Altar Flower Vase, Brass, London, Cox and Sons, about 1870

Lent annonymously

Furnishing the Church
A new business of church furnishing arose from the great surge in church building and restoration. Between 1840 and 1900, over 100 churches were built each year. Older buildings were restored or expanded. Every denomination from Anglican and Roman Catholic to Nonconformist was reacting to the widespread religious revival and the needs of an expanding population. Fitting out such large numbers of churches required specialist firms who could supply the complete range of furnishings. Clergy no longer commissioned individual tailors, furniture makers and silversmiths. Instead, stained glass windows, cl[Erical vestments and silver altar plate could all be ordered from church furnishers like Jones & Willis, Cox & Sons and John Hardman. These specialists would supply the correct equipment, as prescribed by the church reformers. They offered a choice of material, quality and prices to suit the resources of wealthy and poorer parishes. J. Whippell & Co. About 1902 Kind permission of J. Whippell & Co., Exeter

Leading Taste
The building, restoration and furnishing of churches were important outlets for Victorian creative talent. For some architects it was the mainstay of their business. The taste for the Gothic style, which became dominant though not universal,was led by architects like A.W.N. Pugin. Many Anglican architects were affiliated to reforming societies and closely concerned with design policy. Some were employed by commercial firms such as Cox & Sons to give their products a veneer of authenticity. In England so many medieval church fittings had been destroyed in the Reformation that architects were obliged to invent new forms. William Butterfield, the first official designer of the Cambridge Camden Society, modelled flagons on smaller medieval cruet shapes.

Founded in 1838, Cox & Sons expanded from a clerical tailoring firm to encompass the complete range of church furnishings. They made and retailed every type of product from stained glass, vestments and furniture to Christmas decorations. By the 1860s flowers had become an accepted decoration on the altar and vases to hold them were necessary pieces of equipment.

Cox & Sons had a shop on the Strand and a manufactory in Lambeth. Architect designers enhanced the credibility of their designs. Printed catalogues, notices in the trade press and exhibition appearances gained clients all over England.

LOAN:LITTEN.14-2004