was curator of pictures at Blenheim Palace. A portrait of Wyatt by John Bridges, on loan to the City Council, has an elaborate frame carved with trophies portraying the tools of his trade. In his will, dated 19 July 1848 and proved 29 September 1853, he left his premises and their appurtenances to his son James the younger, subject to him making payments to his brother and sisters. James Wyatt the elder's collection was sold at Christie's in July 1853.

Wyatt's son, James Wyatt the younger (1810-82), continued the business at 115 High St, Oxford. In the 1851 census he was described as a printseller, in 1861 as a printseller and publisher, in 1871 as employing five men and one boy, and in 1881 as a printseller, age 70, still living at 115 High St, with his wife, Eliza, and daughter, Florence.

In 1809 James Wyatt commissioned two works from J.M.W. Turner, High Street, Oxford, and Oxford from the Abingdon Road, for engraving. Turner rejected the idea of fitting the works to existing frames, writing to Wyatt, 'You may prepare a frame 2 feet 3 inches high by 3 Feet 3 long'. By May 1810 he was urging Wyatt to send the first frame so that he might show the picture in his own gallery. In 1812 both pictures were hung in the Royal Academy. Turner wrote, 'As to the Frame it is very handsome', but he feared that the crest might be damaged because of the way it was made. Wyatt later worked for the marine painter, E.W. Cooke, 1836-9, and produced the frame for Cooke's Undercliff Cave, 1836, owned by Robert Vernon (Tate, see Simon 1996 p.115).

James Wyatt was a patron of the young John Everett Millais from at least 1846, notably commissioning his own portrait with his granddaughter from Millais in 1849. An exhibition of works by modern British artists, including the Pre-Raphaelites, was held at Oxford Town Hall in 1854; it has been suggested that it was put together by James Wyatt junr.

Sources: DEFM; Stephanie Jenkins, website, Welcome to Headington, Oxford, accessed 22 April 2007, James Wyatt, Mayor of Oxford, to which the above account is indebted; John Gage (ed.), Collected Correspondence of J.M.W. Turner, Oxford, 1980, pp.39, 43, 52; E.W. Cooke ledger 1833-78, Royal Academy Library, see also John Munday, Edward William Cooke 1811-1880, Woodbridge, 1996, especially pp.228, 375-9; Colin Harrison, 'An Exhibition at the Oxford Town Hall in 1854', The Ashmolean, no.47, 2004, pp.12-13.

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