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Lot Essay
HENRY HICKS ARRIVED IN GOSPORT FROM LONDON IN 1796,SETTING UP HIS BUSINESS IN MIDDLE STREET IN MAY. BRITAIN AND FRANCE WERE AT WAR FROM 1792 TO 1815 APART FROM A BRIEF RESPITE IN 1802 AND GOSPORT,AS THE VICTUALLING CENTRE FOR THE BRITISH FLEET IN PORTSMOUTH HARBOUR,WAS A THRIVING TOWN.IN 1799 HE ADVERTISED FOR TWO CABINET MAKERS,OFFERING 'CONSTANT EMPLOY AND GOOD WAGES' AND REGULARLY INSERTED ADVERTISEMENTS IN THE LOCAL NEWSPAPER,ALTHOUGH MOSTLY RELATING TO HIS AUCTIONEERING ACTIVITIES. IN 1817 HE ADVERTISED THAT HE 'CONTINUES TO MANUFACTURE ALL KINDS OF CABINET FURNITURE IN THE BEST AND MOST MODERN STYLE,WITH WELL-SEASONED MATERIALS AT VERY REDUCED PRICES'.THE WAR HAD,HOWEVER,NOW BEEN OVER FOR TWO YEARS WITH SEVERE ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES FOR GOSPORT AND IN NOVEMBER 1817 HICKS INSERTED A NOTICE THAT HE WAS'LEAVING HIS BUSINESS' TO RETURN TO LONDON.
A CARD TABLE BEARING THE SAME LABEL IS IN GOSPORT MUSEUM.
THIS CHEST IS ILLUSTRATED AND DISCUSSED,WITH THE METHODS OF RESEARCH EMPLOYED,IN JOHN STABLER,'ENGLISH NEWSPAPER ADVERTISEMENTS AS A SOURCE OF FURNITURE HISTORY', REGIONAL FURNITURE,1991. WE ARE GRATEFUL TO DR JOHN STABLER FOR GIVING US ACCESS TO HIS RESEARCH ON HENRY HICKS AND A RESEARCH PAPER BY HIM ACCOMPANIES THIS CHEST.
A CARD TABLE BEARING THE SAME LABEL IS IN GOSPORT MUSEUM.
THIS CHEST IS ILLUSTRATED AND DISCUSSED,WITH THE METHODS OF RESEARCH EMPLOYED,IN JOHN STABLER,'ENGLISH NEWSPAPER ADVERTISEMENTS AS A SOURCE OF FURNITURE HISTORY', REGIONAL FURNITURE,1991. WE ARE GRATEFUL TO DR JOHN STABLER FOR GIVING US ACCESS TO HIS RESEARCH ON HENRY HICKS AND A RESEARCH PAPER BY HIM ACCOMPANIES THIS CHEST.