Ansell, Robert, Edward St

Cavendish Sq., London; carver and gilder (fl. 1767–80)

In 1777 insured his workshop in Edward St with utensils and stock with the Sun Fire Office for £600. Insured house in Margaret St, Cavendish Sq. in 1775 for £500. Subscribed to James Paine's Noblemen's and Gentlemen's Seats, 1767. Bankrupt November 1780. Carried out minor work and supplied a picture frame to Audley End, Essex for Sir John Griffin Griffin, amounting to £2 2s 6d. Carried out work for Blenheim Palace, Oxon., where the account books list the following commissions. In September 1773, ‘sent to Mr. Ansells 2 Octagon Marble Slabs’. In 1774, ‘Sent to Mr. Ansells 2 Table frames came out of Winter Drawing Room to be gilt’. On 23 May 1774, ‘Came from Mr. Ansells in 2 Large Cases 2 table frames Gilt with Burnish'd Gold; 3 Cornices Gold, for the Winter Drawing Room’. On 18 July 1774, ‘Came from Mr. Ansells 2 Large Cases with Pier Glasses, frames for the winter drawing Room. A fine picture frame for Duchs of Richmond's picture’. On 9 December 1776 from Ansells — 5 palm freezes with wreaths of flowers gilt in Burnish'd Gold — 2 Ornaments with Medallions’. On 7 August 1778, ‘Came from Mr. Ansells 4 leather covers for the tables in the Grand Cabintett’. Also said to have executed work for Heythrop, including the frame of a glass in the breakfast parlour and ‘two girandoles of exquisite workmanship’ in the great drawing room.

Source: DEFM; Roberts, ‘‘Nicely Fitted Up’: Furniture for the 4^th Duke of Marlborough’, Furniture History (1994); Jervis, ‘Furniture in Eighteenth-Century Country House Guides’, Furniture History (2006).