Handwriting exercise
Robert Carpenter
Category
Education objects
Date
1799
Materials
Paper, wood and glass
Measurements
Image - 389 mm (width); 235 mm (height), Frame - 415 mm (width); 265 mm (height)
Place of origin
Aldgate High Street, 16
Order this imageCollection
Sudbury Hall Museum of Childhood, Derbyshire
NT 665317
Summary
An example of handwriting signed by 'Mary Taylor, December 19th 99' (1799). The handwriting fills the centre of a piece of faded white paper and is surrounded by engraved illustrations. At the top is a black and white engraving of a house called Sir Gregory Turner's at Blackheath which is enclosed in a scroll design. At the top right and left hand sides are a pair of urns. There are a pair of potted plants at the bottom right and left. On either side are a pair of engravings, surrounded by scrolled designs, depicting two ladies. Along the bottom are two gentlemen in a rural setting. There is a piece of paper missing from the bottom right-hand side. The whole is enclosed in a wooden frame with paper backing.
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 1950s 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."
Marks and inscriptions
Centre of the paper: 'All my friends who now expect to see/ A piece of Writing thus performed by me/ Cast but a smile on this my mean endeavour/ I'll strive to mend and be obedient ever/ Ensure not rashly; Nature's apt to halt/ Look inward; He's unborn that has no fault,/ Mary Taylor/ December 19th/ 99' Bottom of the engraving: 'Sold by R. Carpenter. Engraver and Printer. No.16 Aldgate High Street, London.'
Makers and roles
Robert Carpenter, engraver (printmaker) possibly Robert Carpenter, printer