Jennens & Bettridge (1816–1870)
Jennens & Bettridge; later John Bettridge & Co.
Birmingham and London; papier-mâché ware manufacturers (fl. 1816–70)
In 1816 this partnership took over the Birmingham works of Henry Clay at 19, 20 & 21 Barr Street and by 1837 had opened London showrooms at 3 Halkin Street West, Belgrave Square. The firm remained in these two locations.
In 1825 they took out a patent for ‘ornamenting papier-mâché with pearl shell’ and this technique together with painted decoration and gilding provided a brilliant effect because of the iridescent quality of the mother-of-pearl. The quality of their work was quickly recognised and by 1825 they could claim to be ‘Japanners in Ordinary to His Majesty’. Royal commissions were received from not only by George IV, but also by William IV and later, Queen Victoria. Initially the bulk of their production was trays and other small wares but by 1839 they were producing larger items and in that year supplied Buckingham Palace with two folding screens. One, which had a cream ground, was decorated with birds and flowers and cost £24 5s; the other was charged at £26 5s. Apart from new items of this nature they were employed on repair of furniture in the Royal Collection.
The range of larger furniture widened to include cabinets, chiffoniers, secretaires, writing desks and sofa-tables to become the largest manufacturer of papier-mâché ware in the world, supplying well-known furniture retailers such as Pratts of Bradford.
In 1841 John Bettridge took out patent no. 8792 which dealt with the heat treatment of wood prior to japanning in order to prevent movement during and after the japanning process. The artist Joseph Booth was employed by Jennens and Bettridge and he was amongst the first in the trade to use gold size and whitening to produce the elevated sections of his designs.
The business reached its zenith in the early 1850s with exhibits of papier maché chairs and other objects at the 1851 Great Exhibition (illus. Meyer (2006), p. 34) and the opening of branches in New York and Paris. The Art Journal record of the Great Exhibition stated that their products demonstrated ‘the success which may attend the manufacturer who fearlessly carries out his conceptions in any material however discouraging it may appear in the outset’. The business, recorded with the address of 6 West Halkin Street, London & Birmingham, exhibits included a 'Multum in Uno' forming loo, bagatelle & chess table, the Victoria Regis cot designed by Bell, a pianoforte, and registered chairs, inkstands, tables and other furniture in papier-maché (all shown Class 26). Interestingly Peyton & Harlow's metal furniture was recorded 'as japanned to correspond with papier-maché furniture exhibited by Jennens & Bettridge'. Jennens & Co., of 56 Conduit Street (possibly a subsidiary of the main business) also exhibited a range of military accessories. Jennens & Bettridge also exhibited papier mache and japanned wares at the 1853 Irish Industrial Exhibition, Dublin (Class XXVI, exhibitor no. 52).
In the early 1850s the firm employed sixty-four men full time as decorators, most of them trained either in the Birmingham or London Schools of Design. Chairs, tables, cabinets and bookcases were made with a solid rod being fixed inside the central pillar to take the weight.
At the London International Exhibition, 1862 the firm exhibited an elaborate bed designed by Mr Fitzcook (illus.Meyer (2006), p. 154). In 1864 Bettridge patented the application of aluminium to the material. The following year the firm created elaborate and extensive decorative panels for the interior of a yacht built for the Viceroy of Egypt. J. Bettridge & Co. also exhibited wares at the Dublin International Exhibition, 1865 (Section XXVI, exh. no. 713).
The Birmingham Daily Post, 7 May 1866, reported that Christopher Dresser had recently been lecturing in Birmingham and had agreed to supply designs for papier-maché objects to J Bettridge and Co. Most of the firm’s pieces were stamped on the reverse and underside with their name and a few later pieces - which had a metal tag attached - dated from the period of 1864-70 when John Bettridge continued the business alone after his partner died.
In 1867 John Bettridge & Co. participated in the 1867 Paris Exhibition, exhibiting an upright piano in papier-maché (illus.Meyer (2006), p. 204) and were listed as makers of a chair of papier-maché and cane, gilded and painted. This chair, formerly in the Charles and Lavinia Handley-Read collection, is now at the Birmingham Museums Trust (BMT: 1972M157).
The Victoria and Albert Museum has an unusual papier maché chair by Bettridge, japanned white with gilt moresque gilt ornament and with red felt upholstery embroidered in the same style donated from the Charles Handley-Read Collection.
Below is a chess table, c. 1843 in a private collection. The owner believes it was given to Prince Albert on his visit to the Jennens & Bettridge factory in November 1843. Photographs courtesy of the collector.
Sources: DEFM; Sproule, Irish Industrial Exhibition of 1853 (1854); The Official Catalogue of the Dublin International Exhibition, 1865; Symonds and Whineray, ‘Victorian Furniture’ (1962); Gilbert, ‘Review of the exhibition Victorian & Edwardian Furniture by Pratts of Bradford: Catalogue of an exhibition held in Bradford, November 1969-Janaury 1970, Furniture History (1971); Jones, ‘A Recent Discovery of Two Papier Mache Pier Tables by Henry Clay’, FHS Newsletter (May 2006); Meyer, Great Exhibitions. London, New York, Paris, Philadelphia. 1851-1900 (2006); Taylor, ‘Additions to Christopher Dresser’s List of Clients’, The Decorative Arts Society 1850 to the Present (2012); Wallis, ‘A Hand-List of the Handley-Read Collection’, The Decorative Arts Society 1850 to the Present (2016).
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