Friend, James

20-22 The Parade, Tunbridge Wells, Kent; Tunbridge-ware manufacturer and fancy repository (fl.1823-50)

Friend was known as a maker, who sold his wares directly to the public and also through wholesale. He was one of the Tunbridge-ware makers whose names were put forward for the ballot to choose the maker of a presentation table to Princess Victoria on her visit to the town in 1826. The winner was William Fenner.  A fine parquetry four drawer table cabinet with his trade label is known and his trade card is in the John Johnson collection, Bodleian Library.

Sources: Mallalieu (ed), Christie’s South Kensington Popular Antiques Yearbook (1987); Austen, ‘Tables by Tunbridge Ware Makers’, Furniture History (1997); Dr Brian Austen.