James Moore (c. 1670 - October 1726) was an 18th-century cabinet maker in
London
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who worked for
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. He was in partnership with
John Gumley
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from 1714. As royal cabinet-maker he supplied walnut and mahogany furniture for the royal household, the royal yacht, and the king's servants and mistresses, as well as the rich gilt gesso furniture for which he is best known but which constituted a small part of his output.
Early references to Moore are in the Duke of Montagu's domestic expenses, 1708, and the entry in the accounts of
Lord Hervey, soon created Earl of Bristol, for "glass piers & sconces", 1710. Moore and his son, James Moore the younger, were among craftsmen furnishing
Cannons
A cannon is a large-caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder during ...
for
James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos
James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos, (6 January 16739 August 1744) was an English landowner and politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons from 1698 until 1714, when he succeeded to the peerage as Baron Chandos, and vacated ...
A gilt gesso table from
Stowe House
Stowe House is a grade I listed country house in Stowe, Buckinghamshire, England. It is the home of Stowe School, an independent school and is owned by the Stowe House Preservation Trust who have to date (March 2013) spent more than £25m on th ...
, now at the
Victoria and Albert is in the unmistakable style of James Moore; it bears the cypher and baron's coronet of
Richard Temple, Lord Cobham, and can be dated 1714–18 on that basis.
James Moore assumed the position of clerk of the works at
Blenheim Palace
Blenheim Palace (pronounced ) is a country house in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England. It is the seat of the Dukes of Marlborough and the only non-royal, non- episcopal country house in England to hold the title of palace. The palace, on ...
, completing and furnishing the house after
Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough
Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough, Princess of Mindelheim, Countess of Nellenburg (née Jenyns, spelt Jennings in most modern references; 5 June 1660 (Old Style) – 18 October 1744), was an English courtier who rose to be one of th ...
, quarreled with her architect,
John Vanbrugh
Sir John Vanbrugh (; 24 January 1664 (baptised) – 26 March 1726) was an English architect, dramatist and herald, perhaps best known as the designer of Blenheim Palace and Castle Howard. He wrote two argumentative and outspoken Restora ...
; Moore had first appeared as the Duchess's "glass man", providing pier glasses in the house. By 1714 the Duchess referred to him as "my oracle, Mr. Moore" who "certainly has very good sense and I think him very honest and understanding in many trades besides his own."
Moore is especially known for gilt gesso furniture, tables looking-glass frames and candlestands. A pair of gilt gesso side tables bearing the crowned cypher of George I in the
Royal Collection
The Royal Collection of the British royal family is the largest private art collection in the world.
Spread among 13 occupied and historic royal residences in the United Kingdom, the collection is owned by King Charles III and overseen by the ...
and the pair of candlestands en suite are incised with his name, an unusual practice at the time. At
Erddig
Erddig Hall ( cy, Neuadd Erddig; or simply Erddig; ) is a Grade-I listed National Trust property in Wrexham, Wales. Standing south of Wrexham city centre, it comprises a country house built during the 17th and 18th centuries amidst a 1,900 ac ...
, gilt gesso furniture by Moore can be linked to surviving bills receipted by James Moore and John Belchier, 1722–26.
The succeeding royal cabinet-maker,
Benjamin Goodison
Benjamin Goodison (c. 1700 – 1767), of London, was a royal cabinetmaker to George II of Great Britain, supplying furnishings to the royal palaces from 1727 to the time of his death. He served his apprenticeship with James Moore, who died accide ...
, trained in Moore's workshop.
[Geoffrey Beard, "Three Eighteenth-century Cabinet-makers: Moore, Goodison and Vile", ''The Burlington Magazine'' 119 (July 1977:479-86).]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moore, James
English furniture designers
1726 deaths
Year of birth uncertain