Thack(th)waite (or Thatch(th)waite), Michael

Marylebone St, Golden Sq., London; cabinet maker and upholder (1754–95)

Available evidence is confusing but suggests that the firm was founded by Michael Thackthwaite, sen. at the ‘The Easy Chair’, Marylebone St, St James’s, around 1745-50. It is presumed that following his death his widow, Mary, and their son continued to run the business which by 1767 had been taken over by the son (another Michael) who continued to trade until 1794. The firm is recorded at 7 Marylebone St, 1774–94 as Thackthwaite & Son, 1791–95. Took out a Sun Insurance policy on 20 June 1792 for £1,200, including £1,000 on his house in Hanover Sq. in tenure of a Mrs Walter, and £200 on buildings adjoining. [poll bks; GL, Sun MS vol. 388, p. 122] On 5 February 1767 receipted a bill to Sir Gilbert Heathcote of Normanton Hall for a mahogany bookshelf costing 14s. Receipt is on the back of his Rococo trade card which shows a Chinese Chippendale-style upholstered armchair, and gives address at ‘The Easy Chair. An ornamental rococo trade card with identical texts apart from the name were issued by Mary Thackthwaite & Son and Michael Thackthwaite which stated that the firm ‘...Makes & Sells all Sorts of Cabinet Work, Chair Work, & Upholstry Work in General, at Reasonable Rates. N.B. Funerals Perform'd both Public & Private, in a Decent Manner.’ [Lincoln RO, 2 ANC 12/D/26] Supplied furniture for the State Bedroom at Erddig, Clywd, c.1775. [C. Life, 6 April 1978, p. 909] In July–August 1786 he inventoried the household furniture of the late Edward, Lord Leigh, at Stoneleigh, Warks., and supplied furniture to Mrs Leigh. His bill, dated 9 June-31 August 1786, totalled £30 16s 4½d, and included ‘a Mohoy. Bason Stand with a drawer’, ‘an Elbow Chair Matted Seat Dyed Black’, and ‘a Mohoy. Convenient Corner Chair, Seat Cover'd with Sattin horse hair Brass nailed’, with ‘White Stone Pan’. He also provided a card rack, a mahogany stand for a screen, ‘Wainscot Window Blinds’, a ‘5 foot Wainscot Bedstead on 3the  Wheel Casters, Mohoy. feet Posts …’; and fine cotton and lace bed furniture and window curtains, and blankets. He charged for ‘Repairing the Paper on the Staircase and Passage’, ‘Cleaning Down and Sizing the Wall’, and ‘Colouring the Wall on staircase and Passage Twice over in Virditor Blue.’ [Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, Leigh receipts, DR 18/4/69; 18/5; Stoneleigh sales cat., Christie's, 15–16 October 1981, lot 150] Possibly the Thackthwayt, cm of Marylebone St, near Piccadilly, who as an agent announced in Public Advertiser, 16 August 1754, sale of ‘An extraordinary good front for a Shop, consisting of strong outside shutters with compass ends and Modillion Cornice, with Mahogany sashes with Crown Glass. A Press which has been used by a Goldsmith for Plate … and several other Fitments of a Shop.’ A mahogany chest-on-chest with an ornamental rococo label and the name ‘Mary Thackthwaite & Son’ is illustrated in Gilbert (1996), figs 897-898.

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