George Smith was born in 1786 and became one of the Regency’s most celebrated furniture
designers. Like his contemporaries, the architect Henry Holland and cabinet-maker
Thomas Hope, he was championed by an aristocracy demanding the fashionable and beautifully
executed.
Smith’s eclectic style ranged from the neo-classic to Gothic, Chinese
to Etruscan and was illustrated and popularised in his pattern books including ‘A
Collection of Designs for Household Furniture and Interior Decoration.’ Smith was
the Prince Regent’s ‘upholsterer extraordinary’ and contributed much to the Chinoiserie
delights of the Brighton Pavilion.
Today we are still inspired by many of Smith’s
original nineteenth century drawings in the making of our furniture. All are built
from the finest natural raw materials in our workshops in the North of England. |