Bell, John

Stockton-on-Tees, Co. Durham; carver, gilder, cabinet maker and joiner (fl.1824-82)

John Bell, of the north side of the Square, advertised in the Durham County Advertiser, 3 April 1824 that, ‘he has just returned from London with a selection of the best materials used in his art which can be procured, he trusts, by the superior method of finishing work which he possesses, combined with a determination to spare no exertion to give satisfaction to those who may favour him with their orders to merit a continuance of public patronage & support … Executes in the most fashionable manner, Mirrors, Chimney & Pier Glasses, bordering for Rooms, Bed & Window Cornices. Needle Work, Paintings, Drawings, Prints etc. framed; Old Frames re-gilded, & Prints varnished etc. NB. Ornamental Frames executed, Figures bronzed, & Paintings cleaned with care’. 

By 1827, Bell was recorded as a joiner and cabinet maker in the High Street, Stockton-on-Tees. Possibly the same John Bell or a son named John, cabinet maker of Hume Street, recorded as having filed for liquidation on 12 September 1882 [The Furniture Gazette, 30 September 1882].

Source: DEFM