Church Street Antiques

Description

Edwardian Mahogany Hat & Coat Hall Stand of Art Nouveau Design - with original stained glass inset panels and coat hooks all of art nouveau form, replacement drip trays - Matthews of Gloucester (f.1876)

- Matthews, J. A. Matthews & Co.
Gloucester, Gloucestershire. furniture makers (fl.1876-1939) - John Matthews established his furniture factory in High Orchard Street in 1895, occupying premises now incorporated into the Gloucester Quay - J. A. Matthews was listed at 114 & 115 Southgate Street in The Furniture Gazette Directory, 1876. The showrooms were stocked with good quality cabinets, wardrobes, sideboards and drawing room, dining room & bedroom suites. Machinery in the adjoining factory included a Weston’s patent veneer cutting machine and a fret cutting machine. Matthews was fulfilled an order of air mattresses for Stroud Hospital and bedding for Gloucester Hospital in 1876 [The Furniture Gazette, 29 January 1876].
By 1883 the firm (then called Matthews & Co.) moved to new premises in Parliament Street which housed cabinet and joinery works and twenty showrooms. The factory had been fitted out in 1882 with American wood working machinery by Messrs. Fay & Co. of Cincinnati, Ohio, made by Crossley & Co., Manchester, which could run some of the machines at the rate of 5,000 revolutions per minute. They manufactured Hatherley patent lattice steps, which could be used as an ironing board, settee and step ladder suitable for use by ladies or workmen. An advertisement for the Hatherley patent lattice steps Jones’ patent 3928, 1882, priced in deal from 5s 6d to 14s and in ash (for use in a library) from 10s 6d to 26s [The Furniture Gazette, 1 September 1883].
Matthews & Co. was listed at 114 & 115 Southgate Street and Parliament Street, Gloucester in The Furniture Gazette: Classified List of the Furniture, Upholstery, and Allied Trades, 1886.