These designs for chimneypieces and mirror frames assigned to Mr Weaver’s house in the Tower are not known to have been executed. Very little is known of Mr Weaver. Bolton noted that his name appears in the Royal Kalendar of 1781, where he is recorded as one of the Clerks in Ordinary working under the Clerk of Deliveries at the Tower of London. Indeed we can trace Mr Weaver through the Royal Kalendar with his last appearance noted in 1804, listed as Chief Clerk W. Weaver, esq. Many such office holders held apartments in the Tower and the surrounding area, care of which fell under the remit of the Ordnance Office, and later the Office of Works. Through the late eighteenth to early nineteenth century the Office of Works recorded a number of repairs required at such residences, many of which seem to have fallen into disrepair.

Several of the inscriptions for the mirror frames are of interest as they provide a range of estimated expenses with price lists for glass, carving, joiner’s work and ornamental painting.

A number of the drawings for chimneypieces have pencil preliminary designs on the verso. They bear many similarities to the recto designs, but with alterations and varying combinations of design elements.

Literature:
The Royal Kalendar; or complete and correct Annual Register for England, Scotland, Ireland, and America, For the Year 1781, p. 164; The London Kalendar; or Court and City Register for England, Scotland, Ireland and America, For the Year 1804, p. 215; A.T. Bolton, The architecture of Robert and James Adam , 1922, Volume II, Index pp. 51, 90; E. Harris, The Furniture of Robert Adam, 1963, p.58;The History of the King’s Works, Volume V, 1660-1782, 1976, pp. 380-384, H.M. Colvin (ed.); The History of the King’s Works, Volume VI, 1782-1851, 1973, pp. 485-491

Anna McAlaney, 2019