Paint box
George Blackman (c.1764 - c.1819)
Category
Education objects
Date
circa 1850 - circa 1900
Materials
Wood and paint cakes
Measurements
205 mm (width); 65 mm (height); 117 mm (depth)
Place of origin
England
Order this imageCollection
Sudbury Hall Museum of Childhood, Derbyshire
NT 665285
Summary
A paint box with a hinged lid and a lock containing forty-two watercolour cakes. Inside the lid is a large pale blue label. The box is divided horizontally into four compartments. Between the front compartment and the next is a strip of paper with the following colours printed on it - I Black; Chr.Yellow; Ultramarine; Grn. Blce; B.Ta. Sienna; Or Lead. Cakes of paint fill the four compartments. Some of the cakes are embossed with shields and the name of the colour beneath i.e., 'Red Chalk'. In the front compartment are many broken cakes and two white ceramic shallow containers for mixing the watercolours. A letter accompanying this paint box read 'This box of water colours/ was used by my Father -/ Alexander Ogden when at/ Mr. Russell's School Mackworth/ near Derby about 1850/ The 'mapping' pens are I think/ contemporary The loose nibs/ are of a later date./ The small metal match box/ is of a type which was filled/ with 'wax vestas' and sold/ in Railway refreshment rooms/ or sometimes given as an/ advertisement. - about 1890-1900/ [ ].S. Ogden/ The short copper rod is the/ means of securing the drawer/ when the box is locked.' There appears to be drawer underneath but as the copper rod is stuck it is impossible to ascertain whether it contains the mapping pens, nibs and metal match box.' Total number of items is 44.
Provenance
'Derbyshire Museum Service History of Education Collection' - a collection established by Derbyshire Museum Service (through gifts from individuals, Derbyshire schools and purchases) in the 1940s and stored at Sudbury Hall from the early 1970s to 2012. The National Trust managed the collection between 1991 and 2012 when legal ownership was transferred from Derbyshire County Council to the National Trust. Archival records information - "The collection was established as a result of isolated gifts in the 1940's, and the 'savings' of certain school records (now passed to County Records) during wartime paper salvage. During the 1950s it was L.E.A. practice to hold an Easter Course for teachers, and the County (Derbyshire) Museum arranged a special exhibition for teach course. As by the mid-50s quite a collection had already accumulated, it was decided to produce an exhibition on the history of education with special reference to Derbyshire. Consequently, further material was purchased, from which items were selected. The exhibition was subsequently shown at a number of centres, and after disbandment, additions continued to be made with the aim of eventually producing a reconstructed classroom as a base for research. The Derby Bishop Lonsdale College of Education has frequently made use of the collection in various ways." Donor provenance 'F.S. Ogden Stanley, donated in 1969 a number of items relating to his father, Alexander, and his mother's family Soresby. Also donated other items presumably used by these children at school in Brailsford and Mugginton during the nineteenth century (or by other children and/or teachers)'.
Marks and inscriptions
A large pale blue label inside the lid : 'Watchetts[ ]sSupplied on the Lowest Terms For Ready Money only/ G. Blackman,/ Superfine Colour Preparer,/ LONDON./ COPY OF THE LETTER RECEIVED FROM THE SOCIETY OF ARTS, ADELPHI./ SIR,/ I have the pleasure to inform you that the Society for Encouragement of/ Arts Manufactures and Commerce have voted to you their Large Silver Pallet and Twenty/ Guineas for your Improvement in Superfine Colours in Cakes/ I am Sir,/ Your very humble Servt./ SAML MOORE, Secry. [TO THE LEFT ON THE SAME LINE IS ALSO] G. Blackman.'
Makers and roles
George Blackman (c.1764 - c.1819), maker