Page:Catalogue of a collection of early drawings and pictures of London, with some contemporary furniture (1920).djvu/72

Companies of Carpenters, Stationers and Clothworkers. In the course of their history the City Companies have suffered many misfortunes. Of these the most disastrous was the Great Fire of 1666, which wrought havoc with their Halls and historic possessions. Most of the Halls were destroyed or suffered damage. Many were rebuilt under the influence of Sir Christopher Wren and his successors, but in most cases have been reconstructed in the nineteenth century. Fortunately, some of the panelling, carvings and furniture have been preserved and incorporated in the new buildings. The octagonal table in this exhibition, lent by the Carpenters' Company, is one of the few existing pieces earlier in date than the Great Fire.

From the Charterhouse a few good pieces of English furniture have been obtained. First a Carthusian monastery, afterwards a nobleman's palace, and lastly a Pensioners' Hospital, the Charterhouse still shows records of the different phases of its romantic history. The splendid Elizabethan staircase and some of the panelling belong to the period when the Duke of Norfolk occupied the building as a residence. Other furniture and decoration commemorates the foundation of the hospital by Thomas Sutton, a wealthy trader and philanthropist; worthy of special mention is the small communion table in the chapel, bearing his arms and a mutilated date (16—), perhaps the most distinguished piece of furniture of its period which the country possesses. Unfortunately, it has not been possible to secure this table for the present exhibition.

Much of the furniture, here exhibited, was lent to the exhibition at Bethnal Green Museum organized by the Department of Science and Art in 1896.

O. B.