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2024-06-30-accounts

THE FURNITURE HISTORY SOCIETY

Annual Report of the Trustees and Financial Statements for the Year ended 30 June 2024, together with Notices of the Sixtieth Annual General Meeting, and a Special General Meeting, both to be held at The East India Club, 16 St James’s Square, London SW1Y 4LH on Saturday, 23 November 2024 commencing at 11.00 am

c/o The Department of Performance, Furniture, Textiles and Fashion, Victoria & Albert Museum, London SW7 2RL

www.furniturehistorysociety.org

Registered Charity No. 251683

THE FURNITURE HISTORY SOCIETY

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING, 2024

Agenda for the 60th Annual General Meeting of The Furniture History Society 

  - to be held at The East India Club, 16 St James’s Square, London SW1Y 4LH at 11.00 am on Saturday, 23 November 2024

  1. Apologies for absence

  2. Minutes of the Fifty-ninth Annual General Meeting

  3. Adoption of the Annual Report for the year ended 30 June 2024

  4. Adoption of the Financial Statements for the year ended 30 June 2024 5. Re-election of the President, Chairman and Honorary Officers

  5. The President

Council proposes Simon Swynfen Jervis

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EXPLANATORY NOTE - SUBSCRIPTION RATES

an increasing number of the Society’s mailings get ensnared in a web of Kafka-like regulations with the recipient either being (wrongfully) charged an impost or the mailing being detained for weeks before being returned to sender.

During the last 15 months, it has become apparent that the basic subscription no longer covers the costs of servicing the membership. Although the officers are reviewing all aspects of the Society’s expenditure, the underlying costs have to be covered if the Society’s general fund is not to be further eroded.

The Honorary Treasurer writes: ‘There is never a right time to propose an increase in subscription rates. Subscriptions have been maintained at the same level since 1 July 2022, but inflationary costs and an increase in the range and number of the Society’s activities now mean that subscription income no longer covers the ongoing running costs. To ensure that your Society’s affairs remain on a sound footing, Council proposes an increase in subscription rates which we would again hope to hold for the following three years. This change is in line with the general precept agreed in 2015 that subscriptions should be raised every three years more or less in line with inflation.’

Council is looking into the possibility of offering an online only membership package that would see just one hard copy mailing each year (of the Annual Report and AGM papers) being sent to those members who opt for this. It would undoubtedly save money on postage but might have a negative impact on production and other costs. A simple questionnaire asking members whether they would be interested did not attract a large degree of support. Further work is being done with a view to implementing a change in 2025.

Thanks to the efforts of the finance officers, approximately 450 members now pay by direct debit representing about two-thirds of the individual members who pay from sterling denominated bank accounts—something that makes the implementation of any change in subscription rates much easier to administer.

The Retail Prices Index has risen by 13.8% since July 2022 and the Consumer Prices Index rate by 10.4%. Assuming an inflation rate of 2.5% for the next 12 months, these figures would increase to approx. 14.2% and 10.6%. With this in mind we propose the following rates.

Membership category Current rate Proposed rate
UK Individual(or Sole)members £65 £72
UK Young individual members
(aged under 35)		 £37 £40
UK Joint members (i.e., two people receiving
one mailingat the same address)		 £75 £82
UK Institutional or
Corporate members		 £87 £96
International individual members £85 £93($110, €121)
International Young individual members
(aged under 35)		 £47 £50 ($55, €60)
InternationalJoint members £95 £105(€131, $125)
International Institutional or
Corporate members		 £108 £113 (€147, $134)

The $ and € figures are indicative only.

The new rates for overseas members reflect the cost of postage to the US and continental Europe where rates have risen far faster than the RPI over the last three years. In addition, since Brexit, the paperwork required to post printed material to the EU has increased very significantly, and

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AGENDA

for the Special General Meeting to be held at 12 noon (or so soon as the preceding meeting shall finish or be adjourned)

To consider, and if thought appropriate, to approve a Special Resolution to amend the Society’s constitution by substituting the following wording for the existing Rule 7 so that the Rule shall read as follows.

“The affairs of the Society shall be administered by a Council consisting of a President, a Chairman and three Honorary Officers - namely, Secretary, Treasurer and Editorial Secretary - and six ordinary members of the Society (or such higher number of ordinary members of the Council as the Society or the Council may decide).

All members of the Council shall be elected each year at the Annual General Meeting (AGM), but the ordinary members shall serve for a term not exceeding three years ending at the third AGM following the AGM at which they were first elected, and shall not be eligible for re-election in that year.

At the AGM in each year the Society shall elect two ordinary members of the Society (or such other number as the Society or the Council may decide) as ordinary members of the Council to replace those ordinary members retiring in that year or to fill a casual vacancy.

A vacancy in the ordinary members of the Council occurring between AGMs may be filled by the Council appointing another member of the Society as an ordinary member, and any member so appointed shall continue in that capacity until the next AGM after their appointment, but shall be eligible for election by the Society for a new term at that AGM.

The Council may from time to time appoint officers to carry out administrative duties on behalf of the Society

NB A Special Resolution requires the consent of a two thirds majority of Members present and voting at the Meeting. In addition, this meeting is deemed to be held contemporaneously with the preceding one.

Explanatory Note

The members of the Society’s Council may be divided into two groups: first, the President, the Chairman and the Honorary Officers and second, six ordinary members who can serve for a period of up to three years. All members of Council are subject to annual re-election.

During 2023, an ordinary member of Council resigned and, in accordance with the Rules, in 2024 a member of the Society (Adriana Turpin) was appointed to Council in their place. When the Hon. Officers discussed the matter, it became clear that the existing Rule whereby onethird of the ordinary members of Council retire each year and are not eligible for re-election, means that in certain circumstances, the length of service of a member appointed to fill a casual vacancy could be significantly curtailed.

Council recommends that the Rule is reworded so that the length of service of ordinary members on Council is determined by reference to years of service rather than a fraction of the number of ordinary members on Council. The effect will be the same: membership of Council is regularly refreshed and the operation of the rule where a casual vacancy has been filled by Council will be clarified.

In addition, for some time, it has been clear that because of the rise in the amount and the complexity of the Society’s activities, it may become necessary to increase the number of ordinary members of Council and this rewording enables such an increase to be made by Council as well as the members in general meeting.

Finally, in line with modern practice, the re-worded rule has been framed in gender-neutral language. In due course, it may be necessary to revise and up-date the whole document.

For ease of reference, the wording of the existing and the new rule is set out below.

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Members may like to note that a copy of the Rules is sent to each member on joining. Further copies may be obtained from the Honorary Secretary at secretary@furniturehistorysociety.org. In addition, copies will also be available at the meeting. There is a link to the Rules at the foot of the ‘About Us’ page of the Society’s website.

Council is very grateful to member Philip Peacock for his assistance with the revision of this Rule.

THE FURNITURE HISTORY SOCIETY

MINUTES

of the Fifty-ninth Annual General Meeting of The Furniture History Society held on 25 November 2023

Notice

The notice convening the meeting was read.

PROGRAMME FOR THE DAY

Apologies

An apology for absence had been received from Stephen Jackson.

