BY WILKINSON, MID-19TH CENTURY

The firm of Wilkinson and Sons was first recorded in 1766 when Joshua Wilkinson was listed as a "cabinet-maker and broker" in Moorfields. Two generations later, Wilkinson & Sons was a flourishing business, and by 1807 the firm was advertising tables covered "by the King's patent." At the same time, William Wilkinson, the current head of the firm, adopted a policy of stamping his furniture. Several versions exist, some followed by a number, as seen on this bookcase. His sons Charles and William joined the business in the early 1820s, and the firm received many important commissions including one in 1834 for the furniture for the new Goldsmith's Hall, much of which remains there to this day. After the death of William Sr. in 1833, Charles and William changed the firm's name to W. & C. Wilkinson, and in 1855 they moved to new premises at 8 New Bond Street.