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Kingsland Road, London, E2 8EA; Tel: 020 7739 9893
Last summer marked the 125th anniversaray of the MLA/V&A Purchase Grant Fund, a government grant scheme launched in 1881 to support the recently founded municipal museums in building their collections. The fund is administered by the Victoria and Albert Museum and has an annual budget of £1,000,000 provided by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council. Grants are given to a range of museums, archives and specialist libraries in England and Wales towards acquisitions relating to the arts, history and literature.
Over the years the fund has helped the Geffrye Museum to purchase more than eighty pieces, including paintings, furniture, textiles and metalwork, examples of which can be seen here.
1972
Elizabeth HemyngArthur Devisc. 1738-1742Oil on canvasPurchased with additional support from The Art Fund and the Pilgrim Trust
1974
George Michael Moser and his Wife MaryCarl Marcus Tuscher1741-1743Oil on canvasPurchased with additional support from the Art Fund and the Pilgrim Trust
Changing HomesGeorge Elgar Hicks1862Oil on canvas
The Arrival of the Jarrow MarchersThomas Cantrell Dugdale1936Oil on canvas
A Mother and ChildUnknown Artistc. 1780Oil on canvasPurchased with additional support from the Pilgrim Trust
1976
Londoners GypsyingCharles Robert Leslie1820Oil on canvasPurchased with additional support from The Art Fund, the Pilgrim Trust, the Greater London Council and the Wates Foundation
Tug of WarHarry Brooker1891Oil on canvasPurchased with additional support from The Art Fund
Oranges and LemonsHarry Brooker1890Oil on canvasPurchased with additional support from The Art Fund
1978
Florence, Arthur and Charles MooreWilliam Crosby1868Oil on woodPurchased with additional support from The Art Fund
Mary Beale with her Husband and SonMary Bealec. 1663-1664Oil on canvasPurchased with additional support from The Art Fund
1979
Cabinet on standFrench1652Engraved ebony, fitted with cupboards and drawers inlaid with ivory and fruitwoods. Made in Paris in 1652 for John Evelyn, the botanist and diarist, who lived at Deptford.Purchased with additional support from The Art Fund and numerous other organisations and individuals
A Cure for a Headache (?)David Henry FristonExhibited 1853-1869Oil on canvasPurchased with additional support from The Art Fund
1980
The Lion and the Mouse or Sweet Mercy is Nobility's True Badge (The Plea)Rebecca Solomon1865Oil on canvas
The DisasterFrancis Wheatley1788Oil on canvasPurchased with additional support from The Art Fund
1981
John MonckPompeo Batoni1764Oil on canvasPurchased with additional support from The Art Fund
Maids of All WorkJohn Finnie1864-1865Oil on canvas
1982
HolidayHarry Morley1935Oil on canvasPurchased with additional support from the Friends of the Geffrye Museum
Master PercevalUnknown artistc. 1620Oil on canvasPurchased with additional support from the Pilgrim Trust and The Art Fund
1983
Dining Room Table and ChairsDesigned by W.H. Russell and manufactured by Gordon Russell Ltd1951
Dining Room SideboardDesigned by W.H. Russell and manufactured by Gordon Russell Ltd1951
1984
GoneFrank Hollc. 1877Oil on boardPurchased with additional support from The Art Fund
1986
Portrait of a Gentleman at a LatheArthur Devisc. 1752-1756Oil on canvas
The First Public Drinking FountainW.A. Atkinson1859-1860Oil on canvasPurchased with additional support from The Art Fund
1991
Court Cupboard (detail)Englishc. 1620Oak inlaid with bog oak parquetryPurchased with additional support from The Art Fund
1992
VaseDesigned by C.R. Ashbee1899Silver
1993
Library chairThe original design for Dromore Castle, near Limmerick, by E.W. Godwin, 1869, manufactured by William Watt, c. 1876Ebonised beech with leather seat and back panel
1994
Chest on chestEnglishc. 1675Oak with walnut veneer, with later brass drop handles and lock escutcheons
1995
Cabinet on chestEnglishc. 1700Walnut veneer on pine carcass, with later brass handles
1996
Flemish verdure tapestry panelProbably woven in Oudenaardec. 1620Wool and silkPurchased with additional support from the Friends of the Geffrye Museum
1998
ArmchairEnglishc. 1710Walnut with caned seat and back
2000
The Wedding BreakfastGeorge Elgar Hicks1862Oil on panel
2005
Writing deskJohn Guilbaudc. 1700Walnut veneerThis is the only known piece of furniture bearing the label of John Guilbaud, a cabinet-maker who had his premises in Long Acre.Purchased with additional support from The National Lottery through the Heritage Lottery Fund
Set of six stoolsc. 1600-1630OakA set of joined stools, such as this, was the usual form of seating used around a long dining table in the early 17th century but the survival of full sets is now extremely rare.Purchased with additional support from The Art Fund
Pair of India-back chairsWilliam Old and John Odyc. 1725WalnutOne of the pair bears the remains of the makers' label of William Old and John Ody, who worked 'at the Castle in St Paul's churchyard'.Purchased with additional support from The Art Fund
ArmchairPhilip ClissetAsh with rust seatThe back post is stamped with the makers' mark of Philip Clisset, who worked at Bosbury, Herefordshire, between 1840 and 1913. It is one of an important collection of forty-six English regional chairs and stools purchased with the aid of a grant from the MLA/V&A Purchase Grant Fund.
2006
Group portrait of the Brewster familyThomas Bardwell1736Oil on canvasThis rare depiction of a Georgian middle-class interior shows Francis Brewster, a linen and woollen draper of Beccles, Suffolk, and his family in their home.Purchased with additional support from The Art Fund
SaltLondon1580Silver, parcel giltThis coverless salt is an exceptional survival. Although such plain silver salts would have been relatively common, gracing the tables of the well-off middle-classes and the gentry, very few have survived.Purchased with additional support from The Art Fund and the National Heritage Memorial Fund