Minutes of the 2022 Annual General Meeting

Both meetings will be held corporeally. The talks will be recorded and will be available on the Society’s website after the meeting. The log-in details required to access these recordings will be sent out by e-mail to all the members for whom the Society has an email address.

Admission to both meetings is free and open to all members, but those wishing to attend in person are asked to notify the Events Secretary at events@furniturehistorysociety.org, at least seven days in advance so that the necessary arrangements can be made. Coffee will be served from 10.30 am and the meeting will start at 11.00 am.

At the conclusion of the formal business, presentations will be made to two outgoing officers: Keith Nicholls, the former Finance Officer and Dr Megan Wheeler, who is not offering herself for re-appointment as Hon. Secretary.

As is customary, this will be followed by a series of short talks. Speakers will include:

At the conclusion of the presentations, a sandwich lunch will be available. Tickets, to include a glass of wine, cost £24 per head, and should be booked at least seven days in advance through Beatrice Goddard, Events Secretary, at events@furniturehistorysociety.org

The minutes of the Annual General Meeting held on 26 November 2022 were taken as read and the Chairman was authorised to sign them as a correct record.

Annual Report for the year ended 30 June 2023

The Chairman thanked everyone involved in the production of the Annual Report, as well as the trustees, paid staff and volunteers for a busy and productive year.

The Chairman reported with regret that Jürgen Huber, a Trustee, had reluctantly resigned due to the competing pressures of work and family life. He thanked Mr Huber for his contribution, not only as a member of Council but also as an advocate for the Society’s work. He noted that Council would fill the vacancy by co-option. In accordance with the Society’s Rules, the replacement trustee would be formally elected at the AGM in 2024.

Turning to publications, he congratulated the Hon. Editorial Secretary on the 2023 issue of Furniture History , which had run to 340 pages (50 pages more than the 2022 volume) and had included a range of articles leavened by international contributions. He thanked the Editorial Group for its help and advice, not only with the Journal, but occasionally with the Newsletter and the BIFMO database. He went on to ask for contributions to the compilation and printing of an Index of Furniture History 2010-2019, planned for 2025.

The Chairman thanked Kate Hay and Iain Stephens for so ably managing the production of four Newsletters in 2023. He reported that since the 2022 AGM, Wolf Burchard had decided to remain as the Book Review Editor, and had continued to be very active in commissioning the reviews. Lastly, he drew members’ attention to the rich and exciting list of publications for sale on the FHS website, and asked members who were interested in a re-print of Volume I of Furniture History to contact Jill Bace at publications@furniturehistorysociety.org.

The Society’s membership had, he said, remained static at around 1,050 members, despite Council’s best efforts to increase it. He felt this was a respectable figure by comparison with other similar societies, but urged those present to help recruit new members, particularly as

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membership subscriptions had been, and would continue to be, the Society’s main source of income. He suggested that members might, in future, bring prospective members as guests to the Annual Lecture.

He drew attention to the obituaries included in the Annual Report and added that the Society’s thoughts continued to be with Dr Laurie Lindey, one of BIFMO’s Managing Editors, the widow of the late John Lindey.

A dedicated Management Committee had been created to run BIFMO, reflecting its importance to the Society. He thanked Adriana Turpin, the Deputy Chairman of that committee, for working indefatigably for the project during the website’s translation to its new host, Blue-Bag, in 2023. The new website would, he said, be re-branded so as to make clear that BIFMO was a defined branch of the Society.

BIFMO’s online courses had, he reported, been both popular and profitable, and he thanked all contributors. He also thanked the editors, Dr Lindey and Clarissa Ward, for continuing to add information and entries to the website. Members of the Early Careers Development Group had attended the online courses and were very grateful to David Dewing and Jürgen Huber in connection with ECD events in 2022 and 2023. In addition, the Oliver Ford Trust had once again generously funded an overseas study trip to Maastricht.

He went on to thank the members of the Events Committee, Beatrice Goddard (Events Secretary) and Kate Hay (Events Committee Chair) for having put together a programme of exciting trips both in the UK and abroad to destinations as varied as Paris, Cardiff, Scotland and Tuscany. Some visits had been so popular that they had had to be repeated.

He expressed his gratitude to everyone involved in the highly successful Symposium, Rococo Across Borders, held jointly with the French Porcelain Society, particularly thanking the Director of the V&A Museum, who had allowed the Society to use its auditorium at a reduced price, and to Bonhams through member, Charlie Thomas, which had generously hosted a drinks reception after the event. Instagram coverage had been very popular and the event itself had been academically worthwhile, reaping considerable benefits not least of which was a surplus for both the societies involved.

Lastly, he encouraged ECD members to take advantage of the support available from the Society by applying for grants to attend similar future events.

There being no questions, he commended the Annual Report for the year ended 30 June 2023 to the meeting and it was adopted nemine contradicente .

Financial Statements for the year ended 30 June 2023

The Hon. Treasurer presented the Financial Statements for the charity for the year. He said the Society had recovered well from lockdown, but that the political and economic outlook remained uncertain, particularly with regard to inflation.

The Society’s finances had remained stable, with income from all sources of £189,079 whilst expenditure had totalled £195,471, resulting in a budgeted deficit of £6,392 (2022: £8.851) to which had to be added unrealised losses on the investment portfolio of £14,358. He reminded

members that there had been a similar gain of some £65,000 on the portfolio in the previous financial year.

Income and expenditure had largely reverted to pre-pandemic levels: however, subscription income had risen by approximately £5,750 to £77,310 reflecting the increase in rates implemented in 2022 and the income arising on the Society’s charitable activities had increased from £44,499 in 2022-23 to £70,465. This was thanks to the resumption of a full programme of events, visits, &c. as well as to the efforts of the Events committee and the Events Secretary, Beatrice Goddard—both of whom deserved members’ thanks. The events, &c. programme had made a healthy surplus.

Expenditure on the website had increased significantly to £18,897 (2022: £2,236) due to improvements to the site including the transition of the BIFMO website and its associated database to the new provider, as well as the creation of the My Account area on the Society’s website. This had proved a success, with around 450 members already signed up to their personal dashboard.

BIFMO had generated a healthy income of £33,281 compared with £18,892 in the previous year. Expenditure on the project had also increased to £40,458, giving a deficit on immediate operations of £7,177. After transfers from reserves, however, the project had achieved a book surplus of £8,232.

Membership subscriptions had, he said, not risen at the budgeted rate, but this may have reflected the resignation, either active or passive, of those who had joined the Society simply to access its excellent online programme during the pandemic.

The Treasurer concluded his summary by saying that at the year-end, the Society’s net wealth was £853,532, of which £729,884 was attributable to the restricted funds.

Finance Officer

Mr Williams informed members that he and the honorary officers had been working hard to appoint a successor to Keith Nicholls, the Society’s diligent Finance & Membership Officer, who had notified the Society in 2022 of his intention to resign at the end of 2023. An appointment had been made in mid-November, but he was disappointed to report that the appointee had withdrawn. He and his colleagues were working to make another appointment as soon as possible. Mr Nicholls had characteristically and generously agreed to carry on until the end of January 2024.

Lastly, the Hon. Treasurer thanked his colleagues – Megan Wheeler, Philip Peacock, Keith Nicholls, Beatrice Goddard, Jill Bace, Adriana Turpin and Ann Davies–all members of the small Operations Group which managed the day-to-day running of the Society for their unstinting hard work and loyal service.

