Part 9 (2/2)

DOMESTIC FURNIs.h.i.+NGS

As the mansion progressed, so did the acquisition of furnis.h.i.+ngs suitable to its elegance. As early as 1742, doubtless in antic.i.p.ation of the new house, Mercer had bought from Hunter a ”lanthorn,” three porringers, two cotton counterpanes at 27s., a plate warmer for 7s. 6d., a half-dozen plates for 3s. 6d., a half-dozen deep plates for 6s., a dozen ”Stone Coffee cups” for 18d., a dozen knives and forks for 3s., two tin saucepans at 4d. each, and ”4 Dishes, 19-1/2 lib.” (obviously large pewter chargers). In 1743 he bought ”5 gallon Basons 4/7” and ”2 pottle Basons at 2/4” (for toilet use), ”1 Soop Spoon 1/,” and ”1 Copper Chocolate pot 7/6 & mull Stick 6^d,” ”2 blew & W^t Jugs 2/” (probably Westerwald stoneware), and ”1 Flanders Bed Bunt, 25” (colored cotton or linen used for bedcovers).

In 1744 Mercer acquired from Charles d.i.c.k 4 candlesticks for a penny each, 2 pairs of large hinges, a ”hair sifter,” ”2 kitchen buck hand knives,” 12 cups and saucers for 2s., ”1 milkmaid 2^d” (probably a shoulder yoke), and ”1 bucket 1/2^d.” In 1745 a 5-gallon ”Stone bottle”

for 3s. 6d., ”1 doz. butcher knives,” a hearthbroom, six spoons for a s.h.i.+lling, a pair of scissors, ”8 Chamberdoor Locks w^{th} bra.s.s k.n.o.bs 2,” and ”1 Sett finest China 35/, 2 punch bowls ... 2.7” were purchased.

The following year Mercer paid a total of 23 for a silver sugar dish, weighing 8 oz., 5 dwt.; one dozen teaspoons and tray, 8 oz., 7 dwt.; a teapot and frame, 26 oz., 8 dwt. This lot of silver probably was bought at second hand, having been referred to as ”Pugh's Plate p^d Edw^d Wright as by Rec^t.” He paid John c.o.ke, a Williamsburg silversmith, 1 6s. for engraving and cleaning it. In the meanwhile, in 1745, he had sold c.o.ke 6 worth of old silver. He also sold a quant.i.ty of ”old Plate”

for 15 17s. 3d. to Richard Langton in England through Sydenham & Hodgson. In 1747 he made a large purchase of silver from the silversmith William King[99] of Williamsburg:

oz. dwt. s. d.

May 1747 By Bernard Moore for 1 Cup 51 1 30 8 3

By James Power for 1 Waiter 8 7-1/2 4 14 2-1/2

By a pair of Sauceboats 25 8

By a large Waiter 29 3 48 11 3-1/2

By a smaller D^o 23 8

By a small D^o 8 8 -------------------------------- 148 15-1/2 @ 11/3 84 13 9

In March 1748, Mercer settled with Captain Lyndon for the following:

s. d.

1 superfine large gilt Sconce gla.s.s 6 16 1 D^o 5 5 1 Walnut & gold D^o 2 10 1 Marble Sideboard 32/6 Bragolo [sic] 32/6 3 5

The following June he bought a marble table from William Jordan and in October ”4 looking Gla.s.ses,” which Jordan obtained from Sydenham & Hodgson.

Meanwhile, William Walker's brother Robert made 14 chairs for Mercer, on which William's carver spent 54 days. The total cost was 30 8s. The quality of Mercer's furniture is ill.u.s.trated further by a purchase in 1750 from Lyonel Lyde,[100] a London merchant, of 43 13s. worth of ”Cabinet Ware from Belchier.” Belchier was a leading London furniture maker, whose shop in 1750 was located on the ”south side of St. Paul's, right against the clock.” Sir Ambrose Heal, in _The London Furniture Makers_, ill.u.s.trates a superb j.a.panned writing cabinet in green and gold chinoiserie made by Belchier in 1730.[101] Belchier also supplied Shalstone Manor, the Buckinghams.h.i.+re estate of Henry Purefoy, with a table-desk in 1749 (fig. 13).[102]

The ledger notes other occasional purchases of furniture during this period. In 1746 Mercer paid cash ”for oysters & a bedsteed,” in the amount of 10s. 6d. In September 1748, he bought ”an Escritoire” from tutor John Phipps, for which he paid 5.

FOOTNOTES:

[99] Probably William King, who married Elizabeth Edwards in Stafford in 1738. He was the son of Alfred King, whose parents were William King (d. 1702) and Judith Brent of Stafford. His account with Mercer seems to indicate that he was a silversmith. ”Notes and Queries,” _The King Family, VHM_ (Richmond, 1916), vol. 24, p. 203.

[100] The _Virginia Gazette_ on January 27, 1738, announced that Major Cornelius Lyde, ”Son of Mr. _Lionel Lyde_, an eminent merchant in Bristol, died at his House in _King William_ County.” Later it referred to ”Capt. Lyonel Lyde of Bristol, [master of] the _Gooch_.” Mercer's account with Lyde in Ledger G is headed ”M^r Lyonel Lyde, Merch^t in London.”

Lyde died in 1749 before Mercer settled his account.

Elsewhere in the ledger is an account with ”Mess^{rs} Cooper, Macartney, Powel, & Lyde. E^{xrs} of Lyonel Lyde.” Another Lyonel Lyde, who became ”Sir Lyonel” by 1773, was evidently heir to the business.

[101] SIR AMBROSE HEAL, _The London Furniture Makers from the Restoration to the Victorian Era, 1660-1840_ (London: Batsford, 1953), pp. 6, 13, 236, 237.

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