Oak shop front, English, 1790-1820, with entablature above a front comprised of three arched windows and door at one end.

Oak shop front consisting of an entablature above a front comprised of three windows in the form of arches, with a door at one end. The cornice has an arcaded dentel moulding and the windows are carved in the spandrels with classical roses and acanthus, the uprights being decorated with interlaced trails of husks. Below these windows is an ornamented grille with iron stanchions filled in with wire and composition. The door way has a lunette shaped fanlight and is contained within a fluted architrave. Within are two ribbed pilasters at either end, supporting the ceiling.

Donated by the Right Hon Lord Kenyon, K.C.V.O.

This shop front, formerly at 15 Cornhill, London, was supplied to the pastrycook and confectioner Samuel Birch (1757-1841) in around 1800. In addition to working as a confectioner, Samuel Birch is the author of ‘The Adopted Child’ (1795) and other plays. He was Lord Major of London from 1814-15. The firm at 15 Cornhill is listed in different trade directories: in 1808 it is listed as Birch; in 1824 as Birch & Co. Samuel Birch sold his business in 1836 to Ring and Brymer. The shop front was taken down in 1926.

J.T. Smith, in Nollekens and his Times (published in 1828) wrote: 'I recollect a stone-polisher of the name of Lloyd giving him a cheesecake, and Nollekens, after asking him where he had bought it, observed, that the Kensington cheesecakes, and those made at Birch's in Cornhill, Mrs Nollekens allowed to be the best'. (London, Turnstile Press edition, 1949, pp. 196-7).

The shop front was on long loan to the Museum of London from the 1970s to 1996.

This shop front was formerly at 15 Cornhill in London. Made by an unidentified firm of shopfitters, it was supplied to the pastry chef and confectioner Samuel Birch in around 1800. Although Birch sold his firm to Ring and Brymer in 1836, the shop front continued to be used, with its 'Birch & Co.' signage, until 1926.

Samuel Birch inherited the Cornhill business from his father, Lucas Birch. In addition to his work as a pastry-chef, Samuel Birch was the author of The Adopted Child (1795) and other plays. He acted as Lord Mayor of London from 1814-15.

W.38:1-1926