He commended the Financial Statements for adoption by the meeting. There were no questions and they were adopted nem. con .

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Elections

a) The following officers were proposed for re-election:

PRESIDENT Simon Swynfen Jervis CHAIRMAN OF COUNCIL Christopher Neville Rowell HONORARY SECRETARY Dr Megan Laura Wheeler HONORARY TREASURER Martin Blue Macintosh Williams HONORARY EDITORIAL SECRETARY Dr Megan Brewster Aldrich

Talks

Dr Stacey Clapperton (Curator) and Lucy Odlin (Collections Conservation Manager) outlined the history, design and conservation of the Speaker’s State Coach, the oldest of the three gilded State Coaches to survive in Britain.

Dr Amy Frost (Senior Curator, Bath Preservation Trust) described the work underway to conserve Beckford’s Tower and re-fit the Museum inside it, prior to the building’s re-opening.

Dr Tessa Kilgariff (Curator of Collections and Interiors, English Heritage) spoke about the history of Marble Hill in Twickenham, home to Henrietta Howard, Countess of Suffolk (16891767), and the project – Marble Hill Revived – to restore the house, collections and gardens.

Louis Platman (Curator, Museum of the Home) outlined the changes underway at the Museum of the Home as part of the Real Rooms project. He also updated the meeting on plans for the Cotton Collection of English Regional Chairs, and the recently acquired Cotton Archive.

All three motions were put to the meeting and each agreed nem. con.

The President recorded his thanks to the retiring members of Council, viz., Dr Alexandra Gerstein and Stephen Jackson, for their service to the Society.

Re-appointment of independent examiner

The President thanked Christopher Pexton of Messrs Begbies and proposed that he be re-appointed for a further year. Agreed.

Any other business

Adriana Turpin, Deputy Chair of the BIFMO Management Committee, directed those present to the newly designed BIFMO website and database, and invited contributions on furnituremakers to the blog section. She went on to outline plans for the forthcoming ECD Symposium, to take place at the Metropolitan Museum, New York in January 2024.

Kate Dyson, a retiring member of the Events Committee, was presented with flowers in recognition of her long service to the Society and for having arranged so many wonderful events and visits.

There being no further business, the meeting was closed by the President who thanked all of the Society’s officers for their work. He added his appreciation to those who had helped arrange the meeting, viz., Sara Heaton, Kate Dyson and Anne-Marie Bannister; Pawel Olszewski, the technical support officer of the Society of Antiquaries of London; and the staff at the East India Club. He coupled their names to those of the speakers whose talks would follow the formal business.

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THE FURNITURE HISTORY SOCIETY

BIFMO:

ANNUAL REPORT OF COUNCIL 2023-24

The Council of the Furniture History Society has pleasure in presenting its 59th Annual Report together with Financial Statements for the year ended 30 June 2024.

LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS

Principal address c/o Department of Performance, Furniture, Textiles & Fashion, Victoria & Albert Museum, London SW7 2RL

Website (Society) https://furniturehistorysociety.org ( BIFMO ) https://bifmo.furniturehistorysociety.org/

Adriana Turpin FSA (Project Manager) bifmoprojectmanager@furniturehistorysociety.org Dr Laurie Lindey (Managerial Editor) bifmoeditor@furniturehistorysociety.org Clarissa Ward (19th century Editor) bifmoeditor@furniturehistorysociety.org

Ann Davies (Outreach Programme Co-ordinator) bifmo@furniturehistorysociety.org

Social Media Manager

Maeve Diepenbrock maevediepenbrock@gmail.com

Chair, Digital Strategy Kate Hay Group: katehay86@gmail.com

Professional Advisers

President and Honorary Officers

President Simon Swynfen Jervis FSA

Chairman Christopher Neville Rowell FSA chairman@furniturehistorysociety.org Hon. Secretary: Dr Megan Laura Wheeler FSA secretary@furniturehistorysociety.org Hon. Treasurer: Martin Blue Macintosh Williams FSA treasurer@furniturehistorysociety.org

Hon. Editorial Secretary: Dr Megan Brewster Aldrich FSA meganbrewsteraldrich@gmail.com

Other officers and committee chairpersons

Finance & Keith Nicholls / Anna Clarke (with effect from 1 July 2024) Membership Officer: finance@furniturehistorysociety.org membership@furniturehistorysociety.org

Publications Officer & Jill Bace Grants Secretary: publications@furniturehistorysociety.org grants@furniturehistorysociety.org

Chair, Events Committee: Kate Hay katehay86@gmail.com

Secretary, Events Beatrice Goddard Committee: events@furniturehistorysociety.org Chair, Grants Committee: Adriana Turpin FSA grantschair@furniturehistorysociety.org

Co-Editors, Newsletter: Kate Hay, Iain Stephens and, from August 2024, Harry Bonar-Law newsletter@furniturehistorysociety.org

Independent Examiner: Christopher Pexton FCA c/o Begbies, London EC2A 4DJ

Begbies, Chartered Accountants and Registered Auditors www.begbiesaccountants.co.uk CAF Bank Limited, ME19 4JQ Barclays Bank Plc, Leicester LE87 2BB HSBC Bank Plc, East Grinstead RH16 4LU COIF Charity Funds, London EC4V 4ET

Accountants: Bankers:

Constitution

The Furniture History Society is an unincorporated membership body constituted by rules, and a registered charity numbered 251683. It was founded in 1964 to advance the study of furniture of all periods, places and kinds and to further public knowledge and appreciation of it.

Charitable Purposes and Public Benefit

The charitable purpose of the Society is the advancement of the arts, culture and heritage, and education in relation thereto. It does this by promoting the study of furniture and interior design of all periods, places and kinds and by furthering public knowledge and appreciation. The Society also assists with the preservation of furniture and associated records.

To these ends, it:

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Structure, Governance and Management

The Society is managed by the Council, i.e., the trustee body of the charity. The trustees who served during the year 2023-24 were:

Simon Swynfen Jervis (President)

Christopher Rowell (Chairman)

Dr Megan Wheeler (Hon. Secretary) Martin Williams (Hon. Treasurer) Dr Megan Aldrich (Hon. Editorial Secretary)

*Stephen Jackson retired 25 November 2023

*Philip Peacock

Council is made up of: The President; the Chairman, three Honorary Officers and six ordinary members all of whom are appointed annually by the members of the Society at the Annual General Meeting. The elected members of Council serve for a maximum of three years.

Council ordinarily meets four times each year, both in person and online, and is responsible for the management of the Society. During the year, attendance at Council was as follows:

President 3 out of a possible 4 Chairman 4 ditto Hon. Secretary 4 ditto Hon. Treasurer 4 ditto Hon. Editorial Secretary 3 ditto Dr Sacha Gerstein 0 out of a possible 2 Stephen Jackson 2 out of a possible 2 Dr Caroline McCaffrey-Howarth 3 out of a possible 4 Jürgen Huber 0 out of a possible 2 Dr Jenny Saunt 3 out of a possible 4

Philip Peacock 4 ditto David Oakey 2 out of a possible 2 Charles Thomas 1 out of a possible 2

Currently there are three committees – Events, Grants and BIFMO Management – together with two other teams: the Digital Strategy Group and the Editorial Group. The members of the committees are appointed by Council and the Honorary Officers are ex-officio members of all committees. Any actions, including the decisions of any committee, must be reported to and confirmed by Council as soon as is practicable.

