DATED 1792

The Lambeth firm of Eleanor Coade introduced this form of arch keystone in their Rustic Frontispieces for Doorways, in the early 1770s. This pattern may be related to the 'Comic Masks' listed in the Descriptive Catalogue of Coade's Artificial Stone Manufactory, 1778 nos. 458 and 459; and can be identified with the long-lived laughing philosopher Democritus (d. 370 B.C.) in the 1820 Order Book of William Croggon (d. 1835), who was taken on by Eleanor Coade as manager of the works in 1813 (A. Kelly, op cit p. 160). The production of keystones was immense and the many survivors on buildings today is a testament to the strength of the Coade compound. As front doors were more or less of a standard sizes, the sets of blocks could be made in large numbers and were very cheap. Coade stone door surrounds can be seen all over the area between the British Museum and Edgware Road, and between Marylebone Road and Oxford Street in London. The stamping of their keystones on the underside at the front was deliberate so that the Coade name could be seen from underneath, even when the keystone was rebated into a wall.