Brown, Ford Madox (1821–1893), painter and designer, was born at Calais, France, on 16 April 1821, the son of Ford Brown (d. 1842) and his wife, Caroline (d. 1839), the daughter of Tristram Maries Madox, of an old Kent yeoman family. ...
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Brown, Ford Madox (1821–1893), painter and designer
Tim Barringer
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Darly, Matthias (c. 1720–1780), designer and printseller
Timothy Clayton
Darly, Matthias (c. 1720–1780), designer and printseller, is of obscure origins: nothing is known of his parents or his early life. In 1735 he was apprenticed to the clockmaker Umfraville Sampson, implying that he was probably born about 1720. In 1749 he was one of several printsellers rounded up by the government for questioning about several satirical prints which ridiculed the ...
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Day, Ronald Henry [Robin] (1915–2010), furniture designer
Lesley Jackson
Day, Ronald Henry [Robin] (1915–2010), furniture designer, was born on 25 May 1915 at 43 Oxford Road, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, the second of four sons of Arthur Thomas Day, police constable, and his wife, Mary Ann, formerly Colgrove, née Shersby. His upbringing in the furniture-making town of ...
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Heal, Sir Ambrose (1872–1959), shopkeeper and furniture designer
Alan Crawford
Heal, Sir Ambrose (1872–1959), shopkeeper and furniture designer, was born on 3 September 1872 at Crouch End, London, the eldest child of Ambrose Heal (1847–1913), bedding manufacturer and furnisher, and Emily Maria (1849–1938), daughter of Thomas Stephenson of Finchley. Thus he was born into the family firm of ...
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Jourdain, (Emily) Margaret (1876–1951), historian of English furniture and decoration
James Lees-Milne
revised by Hilary Spurling
Jourdain, (Emily) Margaret (1876–1951), historian of English furniture and decoration, was born on 15 August 1876 in Derwent, Derbyshire, the eighth of ten children of the Revd Francis Jourdain (1834–1898) and his wife, Emily, daughter of Charles Clay, a Manchester surgeon. As the hard-up daughter of a hard-up country parson, surrounded by caustic and highly competitive siblings, ...
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Kent, William (bap. 1686, d. 1748), painter, architect, and designer of gardens and interior furnishings
John Harris
Kent, William (bap. 1686, d. 1748), painter, architect, and designer of gardens and interior furnishings, was baptized William Cant in St Mary's Church, Bridlington, Yorkshire, on 1 January 1686, the son of William Cant and his wife, Esther Shimmings.
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Marot, Daniel (1661–1752), architect, designer, and engraver
Tessa Murdoch
Marot, Daniel (1661–1752), architect, designer, and engraver, was born in Paris in 1661, the son of the protestant Jean Marot (1619–1679), engraver and architect, and his wife, Charlotte, daughter of the Dutch cabinet-maker Abraham Garbrand. Daniel assisted his father on his engravings of contemporary French architecture, published in 1670 as ...
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Papworth, John Buonarotti (1775–1847), architect and designer
Arthur Cates
revised by John Elliott
Papworth, John Buonarotti (1775–1847), architect and designer, was born in Marylebone, Middlesex, on 24 January 1775, the second son and one of twelve children of John Papworth (1750–1799), a leading stuccoist, and his wife, Charlotte, née Searle. It was originally intended that Papworth...
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Pugin, Augustus Welby Northmore (1812–1852), architect, writer, and designer
Alexandra Wedgwood
Pugin, Augustus Welby Northmore (1812–1852), architect, writer, and designer, was born on 1 March 1812 at 39 Keppel Street, Russell Square, London, the only child of Auguste Charles Pugin (1768/9–1832), architect, and Catherine Welby (c.1772–1833).
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Russell, Richard Drew [Dick] (1903–1981), architect and furniture designer
Penny Sparke
Russell, Richard Drew [Dick] (1903–1981), architect and furniture designer, was born in Repton, Derbyshire, on 21 December 1903, the third son of Elizabeth Shefford (1864–1956) and Sydney Bolton Russell (1866–1938), a hotelier. From the age of six weeks he and his family—including his older brothers, ...
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Russell, Sir (Sydney) Gordon (1892–1980), designer and craftsman
Fiona MacCarthy
Russell, Sir (Sydney) Gordon (1892–1980), designer and craftsman, was born on 20 May 1892 in Elm Grove, Cricklewood, the eldest of three sons of Sydney Bolton Russell (1866–1938), a bank clerk who became a renowned hotel keeper, and his wife, Elizabeth Shefford (1864–1956)...
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Whistler [née Philip; other married name Godwin], Beatrice (1857–1896), artist and designer
Margaret F. MacDonald
Whistler [née Philip; other married name Godwin], Beatrice (1857–1896), artist and designer, was born in Chelsea, London, on 12 May 1857, the second of ten children of the Scottish sculptor John Birnie Philip (1824–1875) and his wife, Frances Black (1825/6–1917). She studied art in her father's ...