Cooper, Henry & John, H. & J. (1845-1892)
Cooper, Henry & John, H. and J.a
8 & 9 Great Pulteney Street, London; cabinet makers, art furniture makers, upholsterers and decorators (fl.1845-1892)
The cabinet maker Henry Robert Cooper was recorded at the above address in the London Post Office Directory 1845.
Henry & John Cooper were cabinet makers, art furnisher manufacturers, upholsterers and decorators, active from 1871 [Kelly’s Post Office Directory], particularly known for Arabian and Moorish interiors. They were also listed in The Furniture Gazette Directory, 1876 & 1877 and in The Furniture Gazette: Classified List of the Furniture, Upholstery, and Allied Trades (1886) as Art Furniture Manufacturers and Merchants.
They exhibited the ‘Princess’ cabinet at the 1878 Paris Exhibition (illus. Meyer (2006), p. 244 & The Furniture Gazette, 4 January 1879). It was designed by Cooper and painted in tones of red by Lewis F. Day with an engraved text. The firm received an honourable mention for the cabinet, which was sold to Henry J. Ackroyd [The Furniture Gazette, 8 November 1879]. At the same Exhibitions the firm also exhibited a lampstand and chairs, illus. [The Furniture Gazette, 15 February & 1 March 1879].
The Furniture Gazette recorded other exhibitions in which the firm participated:
- Furnishing some of main rooms at the Exhibition of the Domestic Electric Lighting Company, Victoria Cross Rooms, in the Crystal Palace, 1882 [1 April 1882],
- Chippendale & Sheraton style furniture at the Exhibition of Furniture, Royal School of Needlework, South Kensington, 1884 [23 February 1884]
- Designing rooms and displaying furniture at the Electrical Exhibition, the Crystal Palace, 1892 [15 February 1892].
The firm used The Furniture Gazette for advertising staff vacancies, including an advertisement for a junior clerk, with salary to commence at 10s per week [30 December 1882].
In 1884 they were awarded a warrant of appointment as decorators to Her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales and the honour was celebrated with a dinner for the employees [The Furniture Gazette, 12 January 1884].
Mr John Cooper submitted specimens of the ‘Bartolozzi’ furniture to Her Royal Highness on 13 December 1884. These pieces were previously exhibited at their galleries in Great Pulteney Street [The Furniture Gazette, 13 December 1884]. In May 1886 H. & J. Cooper displayed a music room with decorations after the Greek style from sketches by Harry Quilter, M.A. This display at their premises primarily showed musical instruments. The furniture was limited to tripods and pedestals for lights and flowers, and ivory benches strewn with tiger & panther skins [The Furniture Gazette, 1 June 1886]. One of their ‘Moorish’ drawing rooms is illus. Aslin (1962), pl. 106.
H. & J. Cooper were listed as exhibitors in the Arts & Crafts Exhibitions, London, 1889 and 1890. In 1889 a music cabinet in cedar and walnut with nickel-plated mounts, designed by J.M. MacLaren and executed by J. Phillips (cat. no. 267) and a mirror frame in cedar and walnut, designed by MacLaren and executed by J. Sims (cat. 268). At the 1890 Exhibition the firm's exhibits included Arabian tea-cup screen in oak with needlework panels by the Royal School of Art Needlework, designed by W. W. McKechnie and executed by W. Beckwith (cat. no. 147) and a “Billet-doux ” screen in oak with hand-painted panels, designed by H.J. Cooper, executed by R. Urand and G. Sims with panels painted by Mrs Jopling (cat. no. 365).
Sources: Arts & Crafts Exhibitions catalogues, 1888-1916; Aslin, 19th Century English Furniture (1962); Agius, British Furniture 1880-1915 (1978); Meyer, Great Exhibitions. London, New York, Paris, Philadelphia. 1851-1900 (2006).