Regency Coade: A Study of the Coade Record Books, 1813-21

Abstract

The discovery of new documents relating to the Coade Ornamental Stone Manufactory is an interesting and important event. This firm was one of the chief suppliers of manufactured ornaments to the building trade in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It was much concerned with contemporary architectural projects, and its records are filled with references to the works and activities of architects. The company's books therefore contain information which sheds new light upon a number of problems relating to Regency architectural history. The documents in question are preserved at the Public Record Office in London. They consist of a late, fairly representative, set of the Coade firm's record books, and together they form the largest group of Coade records known to survive. They date in the main from late 1813 to late 1821. Besides three manuscript volumes containing letter copies, accounts and orders with work notes, there are a few papers relating to Eleanor Coade Jr's personal properties. They allow us to fill in the company's history with greater detail and accuracy than had previously been possible. We can also follow the course of individual commissions from order, through construction, to completion and accounting. Finally, these documents illuminate the relationships existing between manufacturer and client, and between architect and manufacturer.