BY DYSON AND BENSON, ON A LATER STAND

The Etruscan black tea-tray, wreathed by golden Greek ribbon frets, displays a rural vignette in the manner of Paul Sandby (d. 1809). It was executed at the Clerkenwell premises of Joseph Dyson, who in 1825 took over the management of Messrs Benson & Co., 'Royal Japan Manufactuers'. A manufactory at 202 St John's Street, had been established in 1803 by Joseph Benson, whose 1808 insurance policy on household goods included 'musical instruments, pictures and prints' (The Dictionary of English Furniture Makers 1660-1840, Leeds, 1986, pp. 66 and 263).
A papier-mch tray is illustrated in C. Gilbert, The Pictorial Dictionary of Marked London Furniture, 1700-1840, Leeds, 1986, p. 26 and fig. 304.