A Superb Quality Mid 19th Century Papier Mache Tray, Of Rectangular Form With Exceptional Hand Painted And Gilded Decoration To Black And Green Ground Background.

Stamped “James Shoolbred & Co, Tottenham Court Road”.

Dated March 1875.

This fantastic quality papier mache tray is one of the nicest we have seen in a long while with quite exceptional decoration and its a great size as well. It would look great sat flat on top of a stool or similar in the middle of a room, or sat in a plate rack on the side, or alternatively it could even be mounted on to the wall as it is pretty much a piece of art in its own right.

James Shoolbred formed his company Shoolbred & Co, initially at 153 Tottenham Court Road around 1817. The company quickly grew through various partnerships and by the time of James Snr’s death in 1862 his sons were working in the business wih him and pushing forward their expansion plans. In fact by 1876 they were listed in The Furniture Gazette Directory as operating from four locations across London, including 151 – 158 Tottenham Court Road which covered 1.75 acres alone with a frontage of 250ft. A large amount of the stock which they retailed was manufactured in their own workshops, although naturally when running an operation of this size not all of it could be made in house.

Using the diamond registration mark system which was in place in England from 1842 – 1883, we are able to date the manufature of this tray to March 1875.

Height 2in.
Width 24.5in.
Depth 19in.