In the first half of the eighteenth century, wooden panelling was the most popular treatment for walls in the houses of middling and rich families. Panelling was arranged to reflect architectural rules of decoration, with the walls often broken up by pilasters, with carved capitals such as these. Most of the woodwork would have been simply moulding, with carved decoration confined to the chimneypiece and these capitals. The 'Corinthian' order of classical decoration used capitals that were the most decorative of all the orders, showing curling foliage. In the nineteenth century, there was a great vogue for copying such rooms and carvers sought out good models to copy. These capitals are part of a collection of several hundred carvings given to the Museum in 1921 by Sir Charles Allom and his wife, in memory of their son, who died in the First World War. From 1893 Sir Charles headed White Allom & Co., one of the most successful firms of architectural decorators in Britain, specialising in the copying of historic styles. Between 1900 and 1914 he also began to work for clients in the United States and after the First World War he spent time in both countries. The collection of carvings seems to have been put together as a study collection for his son, perhaps in the expectation that he would follow in his father's footsteps and take over the firm.