Photograph Cabinet
1924-1939 (made)
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This is an example of small workshop furniture production in the Arts and Crafts style. It was made in the workshop of A. Romney Green (1872–1945), a Cambridge University graduate and teacher of mathematics, who later became a cabinet maker. He set up a small workshop in Christchurch, Hampshire. This cabinet, one of a pair made specifically to hold a collection of photographs, was part of a large group of furniture commissioned by James Campbell Thompson (1887–1981), a collector of decorative art. He bequeathed the pair of cabinets to the Museum.
Object details
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| Parts | This object consists of 31 parts.
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| Materials and techniques | Walnut and cuban mahogany with ebony and boxwood inlay |
| Brief description | Cabinet with two doors, on a six-legged stand, in walnut and Cuban mahogany; made by Romney Green, Hampshire, 1924-1939 |
| Physical description | Rectangular cabinet on stand, with two doors opening to reveal 30 drawers. The stand is supported by 6 straight egs joined by stretchers. The cabinet is made from solid walnut and cuban mahogany, inlaid with ebony and boxwood. The decoration is provided by the central panels of the doors, which each have four pieces of figured wood book-matched to form a diamond pattern. Around the edges of the panels, and along the vertical edges of the carcase and legs, stringing is inlaid in alternating stripes of ebony and boxwood. |
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| Gallery label |
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| Credit line | Bequeathed by James Campbell Thomson |
| Object history | James Campbell Thomson (1887-1981) was a collector of a wide range of decorative arts. On his death his collection was sold but he left a few pieces to the V&A, Courtauld Institute, Ashmolean and Westminster Abbey. Between 1924 and 1939 he commissioned a large number of pieces from A. Romney Green, including a dining suite, a bedroom suite, and a pair of photograph cabinets. Historical significance: Romney Green (1872-1945) was both designer and cabinet maker, maintaining a small workshop in Christchurch, Hampshire. He exhibited regularly in the Arts & Crafts Exhibition Society, and at international exhibitions at Paris, Milan and St Louis. He read maths at Cambridge, and became a school teacher, before becoming a cabinet maker. From 1931 he supervised woodworking shops for the unemployed in the Distressed Areas of England and Wales. |
| Summary | This is an example of small workshop furniture production in the Arts and Crafts style. It was made in the workshop of A. Romney Green (1872–1945), a Cambridge University graduate and teacher of mathematics, who later became a cabinet maker. He set up a small workshop in Christchurch, Hampshire. This cabinet, one of a pair made specifically to hold a collection of photographs, was part of a large group of furniture commissioned by James Campbell Thompson (1887–1981), a collector of decorative art. He bequeathed the pair of cabinets to the Museum. |
| Bibliographic reference | Handmade Woodwork of the Twentieth Century, A.E. Bradshaw, John Murray, 1962, p.36. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | W.73-1982 |
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| Record created | May 8, 2006 |
| Record URL |
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