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Charles Blake
Biography
The Dictionary of English Furniture published by the Furniture History Society, published 1986, lists Robert Blake at 8 Stephen Street, Tottenham Court Road in 1820 and later of 130 Mount Street Berkley Square, was a noted marquetrier and buhl inlayer and supplied many items which were retailed by Edward Holmes Baldock (1777-1845).
By 1843 the premises housed he and his four sons, Charles (b1814), Henry, George and James. By 1860, only Charles was at the address, until his death in 1879. Edward Holmes Baldock (1777-1845) one of the ‘leading antique and ornamental furniture dealers’ (as stated on his trade card) was in nearby Hanway Street, and is known to have employed the Blakes, as their very distinctive marquetry work was of the of the highest quality and delicacy. A pair of commodes were made by Blake (now in the Frick Collection, having been sold by Lord Duveen of Millbank in 1916) copying the Andre-Charles Buhl originals made for Louis XIV’s Trianon.
