Foxhall, Edward

London; carver & upholsterer (b.1755/56- d.1815)

Son of carver, gilder, picture framer, upholsterer, Martin Foxhall (fl. 1760 - d. 1797). In 1790 Edward married Elizabeth Anne Moore, daughter of sculptor, John Francis Moore.  

By 1786 he was established with his father at 19 Old Cavendish Street in furnishing and decorating work including purchasing pictures for William Beckford at Fonthill Splendens (his father had previously supplied carved gilt furniture for Alderman Beckford). Foxhall and John Soane had both been students at the Royal Academy and remained friends.  In 1786 Beckford commissioned Soane for work at Fonthill Splendens including the design for a classically-inspired state bed to be made by Foxhall. In 1799 Soane designed a shop front for Foxhall & Fryer for the premises at 19 Old Cavendish Street (illus. Collard & Dorey, Furniture History (2008), fig. 14).

1802-07 Foxhall was in partnership with Fryer at 19 Old Cavendish St, 1802–07; and there as Foxhall & Co., 1808– 16, at no. 29, 1807–09. Foxhall & Fryer are named in Sheraton's list of master cabinet makers, 1803.

For Soane’s home, 12 Lincoln’s Inn Fields, Foxhall was one of the main suppliers. The bill of 1808 includes yellow moreen curtains with Grecian fringe for the Drawing Room, ten ‘second hand matted’ or rush-seated chairs and some beds and bedding (the bill also include carriage from Fonthill so some/all objects may have been surplus to the Foxhall Fonthill commission). Also included in the same bill was the mahogany table with a brass frame for Soane’s specimen marbles, illus. Furniture History (2008), p.146.

In December 1818 Foxhall & Co. provided an inventory of the contents of Pitzhanger Manor, Soane’s country home. At Wimpole Hall, near Cambridge, Foxhall executed the carved work of the Yellow Drawing Room for Sir John Soane. Edward Foxhall’s son, Edward Junior, worked in Soane’s office between 1812-21 and later received a legacy in Soane’s will.

Sources: DEFM; Jervis, ‘Splendentia Recognita: Furniture by Martin Foxhall for Fonthill’, The Burlington Magazine (June 2005); Collard & Dorey, ‘A Catalogue of the Furniture in Sir John Soane’s Museum’, Furniture History (2008).