Mcamvhile, William \V"alkcr"s brother Robert made 

 14 chairs for Mercer, on which VViliiain's carver spent 

 54 days. The total cost was £30 8s. The quality of 

 Mercer's furniture is illustrated further by a pur- 

 chase in 1750 from Lyonel Lydc,'"" a London mer- 

 chant, of £43 13s. worth of -'Cabinet Ware from 

 Belchier." Belchier was a leading London furniture 

 maker, whose shop in 1750 was located on the -'south 

 side of St. Paul's, right against the clock." Sir 

 Ambrose Heal, in The London Furniture Makers, illus- 

 trates a superb japanned writing cabinet in green and 

 gold chinoLscrie made by Belchier in 1 730.'"' Belchier 

 also supplied Shalstonc Manor, the Buckinghamshire 

 estate of Heniy Purcfoy, with a table-desk in 1 749 

 (fig. 13).'"- 



The ledger notes other occasional purchases of 

 furniture during this period. In 1746 Mercer paid 

 cash "for oysters & a bedsteed," in the amount of 

 10s. 6d. In September 1748, he bought "an Escri- 

 toue" from tutor John Phipps, for which he paid £5. 



LIGHTING DEVICES 



Artificial lighting for the manor house receives 

 sparse mention. 'J'he four candlesticks bought in 1 744 

 for a penny each wcie probablv of iron or tin for 

 kitchen use. Candlesticks purchased earlier probablv 

 remained m use, sufficing for most illumination. I't 

 IS a modern misconception that colonial houses were 

 ablaze at night with lamplight and candlelight 

 Candles were expensive to buy and time-consuming 

 to make, while lamps rarely were used before the 

 end of the century in the more refined areas of 

 households. The principal use of candles was in 

 guiding one's way to bed or in providing the minimum 

 necessary light to carry on an evening's conversation 



The V,rg,ma C.a~elU on January 27, 1738, announced that 

 Major Cornd.us Lydo, "Son of Mr. Uon.1 Lyde, an en.in.n 

 merchant in Bristol, died at his Mouse in A7„» WuLn Cou y '' 



headed '^r Ly„„,, i^yde, Mcrch' in London." Lyde died 

 ...1749 before Mercer settled his account. Elsewhere n he 



Lyde" 7r ~' "'? i'^r " ''°°P"' '^^^^""'•y- I'"-'- & 

 hi >^Q- T r'' ^y'''- ^"°'^" I-y°"<-' Lyde, who 



S'-* Amf.ro.se Meal, TA, London FurnUur. Makers from the 



"^Z.V'l,^^'"" '""'-"" "■-''"- ^-^^-^' 



-ck& Jackson, Ltd., ,931), vol. I, pp. ,8, ,07. 11,, ,77. and 



Hi 



Figure 1.3.— I ABLE-DESK made in 1749 for Henry 

 Purefoy of .Shalstonc ^fanor in Buckinghamshire by 

 John Belchier of London. In the following year, 

 .John Mercer received f43 13s. worth of "Cabinet 

 Ware" from that noted cabinetmaker. (Reproduce,! 

 from Purefoy Letters. 1735-1753, 6'. B/and, ed.. 

 Sidgwick and Jackson, Ltd.. Ij)ndon. 1931. by courteous 

 permission of the publisher. ) 



