BY WILLIAM SMEE AND SONS, MANUFACTURERS, FINSBURY PAVEMENT, LONDON

William Smee and Sons were well-known early 19th century manufacturers and retailers of furniture, and one of the largest wholesalers of the mid century. First recorded in 1838 in Pigot and Co's Alphabetical Directory of London, the firm then had two addresses, one in Finsbury pavement and the other at 34 Little Moorfields. The business achieved great prominence in the Victorian period for its catalogues of which Designs for Furniture of 1850-1855 is a typical example, containing 374 pages of engraved line drawings. Smee's catalogues were quite different from previous publications of furniture designs and set a fashion which was to be followed for the rest of the century. The firm exhibited at many exhibitions beginning with the Great Exhibitionof 1851, then paris in 1855, in London in 1862 and in Paris again in 1867 and 1878. They are known to have completely furnished a house in Victoria in 1859. Smee specialised in furniture in the 'Modern Greek style' and these chairs of klismos inspriation fall into that category. The Victoria and Albert Museum in London holds a large collection of pen drawings circa 1850 from the firm's records. In these drawings, parts of furniture such as legs and feet are shown in different form in the same design, allowing the customer the opportunity to 'customise' their choices