Image Detectives - 140 New Bond Street

Since March 2020 LMA staff, later joined by volunteers, have been working on the LCC photograph project, the aim of which is to geotag and improve the descriptions of 19th and 20th century images of London in order to make them more informative and research friendly. Originally created by the London County Council for administrative purposes, series 1 comprises about 96,000 photographs, many of which document places that no longer exist, having been demolished, destroyed in wartime air raids, or redeveloped.

Fully digitised and available to view on the London Picture Archive website, the images in series 1 focus on buildings and locations.  The photographs in this series range in date from the 1870s to the 1980s. The early, nineteenth-century photographs are relatively rare, so when our volunteer Paul Bolding came across image 132303, which dates from 1895, he was determined to get the description right.

According to the original description, the image allegedly showed the shop of Fribourg & Treyer at 34 Haymarket. Rather obviously, that name does not appear in the picture even though the company was at that address at the time of the image. Another case of mistaken description, then.

So where was it? The clues were the unusual bow front, the business as a theatre agency and something to do with music on the fascia, the name [...]bertson at 141 next door, the stone arch in the background, and the bust sculpture above the fascia.

A directory search at University of Leicester, Special Collections, led Paul to 141 New Bond Street where Panzetta & Robertson, boot manufacturers, were at that address in 1899. Number 140 was a violin maker, William Hill & Sons, which still exists as a company but that didn’t seem right – there is not a single violin visible in the window! However, an earlier 1895 trades directory showed a Richard Mills under ‘Music and Musical Instrument sellers’ at number 140.

In the LPA photo, although the right-hand window advertises theatre tickets, the left-hand one may well show the front covers of sheet music and the letters 'music' can be made out above the shop window, so this seemed likely. There is no reason why the same business should not have sold theatre tickets as well as music. There were at least two other ticket agencies in New Bond Street at the time.

There is also a watercolour in the London Picture Archive (image 26592) of an unnumbered, bow-fronted shop in New Bond Street, which was a pretty good match down to the strange bust of a man above the shop parapet. The stone arch in the original image, although not in the watercolour, is still there today on a fancy boutique at 139 New Bond Street. The watercolour dates from 1887, so the arch at number 139 must have been built between then and 1895.

Number 139 was not the only one to undertake significant façade alterations. The website of violin maker William Hill, who moved to number 140 soon after the photograph was taken, shows its bow front acquired an elaborate sandstone façade that still exists today (though the bow front has since gone). The national listing dates that façade to 1896-97.

This is what numbers 140 and 139 New Bond Street look like now.

Apart from the stone arch, little remains of the façades depicted in LPA 132303. The bust may now be gone, but it was a crucial link in Paul’s meticulous research, which has enabled him to correct the original erroneous description to:

'A view of the front elevation of a ground-floor shop with double bowed windows either side of the entrance door at 140 New Bond Street, Mayfair. The photograph shows a theatre ticket agency advertising shows including Joan of Arc, Alice Atherton in 'Katti, the Family Help' at the Strand theatre, and Aida. The display in the left-hand window probably features sheet music and the business is thought to be Richard Mills & Sons, listed as music and musical instrument sellers. A man in a bowler hat and carrying a cane is passing the shop. The business at number 141 is Panzetta & Robertson, boot manufacturers. The building depicted no longer exists but, dating from 1896-97, number 140 New Bond Street was Grade II listed in 1987; listing number 1266794. The stone arch in the background still exists at 139 New Bond Street.'

If you would like to join our team of LCC photo volunteers, we would love to hear from you at the London Picture Archive. Incidentally, the bust looks like it may have been of a classical composer – possibly Haydn? If anyone is able to identify the subject please do let us know at the same email address.