Robert Blake (active 1826–39) was the first of the Blake family of London cabinetmakers.[1] Blake is particularly known for his marquetry and for the ormolu-mounted commodes in tortoiseshell and ebony that he made in 1708–09, after a pair that André-Charles Boulle made for Louis XIV's Chamber at the Grand Trianon, on display in the New York Frick Collection.[2] A pair of Blake commodes, completing the two in the Frick Collection, was sold at Sotheby's on October 15, 2015,[3] for $658,000.

Pieces in public collections include a piano in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York,[4] a writing desk in Goodwood House,[5] a circular table in Alnwick Castle,[6] and an octagonal table in the Leeds City Art Gallery at Temple Newsam House.[7]

His works often imitated the important pieces of 18th-century French furniture that francophile collectors, including the Prince of Wales (later George IV), William Beckford, Francis Seymour-Conway, 3rd Marquess of Hertford and George Watson-Taylor collected at the beginning of the 19th century.

Blake often worked for Edward Holmes Baldock, who was a dealer in china, glass and, later, furniture to the Royal Family.[8] He is also known to have been associated with the well-known Old Bond Street dealer John Webb.[9]

Relatively little is known of the family. They are listed at 8 Stephen Street, off Tottenham Court Road, between 1826 and 1881. Robert Blake is listed in Robson's 1823 Commercial Directory as a "buhl cutter", at 8 Stephen Street, Tottenham Court Road, and subsequently in the 1826 Post Office Directory as a "cabinet inlayer and buhl manufacturer". Robert Blake had four sons, George, Charles, James and Henry, who continued the firm of Robert Blake & Co. In 1840, it took the name of R. Blake & Sons and, in 1841, Blake; Geo & Brothers; and later George Blake & Co., cabinetmaker of 130 Mount Street, London, and also still in Stephen Street in 1844; George Blake in 1846-50 at 53 Mount Street; and in 1851 to around 1853 George Blake at 53 Mortimer Street. The premises on Stephen Street remained in use by various family members, listed as "Blake, J. & H", and by 1853 "Blake, Chas. & H.", until 1880.

References

  1. ↑ C. Gilbert (1996). The Pictorial Dictionary of Marked London Furniture 1700-1840. Leeds.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
    - F. Collard (2007). Regency Furniture. London.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
    - Christopher Payne (1981). Nineteenth Century European Furniture. Antique Collectors' Club.
    - Martin Levy, The Furniture History Society Newsletter, May 2005
  2. ↑ Théodore Dell (1992). Furniture in The Frick Collection. New York.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  3. ↑ "19th Century Furniture and Decorative Arts / Lot 30". Sotheby's.
  4. ↑ Barbara Burn (1993). Masterpieces of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
    - D.O. Kisluk-Grosheide; W. Koeppe; W. Rieder (2006). European Furniture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  5. ↑ Illustrated in M. Levy (May 2005). "E.H. Baldock and the Blake Family". The Furniture History Society Newsletter.
  6. ↑ Richard Bridgens (1838). Design from Furniture and Candelabra.
  7. ↑ C. Gilbert (1978). Furniture at Temple Newsam House and Lotherton Hall. Vol. II. London.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  8. ↑ M. Levy (May 2005). "E.H. Baldock and the Blake Family". The Furniture History Society Newsletter.
    - G. de Bellaigue (August 1975). "Edward Holmes Baldock: Part II". Connoisseur.
    - M. P. Levy (May 2005). "E. H. Baldock and the Blake Family: Further Evidence". The Furniture History Society Newsletter (158).
  9. ↑ Mark Westgarth (2009). A Biographical Dictionary of Nineteenth Century Antique and Curiosity Dealers. Glasgow: Regional Furniture Society.
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