Carkeet, Nathaniel

Truro, Cornwall and London; cabinet maker and upholsterer (1797–1820)

Initially at West Bridge Street, Truro, from which address he advertised in December 1798 that he could supply ‘Japan chairs, sofas, fire-screens’ of his own manufacture together with a ‘a very large & handsome assortment of Chintz Bed Furniture, Feather Beds, Carpets etc.’ He offered to take old furniture in part exchange. Carkeet appears to have been a Non-Conformist and his signature is recorded on the trust deed of the Dissenting Meeting House, Bull Hill, Fowey, Cornwall, dated 29 September 1798. 

By March 1801 he had moved to Lemon Street and was once again making a feature of japanned ‘Modern & Rich drawing-room chairs’. In addition to his cabinet and upholstery stock he was offering tea for sale in July 1803. During 1806 and 1807 he continued to use the local press to feature ‘paper hangings of the newest patterns from one of the first houses in London’ together with fabrics and japanned and mahogany furniture. He constantly emphasised his knowledge of the latest London fashions and his ability to match goods made in the capital. In June 1807 for instance he was offering to furnish drawing rooms and beds ‘on a new principle according to the present London method.’

The claim that he had an intimate knowledge of the London fashions and was importing into Cornwall the most elegant fashions of the capital may not have been an idle boast. He clearly had London connections; in August 1807 he indicated his intention of moving his business there. His stocks were offered at prime cost or below. In the same year he established himself at 49 Skinner Street, London. As foreman for his London manufactory he obtained the services of a Mr Hixon who had previously been employed by ‘Mr. Stephen's business in Piccadilly’, and that of ‘Mr Smith of Grosvenor Street, Grosvenor Square, each of whom are employed by the Royal Family’. In order to benefit from his previous Cornish connections he sent Mr Hixon to the county in the summer of 1809 ‘to fix an assemblage of handsome furniture’ for a client in the Lostwithiel area, and announced that he would be prepared to call on any ‘gentlemen in Devonshire or any other County’ on his way back to London.

Image

Copyright (Attribution/Credit)

© The Trustees of the British Museum

Two of his trade cards from this London period are in the Banks Collection in the British Museum and feature an elaborately draped window and a Grecian sofa. They also reflect the frequent changes of address that this business underwent in its latter years. It remained at 49 Skinner Street, Snow Hill until at least 1812,then by 1814 was at 5 Lisle Street, Leicester Square. In the next year the business was at 17 Tavistock Street, Covent Garden at which it continued until 1819, but by the next year it was at 23 New Bond Street.

Source: DEFM