As trustees, Council members take decisions in the best interests of the Society as a whole, and they operate in accordance with a code of conduct that makes explicit reference to the need for objectivity.

Governance activity during the year included consideration of the way in which casual vacancies on Council are filled, and the decision to review Rule 7 (see Explanatory Note on p.4 ff ).

Officers

The Society’s day-to-day business is managed by the Honorary Officers together with a small group of paid staff namely Anna Clarke (Finance & Membership Officer); Jill Bace (Publications Officer and Grants Secretary); Beatrice Goddard (Events Secretary); Dr Megan Aldrich (Editor, Journal); Dr Megan Wheeler (Website Officer) and Ann Davies ( BIFMO Outreach Programmes Co-ordinator).

These individuals, together with the Hon. Treasurer and the BIFMO’s Project Manager (Adriana Turpin), form an Operations Group (chaired by the Hon. Treasurer) which meets every 4-6 weeks to manage the Society’s routine business.

Council is deeply appreciative of the commitment and hard work of these individuals as well as that of the honorary officers and all who serve on the Society’s committees.

Honorary Secretary – Dr Megan Wheeler FSA

We are sorry to report that Megan Wheeler is not offering herself for re-election to the post of Honorary Secretary. This will enable her to concentrate on her writing about furniture and its history, as well as working full-time for the National Trust as Assistant National Curator (Furniture). For the past nine years, she has efficiently filled one of the two or three key rôles within the Society: one which is often under-appreciated and involves so much more than managing the governance of the Society. She has effectively but unobtrusively modernised several important aspects of the organisation’s management, and it was principally thanks to her that the Society was able to manage so well the impact of the pandemic on the meetings of committees and Council. We are fortunate that she will continue to manage the Society’s website.

Thomas Williams

We are pleased to announce that Thomas Williams, International Head of English Furniture & Clocks at Christie, Manson and Woods, has accepted Council’s invitation to offer himself for election as Honorary Secretary. Thomas is International Head of English Furniture & Clocks at Christie’s.

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Before embarking on a career in the art world, Thomas trained as a solicitor with the firm Withers LLP. He joined Sotheby’s furniture department as a cataloguer in 2013 eventually rising to the position of Director. During this period, he was involved with many of the department’s most successful auction sales. He started at Christie’s in 2024 assuming overall responsibility for English Furniture and Clocks. Thomas is an active member of the Society and has been a member of the Grants Committee since 2023.

Council – Elected Members

In accordance with the Society’s constitution, Dr Caroline McCaffrey-Howarth steps down this year. Sadly, Jurgen Huber resigned in October 2023 due to the twin pressures of work and parenthood. Council is very grateful for their work for the Society during their terms of office. Following Mr Huber’s resignation, in May 2024, Adriana Turpin was appointed to Council in his place and, in accordance with the Rules, Council proposes her for re-election as an ordinary member together with Dr Rebecca Tilles.

Adriana Turpin

Adriana Turpin is a well-known and widely respected member of the Society managing its BIFMO and Early Career Development activities and chairing the Grants committee. Adriana studied History at Oxford University and then History of Art at the Courtauld Institute. She teaches the history of collecting and English furniture and is the Academic Director of the Erasmus Mundus MA course ‘Managing Art and Cultural Heritage in Globalised Markets’ for the Institut d’Études Supèrieures des Arts in Paris. She is a founder member of the Seminar on Display and Collecting at the Institute of Historical Research, and is the co-editor of their publications.

Adriana is also the President of the Society for the History of Collecting and a member of a number of editorial boards including the Journal of the History of Collections . She has written on a wide variety of topics related to collecting and to the history of furniture.

Dr Rebecca Tilles

Rebecca Tilles is Senior Project Manager of Exhibitions at L’École School of Jewelry Arts in Paris. Currently, she is currently organizing an exhibition in Hong Kong entitled ‘Wearing Japonisme: 19th Century Shakudo Jewelry’, and another in Paris, ‘Jewels of Transcendence’.

From 2008-2014, Dr Tilles worked as a research fellow at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and from 2018-2022, she was curator of 18th-Century Western European Art at the Hillwood Museum in Washington, DC, where she mounted three exhibitions and led a scientific examination of its two Riesener commodes. Dr Tilles completed her PhD in Art History from the University of Sussex in 2019 where her dissertation was entitled George and Florence Blumenthal: A Collecting Partnership in the Gilded Age, 1858-1941.

She also holds a degree in French and French Cultural Studies from Wellesley College, an MA in European Decorative Arts from The Bard Graduate Center in New York, and studied at the Ecole du Louvre, Paris.

She was a contributor to The Houses and Collections of Marjorie Merriweather Post: The Joy of It (Rizzoli, 2022), as well as to two forthcoming publications The Museum and the Art Market (Bloomsbury’s “Contextualizing Art Market” series) and The Wonder of Wood: Decorative Inlay

and Marquetry in Europe and America, 1600-1900 (Winterthur). She is currently working on a publication on the collectors, George and Florence Blumenthal, for Bloomsbury. Rebecca has lectured for a wide range of universities, museums and societies.

Membership

Membership increased by a net figure of 19 during the year to a total of 1,069 (2023: 1,050). 116 individuals joined the Society (2023: 108) whilst 54 resigned (2023: 93), and 43 members were struck off for non-payment (2023: 54). During the year the Society was notified of the deaths of Dr Brian Austen and Belinda (Mindy) Papp.

The introduction in 2023 of a members-only area within the website to enable members to update their own records has been largely successful, although the take-up could still be greater. Members in North America should note that the Society’s bankers no longer accept US dollar cheques.

Publications

Furniture History

During 2023-24, volume LIX (2023) has been published with a bumper crop of articles, the two lengthiest, one exploring in depth the documentation and furnishing of two major country houses, and the second, reproducing documents pertaining to furnishings at the Portuguese royal palaces in Brazil. The volume finally worked out at 346 printed pages, the longest produced by the Society in recent years. Inevitably, with the higher associated costs of materials, postage, and labour, lengthier journals will produce challenges for the Society’s budget, and this is foremost in the mind of the Editorial Secretary.

Journal LX (2024) is well underway. It is dedicated to the memory of Philip Hewat-Jaboor, a long-term member of the Society whose estate sale was held at Christie’s on 8 February 2024. The three sections of this volume will contain articles on porphyry and hardstones, one of Philip’s great interests, along with a section on classical design, followed by a final section on interiors, a key focus of Philip’s long career. The articles cover aspects of these topics from the seventeenth century through to the early twenty-first century. It will be a full volume, coming in at slightly over 300 pages.

Journal LXI (2025) is underway in terms of planning; this will be a departure from previous volumes in that it will present a collaboration between the Society and the National Trust, cast perhaps in the mould of the former collaboration between the Trust and the magazine Apollo. It will consist entirely of articles about furniture in the Trust’s collections, and the Trust will supply the images. This opens the door to future possibilities for collaboration with other organisations that address furniture history.

