Fordham, James

Carpenters’ Hall, London Wall, near Moorgate, London; cabinet maker and upholder (fl. 1705–45)

Apprenticed Upholders Company in 1705. Trade card states that he ‘Makes all sorts of Cabinet & Upholstry Worke in the Best manner new Fashion’d’ [Johnson Coll., Bodleian Lib., Oxford]. Took out a Sun Insurance policy on 8 December 1727 for £1,000 on household goods and stock in trade. Co-partnership between James Fordham snr and jnr ended by deed signed at Carpenters’ Hall in 1744. A labelled bureau bookcase, c.1730, a stamped oval drop-leaf dining table, c.1735, and the detail of the stamp, ‘Fordham LONDON’, are illustrated in Gilbert (1996), figs 360-362.

Sources: DEFM; Upholders Company Apprentice Records;Gilbert, Pictorial Dictionary of Marked London Furniture 1700-1840.(1996).