Penrose Antiques

Description

We have for sale a pair of rather lovely decorative arts and crafts oak cricket bat and ball bookends retailed by the renowned Toronto, Canada and London based early 20th century company Thornton-Smith.

This very eye catching pair of oak bookends are in the form of a cricket bat leaning against a set of cricket stumps with a cricket ball to either the left or the right of the base of the bat. They date to around the 1920s-1930s.

These bookends are 7.5 inches (19cm) high, 3.5 inches (9cm) wide and 5 inches (12.7) deep. They are in an excellent condition with only the minimal amount of age related wear.

About the Thornton Smith Company
Thornton-Smith was a British/Canadian antiques and interior design firm. It was a family business, initially founded in Toronto Canada by Ernest Thornton Smith (1875 – 1963) and his brother Walter (1881 – 1971) in association with Mabel Cawthra (1871-1943).

Ernest was a stockbroker and Walter was an art advisor and designer. Ernest traveled to New York in 1903 before moving on to Toronto, Canada. The Thornton-Smith Company was established in 1905, trading at 11 King Street West, Toronto, supported by Mabel Cawthra. Mabel Cawthra was of the very wealthy Toronto Cawthra family. She had spent time in London where she was trained by Charles Robert Ashbee of the Guild and School of Handicraft. On her return to Toronto in 1903, she became the first president of the Society of Arts and Crafts in Canada. It is little surprise therefore that the Thornton-Smith company specialised in antiques along with hand-made arts and crafts furniture, furnishings and decorative items. The business grew substantially, and in 1922 the company commissioned renowned architect John M Lyle (1872-1945) to design the iconic Thornton – Smith building, for which Lyle won first place in the Ontario Association of Architects competition.

The UK branch of the company was established in a grand town house, 11 Soho Square in around 1910. The business was initially called The Georgian House Company and they were one of the first antiques dealers to dress the rooms of a house to showcase their antiques, arts and crafts furniture and furnishings. The business moved to 31 Soho Square in 1914, where it was registered on 21 April as Thornton Smith Ltd. They not only dealt in antiques and artisan made decorative items, but offered a bespoke interior decorating service for its clientele. Walter also designed theatre sets.

A number of their UK employees went onto become well-established names within the interior design world. Syrie Maugham (1879 – 1955), wife of author W Somerset Maughan trained at the firm, as did John Fowler (1906 – 1977) who went on to found Colefax & Fowler. In the 1920s he was employed by Thornton Smith to paint Chinese wallpaper, from where he was hired by Margaret Kunzer, antiques dealer and decorator.

The company eventually ceased trading in 1937.