Journal LXII (2026) will be an ‘open’ volume without a particular theme, and the Editorial Secretary is delighted to report that she already has several proposals for this volume.

Work on indexing Furniture History from 2010-19 will begin in October 2024, as this is now overdue. Thanks to the generosity of two members, Lady Goodison and James Joll, it will be published during 2024-25.

Newsletter

The editing of the Newsletter was again shared by Iain Stephens (February and August issues),

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and Kate Hay (May and November issues). The editors would like to thank all the contributors, including the Society’s officers, report-writers, the authors of the lead articles and the shorter ‘New Discoveries and Research’ articles.

During the year, the four lead articles were written by Dr Adam Bowett on The Hardwick Hall Cupboards; Simon Gillespie and Christopher Payne on Vernis Martin–a restoration project , Grace Ford-Dirks on Rediscovered: British and Irish Furniture Makers in Early America 1700-1840: Daniel Hay (1751-1798) , and Dr Jenny Saunt on An Untouched William and Mary Chest Rediscovered.

The editors also thank Dr Wolf Burchard for continuing to commission and edit a wide variety of book reviews, and thanks are also due to the many contributing book reviewers.

Anyone considering writing about a discovery, fresh research, news, or a forthcoming exhibition or conference relevant to furniture history, is encouraged to get in touch with the editors whose contact details are set out on the back page of each Newsletter. The editors will supply guidelines on house style, including recommended word-counts, on request.

Publication sales

During 2022-23, sales of FHS publications remained low, with the few requests for purchase again confined to recent volumes of Furniture History . No new publications have been added to the inventory since 2017, and this no doubt reflects the lack of interest in the books currently available.

It has been agreed that the publications inventory should be moved to the Society’s printers, The Lavenham Press, by the end of 2024, which company will then manage the despatch of requests for books and journals.

Back issues of Furniture History remain priced at £30 (UK), £35 (Continental Europe) and £48 for the rest of the world, including postage and packing. Anyone interested in purchasing books or journals should consult the website for the complete list of publications on offer along with an up-to-date price list.

British and Irish Furniture Makers Online (“BIFMO”)

BIFMO is managed through a management committee which is led by the Chairman. Members include the four honorary officers ex officio as well as the Project Manager and Deputy Chairman of the committee, Adriana Turpin, and Stephen Jackson. Dr Laurie Lindey (Managerial Editor), Clarissa Ward (19th Century Editor) and the Finance Officer attend meetings of the Committee.

BIFMO’s outreach programme is advised by an informal group consisting of Christopher Claxton-Stephens, Leela Hardy, Tessa Wild and Matthew Winterbottom. We are very grateful to them for their several contributions.

Dictionary of British & Irish Furniture-makers (“DBIFM”)

During the year, Dr Laurie Lindey (Managing Editor) and Clarissa Ward (19th Century Editor) created and/or revised over 6000 biographical accounts. Members may be interested to look at some of the entries originally created by Geoffrey Beard and Christopher Gilbert in The Dictionary of English Furniture Makers which have been updated with new information, illustrated with trade cards and objects, and with the layout transformed into a more user-friendly style. They include biographies of Jasper Breame (1661-1697), Phillip Hunt (1662-1710), Henry Hill (1741-

1777) and George Seddon (II) (1815-1870), his forebears and the eponymous firms.

In addition, over 450 accounts of Edinburgh furniture makers from 1750 to 1850 were created or updated. Much of the background material was drawn from contemporary directories by a number of interns in a collaborative project with the University of Edinburgh, work which included plotting the locations of individuals and firms on historical maps.

Entirely new biographical accounts were mostly focused in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, for example, the firms Ercolani (1888-1970) and Hille (1906-1984).

Finance

The Society received three grants from the US to support work on BIFMO. Two were to support the editorial work being $10,000 from the Canady Foundation and $1,000 from the Abrahams Foundation. This has enabled the ongoing revision of entries. In addition, BIFMO received a three-year grant from the Iris Foundation of $5,000 per annum for Digital Research projects.

BIFMO’s finances are underpinned by grants and donations such as those outlined above as well as the annual draw-down of £12,000 from the Society’s own resources via the Anniversary fund. The surplus generated by BIFMO’s own outreach fund also makes an essential contribution.

Online activity

BIFMO attracted 53,095 readers over the period (2022: c. 48,000); of whom 89 per cent were new to the site. As would be expected, the majority were from English speaking countries: 56% (UK); 30% (US); with the remainder from around the globe particularly Australia, Canada and continental Europe. The editors are delighted to hear of new material, especially in regard to family firms.

Outreach Programme

In February 2024, nine of the researchers who have worked over the past years on the mapping of London and Edinburgh furniture makers and the three interns from the Decorative Arts Trust project entitled ‘Migration and Craftmanship’, spoke about their research into the locations of migrants into Eastern seaboard cities.

During 2023-24 BIFMO organised two online courses, well attended by both members and non-members. They continued to engage international audiences, often through the online recordings. Designed and chaired by Adriana Turpin, the courses aim to present various aspects of the history of furniture and the furniture trade, while also offering insights into new or unpublished research. The November 2023 course, ‘Designing and Making Furniture: Examining the Creative Process from 1600-1950’, held over five weeks highlighted the relationships between architects, designers and makers in the making of furniture and the implementation of new stylistic developments.

The summer course concentrated on the furnishing and decorating of country houses between the Regency and 1950 and considered the changing uses of the country residence during this period. We are enormously grateful to our speakers and audience for their continued support.

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Grants Committee

In addition to the four Honorary Officers ex officio, the members of the Grants committee during the year Adriana Turpin (Chair), Helen Jacobsen, Lucy Wood, Peter Holmes, Thomas Williams, Rufus Bird, Olivia Fryman. The committee is managed by Jill Bace (Grants Officer).

During the period, the following grants were authorised from the Tom Ingram fund.

Name: Amount: Purpose:
Joanna Ross £600.00 Travel costs connected with the Design History
Conference in Porto
Elizabeth Marsh £165.00 Travel costs to Temple Newsam for research
Emma Baillie £450.00 FHS Study Trip to Devon
Catherine
Doucette		 £404.98 Travel costs related to the New York ECD Symposium
Maeve
Diepenbrock		 £231.43 Travel costs related to the New York ECD Symposium
Adam Toole £660.00 Attendance on the Study Trip to Derbyshire
Gregor Wittrick £550.00 Attendance on the Study Trip to Brussels
Doris Hattink £575.00 Travel costs related to Netherlandish Art Conference,
Cambridge
Annie Coggan £787.70 Travel costs related to research in London

Early Career Development (‘ECD’)

Annual ECD Symposium. Thanks to the long-standing support of the Oliver Ford trustees, the Society hosted the seventh ECD Symposium at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York in January 2024. Participants in this sold-out event included ten young curators and art historians from across Europe and the United States. The speakers also enjoyed a visit to the Winter Show at the Armoury and a group dinner with the Metropolitan’s curators, who also treated them to a special tour of the museum’s galleries.

The Society is extremely grateful to Sarah Lawrence, Danielle Kisluk-Grosheide, Wolfram Koeppe, Alyce Perry Englund and Wolf Burchard (Department of European Sculpture & Decorative Arts) for so generously offering their time and expertise in helping to make the Research Symposium a success, and to Sarah Gregory for co-ordinating the day so efficiently.

