Matched pair of 19th Century Mahogany Drop-End Chesterfield Sofas by James Shoolbred & Co. (c. 1875 England)

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Castors stamped SHOOLBRED LONDON

192.00cm wide    71.00cm high    90.00cm deep (75.59 inches wide  27.95 inches high  35.43 inches deep)

Re-leathered

The curved buttoned back and seat with scrolled arms are upholstered in burgundy leather. One end is hinged and ratchetted. The sofas are on square tapering legs and castors stamped SHOOLBRED LONDON.

James Shoolbred and Company was located on Tottenham Court Road, a thriving centre for fashionable furniture shops in the 1860's. They created one of the first great department stores in London; their trade was diverse and they began producing furniture around 1870. Shoolbred issued an important catalogue of the firm's work in 1876 and earned a Royal warrant in the mid-1880's. Their output encompassed all prevailing styles including Art Furntiture, 'Old English' and 'Japanese' as is evident from the 1878 Paris Universal Exhibition in which they offered 'a very extensive selection of items' (E. Joy, ed, Pictorial Dictionary of British 19th Century Furniture Design, Woodbridge, Suffolk, 1977, p. xxxvi). Much of the furniture they designed was influenced by the 'Aesthetic taste'. popularised by Oscar Wilde and the architect E. W. Godwin.