Pyment, Jim (1898-1921)
Pyment, Jim
London & Chipping Campden, Gloucestershire; cabinet maker, furniture designer (fl.1898-1921)
Born in 1867 in Royston, Hertfordshire, he was listed in 1891 census as cabinet maker living in Bethnal Green. From 1908 residing in Chipping Campden, Gloucestershire, he was a member of the Guild of Handicraft. Pyment was an excellent cabinet maker who progressed to the position of foreman of the Guild’s woodshop and also designed furniture.
Furniture made or designed by Pyment was exhibited by the Guild of Handicraft or C.R. Ashbee at the Arts & Crafts Exhibition Society, 1899-1906; this included:
1899 – oak writing cabinet, designed by C.R. Ashbee with cabinet work by J. Pyment, H. Pontin and W. Field, metal work by W. Thornton, C. Downer and W.A. White (cat. no. 176); mahogany writing-cabinet, designed by Ashbee with cabinet work by T. Joliffe [Jeliffe], W. Stevens and J. Pyment, metal work by W. White and J. Bailey (cat. no. 235). The latter illus. Carruthers and Greensted (1994,) p. 74).
1903 – secretaire in Spanish mahogany, inlaid, with silver-plated hinges, handles etc., price £25, designed by J. Pyment and executed by W. Field and W. Curtis (cat. no. 395b); fire-screen in Spanish mahogany, inlaid (left for covering), price £5, designed by J. Pyment and executed by E.J. Jackson (cat. no. 395c); oak clock-case with inlay in pewter and ebony, price £3 10s, designed by J. Pyment and executed by J. Cliff (cat. no. 395f).
1906 - oak table, price £3, designed by J. Pyment, executed by Walter Weale (cat. no. 1); writing cabinet with tooled leather, price £65, designed by Ashbee, executed by W.W. Ride, J.W. Pyment and Miss Anne Statia Powers, the latter carried out the leather work (cat. no. 258). The writing cabinet was unsold at the Exhibition and became part of the furnishings of Ashbee’s house at the Magpie & Stump, 37 Cheyne Walk, and is now at the V&A,

Cabinet on stand by C.R. Ashbee. Made of walnut and silver-grey wood. Leatherwork by Annie Statia Powers, blind-stamped and tooled in gold. Wrought iron fittings, 1903 [CIRC.234:1, 2-1960]. © V&A Museum, London
A chair, similar in design to that designed by Punnett for William Birch, was possibly made by J. Pyment, date not stated (illus. Agius (1978), p. 120). After 1911, when the Guild effectively closed, he started a joinery business, J.W. Pyment and Sons in Chipping Campden, although he still referred to himself as cabinet maker/joiner in the 1921 census. He died in 1927.
Sources: Agius, British Furniture 1880-1915 (1978); Carruthers and Greensted, Good Citizen’s Furniture, The Arts & Crafts Collections at Cheltenham (1994); Arts & Crafts Exhibition catalogues, 1888-1916.
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