Other ECD activities. The ECD programme is organised under the auspices of the Grants Committee and since Autumn 2023 has been managed by a team of five: Penelope Hines; Isabelle Vaudrey; Alienor Cros; Simon Spier and Adele Bourbonne.

Well-attended events organised for members included a tour of the Ashmolean Museum led by Matthew Winterbottom; a visit to Eltham Palace with Tessa Kilgariff and a tour of the Treasure

House Fair guided by Peter Holmes and Adriana Turpin. In addition, there have been two successful online research clinics in December and June.

The creation of a dedicated WhatsApp group to facilitate planning ECD events has been a great success, with members actively participating.

Events Committee

In addition to the Honorary Officers ex officio, members of the committee were: Kate Hay (Chair), Anne-Marie Bannister, Dr Melanie Doderer-Winkler, Kate Dyson (to January 2024), Sara Heaton, Dr Amy Lim, William Lorimer, Kerry Monaghan Smith (from April 2024), Dr Tessa Murdoch, Michael Shrive and Maude Willaerts—all ably shepherded by Beatrice Goddard (Events Secretary).

Annual Lecture

In October 2023, Christopher Payne presented ‘Decade by Decade: not just “nineteenth century”, British Furniture 1820 to 1920’ being some of his findings made whilst researching for his book British Furniture 1820 to 1920—The Luxury Market .

AGM

The AGM was held on 25 November 2023. Full report is made elsewhere.

Annual Symposium

The 48th Annual Symposium, ‘New Light on Arts and Crafts Furniture and Interiors’, was held on 23 March 2024 at the Art Workers’ Guild, WC1 and live streamed as well. The day was capably organised by Kate Hay, and chaired by Tessa Wild and Martin Levy.

Tours and Visits

During the year, the following series of events and visits events were organised for members.

Thanks

Such a rich programme is only possible thanks to the generosity of our speakers and collaborators to whom we are extremely grateful. All devoted much time and effort in preparing for these

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events to ensure that the Society continued to realise in full measure one of its charitable aims—the promotion of the study of the history of furniture.

Website

The website attracted 11,000 users in the 12 months period to 30 June 2024, approximately the same number as recorded in 2022-23. Thanks to the work of the Social Media Managers, Natalie Voorheis and Maeve Diepenbrock, the proportion of referrals to the website from social media platforms continues to rise.

The website’s main draws remain the Events, Membership and Journal pages. Thanks to the work of the Events, BIFMO and Early Career Development teams, there are now over eighty lectures, seminars and talks available to members on the Society’s Online Lectures page https:// www.furniturehistorysociety.org/events/online-lectures/. These can now be accessed using the member’s username and password which also allow access to the My Account area of the website.

If members have any suggestions as to content they would like to see on the website, please contact Megan Wheeler at website@furniturehistorysociety.org.

Social Media & Digital Strategy

The Society is active on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and Linktree. The Instagram account continues to be our strongest offering, with over 7,200 followers. It is steadily building a presence in an overcrowded field, with growth of over thousand followers since the last Report. Our presence on social media allows us to reach far beyond our paid-up membership of approximately 1,050; it raises the profile of the Society; and promotes the interest and study of furniture history to a wider audience.

Instagram posts also enabled the Society to publicise the wide range of its events held during the year. They increased sales of tickets to the public events, including the Annual Symposium and the online courses organised by the Society and BIFMO.

Posts on Instagram simultaneously appear on the Society’s Facebook page, which has 749 followers. Our Linkedin page has 272 followers and is used for circulating the Early Career Development Group news or other updates, mainly aimed at professionals and students.

During the year Natalie Voorheis stepped down and Maeve Diepenbrock took over as the post of Social Media Manager. The Digital Strategy Group, which meets quarterly, thanks Natalie for her work establishing the Society’s social media presence so well and welcomes Maeve Diepenbrock. We would also like to thank Alienor Cros, who has stepped down from the group, for her contribution. .

Finance

Overview

Inflation peaked during the period and has been falling back steadily. Although after the year end, the result of the recent election has brought a form of stability to the domestic economic and political climate and we may hope that the new government is more sympathetic to the organisations such as your Society—albeit against a very difficult financial background.

In this context, the Society’s finances exhibited a similar picture to the preceding year in that outgoings exceeded the income from all sources with an overall deficit of just over £15,000— significantly more than the budget. The net outcome, after accounting for the surplus on the revaluation of the Society’s investment assets at 30 June 2024, was an increase in the net wealth of the Society of nearly £13,000.

The deficit of just on £14,000 on the ordinary activities in the General fund was significantly more than anticipated largely due to two factors: a much reduced margin on the Visits & Events programme and an overrun on the costs of the Journal. With the Events Secretary, we shall be looking at the costings of the Visits, &c. programme and the charges made to participants. This year’s Journal will be a slimmer volume than the preceding year and the Editor believes that the costs will be noticeably less.

Income & Expenditure

Total Income amounted to £205,420 (2022-23: £189,079) with the income from membership subscriptions (£81,906) above the budget figure for the first time for several years thanks to the Finance Officer’s success in chasing overdue subscriptions. In addition, our receipts from our outreach activities were approximately £10,000 more than 2022-23.

Expenditure totalled £220,075 (2022-23: £195,471). The major cost variances from budget were (a) the higher-than-estimated cost of printing the Journal and the associated distribution costs due mainly to the size of the publication, and (b) the lower than hoped-for margin on Visits & Events (principally the Andalucía tour where we made a fortunate last-minute decision to engage a second ‘whipper-in’ for the party).

The deficit on BIFMO’s activities of £10,339 (2023: £7,177) meant that the draw-down from the Anniversary fund was £2,161 less than budgeted. Thanks to Adriana Turpin’s persuasive fund-raising efforts, one of the grants from the US (of $10,000 from the Canady Foundation for editorial costs) has been renewed for 2024-25 and another (of $5,000 from the Iris Foundation for the same purpose) is a three-year commitment. Together they will have the effect of reducing the draw-down from the Anniversary Fund currently budgeted at £12,000 p.a.

Balance Sheet

Charity accounting regulations dictate that the increase or decrease in the value of the Society’s investment assets has to be reflected in the accounts. At 30 June 2024, the valuation of the investments exceeded the 2023 figure by £28,278. The property investment under-pinning the Gadd fund will be revalued in 2024-25.

At the year-end, the charity’s funds totalled £866,525 (2023: £853,532) of which £735,005 (2023: £719,894) was attributable to restricted funds.

Outlook

It is a concern that the deficits arising on the Society’s ordinary activities continue to erode the General fund whilst almost all the grants, donations and particularly legacies the Society receives are for specific purposes. For this reason, the underlying deficit must be addressed. Whilst we believe that some economies can be made in area of administration, it is important to ensure that the income from members’ subscriptions covers the basic out goings and for that reason an increase of approximately 10% in the basic subscription for 2025-26 is proposed (see pages 4 ff ).

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Legacies

No legacies were received or pledged in the year (2024: nil).

