Froom, William

136 Strand, London; carver and gilder, looking-glass and picture frame manufacturer (fl.1825–39)

Trading as Froom & Crib(b) in 1829. Handwritten bill on unheaded paper, dated 1826, lists four ornamental frames for looking-glasses and a pair of carved eagle brackets, supplied by Froom at a total cost of £110 17s. Bill notes in addition a pair of carved and gilt brackets forwarded for approval. [Cornwall RO, CCR DN CN 3445/1–18 (12)] In 1829 Froom & Cribb supplied a Louis XIV-style overmantel to Kilruddery, Co. Wicklow. [C. Life, 21 July 1977, p. 149]. A printed label on the back of a framed mezzotint of John Kemble as Hamlet published in 1827, reads ‘FROOM & CRIBB (Late Fentham & Co.) Looking Glass Manufacturers Carvers and Gilders AND Picture Frame Makers, 136, STRAND, Near Somerset House, Old Glasses Re-polished and Silvered, and Old Frames Modernised and Re-gilt. Glasses conveyed to any Part of the Country on Spring Machines constructed for the sole Purpose.’ (illus. Gilbert (1996), figs 363 and 365).

Source: DEFM; Gilbert, Pictorial Dictionary of Marked London Furniture 1700-1840 (1996).