Archive of Fireplace, Chimneypiece, and Furniture Design

Extensive collection of original watercolors, designs, sketches, blueprints, and other plans primarily of fireplace designs from the renowned English furniture designers.

• Leeds and London: Marsh, Jones, & Cribb / James Chappell & Son, [circa 1920s-1930s].
• Includes: 36 finished watercolors, 24 mounted on board (most with tissue overlays), 8 loose sizes, plus four finished watercolors of a complete room executed directly on board.
• With: 25 preliminary and detail pencil sketches (totaling some 60+ individual drawings) mounted on 21 sheets of notebook paper, plus 6 loose on tracing paper; three finished sketches for furniture and window treatments; seven printed trade catalogues issued by the firm and their suppliers, including one hand-colored mockup; gelatin silver black-and-white snapshot photograph of staff; one original sketch plan by Marsh Jones And Cribb for a house remodel in Leeds (with municipal approval stamp dated 1938); two large architectural plans (folded); and two finished bedroom designs in ink and watercolor.
• Housed in two archival boxes.

"In the decoration of new houses, or the redecoration of old, we offer free of charge, both expert advice and illustrated suggestions for the treatment of any room, whether antique of modern style."

Founded in the late 1700s in Leeds, Marsh, Jones, & Cribb became one of the most celebrated furniture designers of the Victorian era, and their reputation endured well into the 20th century. The material in this archive focuses mainly on the firm's chimneypieces, hearths, mantels, and other fireplace elements (columns, capitals, finials, etc.), which MJ&C offered in both readymade and bespoke options. The designs here likely represent work for the latter category.

The heart of the collection is a series of more than thirty stunning and ornate watercolors that situate each fireplace in a finished room, complete with paneled walls, sconces, furnishings, window treatments, doors, lighting, plants, framed art, and books on shelves — including several with evocatively lit or smoldering fires. Many of the tableaux show the clear influence of Frank Lloyd Wright, and similarly straddle the transition from the Arts & Crafts designs of the Edwardian period to the modern Art Deco tastes of the Jazz Age. These watercolors are augmented by several dozen preliminary sketches, as well as two copies of the firm's catalogue of Chimneypieces (dated 1921), one of which contains seven hand-colored plates, almost certainly by the same artist and likely prepared as a mockup for a revision following the firm's 1930 merger with James Chappell & Son.

Of particular interest is a spectacular, almost doll-house-like four-panel series of a fully completed room design, with one panel for each wall. The completed watercolor design shows the breadth of decorative services offered by the firm, from fine oak furniture and decorative plasterwork to lighting and upholstery. Its four-panel layout brings the viewer into the room, creating a compelling illusion of the atmosphere in the room.

The archive includes three additional trade catalogues from the firm and two from one of their suppliers (Lee Fabrics of Birkenhead), an original pencil-sketched plan by Marsh, Jones, & Cribb for a home remodel in Leeds, two large architect's blueprints for domestic projects by Trollope & Sons of London for which MJ&C presumably supplied elements, two large finished bedroom designs in ink and watercolor, three finished sketches for furniture and window treatment designs, and an undated photograph of the staff.

A vivid and exquisite portrait of high-end bespoke English architecture and interior design between the wars.