Future plans

The Chairman writes “We shall continue to give our membership good value. The Society offers an annual Journal (Furniture History) which is the world’s foremost authority on furniture and historic interiors. Our Hon. Editorial Secretary is to be congratulated on the high standards of content and of publication.

“The 2024 volume is dedicated to the memory of Philip Hewat-Jaboor involving a plethora of articles on subjects that were of interest to Philip, including hardstones and his devotion to Beckford studies. The overdue index to the Journal for the years 2010-19 has been generously supported by the charitable trusts of James Joll and Judith Goodison—to whom the Society is most grateful.

“Members receive no less than four Newsletters per annum. The joint Newsletter Editors produce publications of high quality and elegant design. The leading article is always a scholarly account of some facet of furniture history. There are book reviews and accounts of visits organized by our Events Committee, as well as news of BIFMO and other Society activities.

“With Council’s approval, we intend to experiment with advertising to offset the costs of publication. We shall retain editorial control so that the advertisements are discreet and stylish. We hope that this endeavour will be popular with advertisers. We feel that it could save the Society money allowing us to divert at least some of the expenditure on the Newsletters to other purposes.

“Kate Hay retires as Co-Editor and we welcome Harry Bonar Law as her successor. She is to be congratulated for the excellence of the Newsletters and we are fortunate that she will continue to be co-Chair of the Events Committee.

“As always, we need to find a way of recruiting new members on a larger scale. At present the membership stands at just over 1,050. It grew slightly in 2023-24, which is reassuring, but the larger the membership the more funding for the Society’s core purposes. We hope that members will continue to encourage friends to join the Society and that we shall soon see a stronger upward trend.

“Members of the ECD Group had a highly successful day of lectures on furniture and historic interiors held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, to whose staff we are most grateful. This augurs well for the future as it was the second such day at the MMA and we hope that it will become a regular event. We are indebted to the Oliver Ford Trust for its continuing support. BIFMO continues to offset its editorial costs by offering popular and profitable online courses chaired by the Deputy Chairman of the BIFMO committee.

“Many members give their time freely to help the Society fulfil its objectives by attending meetings of Council and the committees, sitting on working groups or undertaking many other tasks or functions on behalf of the charity. Council is greatly indebted to these individuals for their generous support of the Society.

Responsibilities of Council

The Charities Act 2011 requires the Officers and Council of the Society (i.e., the charity trustees) to prepare accounts for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Society and of the surplus or deficit of the Society for that period. In preparing these accounts the Council and Officers are required to:

The Officers are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the Society, and the Officers and Council are responsible for safeguarding the assets of the Society and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities, by establishing and maintaining a satisfactory system of control over the Society’s accounting records, cash holdings and all its receipts and remittances.

Risk Review

Council has conducted an informal review of the major risks to which the Society is exposed and systems have been established to mitigate those risks. Internal risks are minimised by the implementation of procedures of authorisation of all transactions and projects and to ensure consistent quality of delivery for all operational aspects of the Society and these procedures are periodically reviewed to ensure that they still meet its needs.

Statement of Disclosure to the Independent Examiner

So far as Council is aware, there is no relevant information concerning the independent examination of the Accounts of which the Society’s independent examiner is unaware. In addition, the members of Council have taken all the steps they ought to have taken as members of Council and charity trustees in order to make themselves aware of any relevant information and to establish that the Society’s independent examiner is aware of that information.

Independent Examiner

At the Annual General Meeting, Council will propose that Christopher Pexton FCA of Messrs Begbies, Chartered Accountants be re-appointed the independent examiner of the Society’s financial statements for the ensuing year.

Approved by Council and signed on their behalf on 3 October 2024.

Christopher Rowell Martin Williams Chairman of Trustees Trustee and Hon. Treasurer

During the year, at the suggestion of Lady Goodison, and with her generous support, Council has created a restricted fund to be used to underpin the finances of the Journal.

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THE FURNITURE HISTORY SOCIETY

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2024

Unrestricted Designated Restricted Total Total
Notes Fund Fund Funds 2024 2023
£ £ £ £ £
Income From:-
Membership Subscriptions 2 81,906 — — 81,906 77,310
Donations, Grants and Legacies 3 5,999 5,000 11,710 22,709 20,840
Charitable Activities 4 62,608 — 17,462 80,070 70,465
Trading Activities 5 3,608 — — 3,608 3,988
Investment Income 6 4,850 — 12,277 17,127 16,476
Total 158,971 5,000 41,449 205,420 189,079
Expenditure On:-
Charitable Activities 7 174,775 — 45,930 220,705 195,471
Total 174,775 — 45,930 220,705 195,471
Transfers between funds 1,845 (1,734) (111) — —
Net (Defcit) Surplus (13,959) 3,266 (4,592) (15,285) (6,392)
Other Recognised Gains/(Losses)
Gains (Losses) on Investment Assets 8,575 — 19,703 28,278 (7,966)
Net Movement in Funds (5,384) 3,266 15,111 12,993 (14,358)
Reconciliation of Funds
Total Funds Brought Forward 123,648 9,990 719,894 853,532 867,890
Total Funds Carried Forward 118,264 13,256 735,005 866,525 853,532

THE FURNITURE HISTORY SOCIETY BALANCE SHEET AS AT 30 JUNE 2024

THE FURNITURE HISTORY SOCIETY
BALANCE SHEET AS AT 30 JUNE 2024		 THE FURNITURE HISTORY SOCIETY
BALANCE SHEET AS AT 30 JUNE 2024		 THE FURNITURE HISTORY SOCIETY
BALANCE SHEET AS AT 30 JUNE 2024
Notes
2024
2023
£
£
£
£
Fixed Assets
Investments
- Listed Investments
11(a)
- Property
11(b)
Total Fixed Assets
Current Assets
Debtors
12
8,351
Interest-Earning Deposits
26,109
Balances at Bank
110,897
Total Current Assets
145,357
Current Liabilities
Amounts falling due within
one year
13
(46,678)
Net Current Assets
Total Assets less
Current Liabilities
Creditors: Amounts falling due
after more than one year
Deferred Income - Membership
Total Net Assets
The Funds of the Charity:
Unrestricted General Fund
14
Designated Fund
Howard Fund
14
Journal Fund
14
Restricted Funds
Ingram Fund
14
228,509
Anniversary Fund
14
130,338
Hilda Gadd Fund
14
376,000
Card Makers Donation
14
158
Total Charity Funds
Approved on behalf of the Council on 3 October 2024		 392,190
376,000
768,190
17,543
35,487
103,460
156,490
(41,611)
98,679
866,869
(344)
£866,525
118,264
8,256
5,000
215,554
128,071
376,000
269
735,005		 363,912
376,000
739,912
114,879
854,791
(1,259)
£853,532
123,648
9,990
—
719,894
£866,525 £853,532

Christopher rowell: Chairman Martin williaMs: Hon Treasurer

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THE FURNITURE HISTORY SOCIETY NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS AS AT 30 JUNE 2024

1. Accounting Policies

( a ) Basis of preparation

The accounts have been prepared under the historical cost convention. The accounts have been prepared in accordance with the second edition of the Charities Statement of Recommended Practice issued in October 2019, the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the United Kingdom and Republic oflreland (FRS I 02) and the Charities Act 2011.

The trustees consider there are no material uncertainties about the charity's ability to continue as a going concern.

( b ) Public benefit entity

The Charity meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102.

( c ) Cash Flow

The Society has taken advantage of the exemption in FRS 102 from the requirement to produce a cash flow statement on the grounds that it qualifies as a smaller charity.

( d ) Incoming Resources

Voluntary income and subscriptions are accounted for as received by the Society. No permanent endowments have been received in this period.

( e ) Life Membership Subscriptions

Investments are stated at market value. Realised and unrealised gains and losses are dealt with in the Statement of Financial Activities. Investment income and interest are accounted for as received by the Society.

( f ) Investments

Investments are stated at market value. Realised and unrealised gains and losses are dealt with in the Statement of Financial Activities. Investment income and interest are accounted for as received by the Society.

( g ) Allocation of Costs

Costs are allocated to General Fund unless specific to other funds.

( h ) Resources Expended

Resources expended are recognised in the period in which they are incurred.

( i ) Governance Costs

Governance costs comprise all costs involving the public accountability of the charity and its compliance with regulation and good practice. The costs include those relating to external audit.

( j ) Foreign Currencies

Transactions denominated in foreign currencies are translated into sterling at the rate of exchange ruling at the date of the transaction. Assets and liabilities in foreign currencies are translated into sterling at rates of exchange ruling at the end of the financial year. All exchange differences are dealt with in the profit and loss account.

( k ) Restricted Funds

Restricted Funds are funds which are used in accordance with specific restrictions imposed by the donor or trust deed. There are six restricted funds. (1) The Tom Ingram Fund (the "Ingram Fund") is an endowment fund which may be used to assist anyone - member or non-member alike - to pursue studies and research into furniture and its history. (2) The Anniversary Fund (the "Anniversary Fund") is an expendable fund which has been set up to assist with education, research and publication on furniture and its history. (3) The Hilda Colquhoun Gadd Fund (the "Hilda Gadd Fund") is an endowment fund, the asset of which was gifted to advance the study of the history of furniture or bibliographies of the same. (4) The Alison Kelly Journal Fund (the "Alison Kelly Fund") is an expendable fund established using a legacy intended to defray the cost of producing the Society's Journal. (5) The Worshipful Company of Makers of Playing Cards Donation (the "Card Makers Donation") is an expendable fund to subsidise the subscriptions to the Society of 5-10 young people over a period of three years. (6) The Journal Fund ("Journal Fund") established during the year to defray the costs of all aspects of the Society's Journal.

2.
3.
4.		 Subscriptions - General Fund
2024
£
2023
£
Subscriptions under Gift Aid
34,341
33,368
Income Tax Recovered
8,585
8,324
Subscriptions not under Gift Aid
38,980
35,618
81,906
77,310
Donations, Grants and Legacies
2024
£
2023
£
Gifts
7,618
2,279
Grants
15,091
18,561
Legacies
—
—
22,709
20,840
Income From Charitable Activities
2024
£
2023
£
Visits and Tours
54,302
42,610
Lectures and Symposia
25,768
27,855
80,070
70,465

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5.
6.
7.		 Income From Trading Activities
2024
£
2023
£
Publications and Royalties
3,608
3,688
Other Income
—
300
3,608
3,988
Investment Income
2024
£
2023
£
Income from Listed Investments
16,024
I 5,856
Interest Receivable on Cash Deposits
1,103
620
17,127
16,476
Expenditure
Unrestricted
Fund
£
Restricted
Funds
£
Total
2024
£
Total
2023
£
Charitable Activities
Visits and Tours
53,094
—
53,094
32,904
Lectures and Symposia
10,348
7,740
18,088
16,187
Donations and Grants
4,062
14,220
18,282
5,034
Journals
17,905
—
17,905
13,687
Newsletters
11,625
—
11,625
11,375
97,034
21,960
118,994
79,187
Support Costs
Secretarial and Administration
42,698
16,418
59,116
69,607
Travel
662
—
662
1,257
Mailing, Postage and Telephones
13,668
—
13,668
13,001
Printing and Stationery
621
—
621
1,422
Warehousing
1,925
—
1,925
1,631
Sundry expenses
5,916
244
6,160
3,941
Website costs
6,295
6,848
13,143
18,897
71,785
23,510
95,295
109,756
Governance Costs
Examiner's remuneration
2,400
—
2,400
2,400
Insurance
1,518
—
1,518
1,558
Trustees’ Costs
2,038
460
2,498
2,570
5,956
460
6,416
6,528
Total
174,775
45,930
220,705
195,471

7. Expenditure continued

7. Expenditure_continued_
8.
9.
10.
11.		 Unrestricted
Fund
£
Restricted
Funds
£
Total
2024
£
Total
2023
£
Visits and Tours
2024
£
2023
£
Income
54,302
42,610
Less: Expenditure
(53,094)
(32,904)
Surplus for Year
1,208
9,706
Margin
2.2%
22.8%
Lectures and Symposia
2024
£
2023
£
Income
25,768
27,855
Less: Expenditure
(18,088)
(16,187)
Surplus for Year
7,680
11,668
Net Incoming Resources
2024
£
2023
£
This is stated after charging:
Accountants’ remuneration
2,400
2,400
Investments
2024
£
2023
£
a) Listed Investments:
Market Value at 1 July 2023
363,912
371,878
Purchases During the Year at Cost
32,626
—
Disposals/Proceeds During the year
(32,626)
—
Realised gain on Disposals
12,560
—
Changes in Unrealised Gains
15,718
(7,966)
Market Value at 30 June 2024
392,190
363,912
Historical Cost at 30 June 2024
277,529
264,698

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11. Investments continued

General Ingram Anniversary Total Total
Fund Fund Fund 2024 2023
£ £ £ £ £
Listed Investments - UK
M&G ‘Charifund’ Income
Shares		 49,295 63,769 — 113,064 104,748
COIF Income Shares 62,114 15,527 — 77,641 71,456
Schroders Charity Multi
Asset Fund		 — 56,609 111,024 167,633 155,113
CAF ESG Cautious Fund — 33,852 — 33,852 —
CAF EquityFund B Shares — — — — 32,595
111,409 169,757 111,024 392,190 363,912

The investments are held primarily to provide an investment return for the Society.

b) Property 2024 2023
£ £
At Valuation at 1 July 2023 376,000 376,000
Revaluation inyear — —
At Valuation at 30 June 2024 376,000 376,000

In 2015, a residential property in Twickenham was donated to the Society subject to a tenancy for life at no rent in favour of the donors. It is Council's intention that, when vacant possession is obtained, the freehold interest will be sold and the monies realised used to provide an income for the purposes of the Hilda Gadd fund. (see Note I(k)).

12. Debtors
2024
£
2023
£
Prepayments
7,290
6,984
Gift Aid
—
8,342
Value Added Tax
1,061
2,217
8,351
17,543
13. Current Liabilities
2024
£
2023
£
Amounts Falling Due Within One Year
Deferred Income
38,098
31,057
Accruals
8,580
10,554
46,678
41,611

Deferred Income comprises income from subscriptions, tours, lectures and visits, received in advance and which will form part of incoming resources during the following financial year.

14(a) Movements in Funds

Movements in Funds
Unrestricted
Fund		 Designated
Fund		 Restricted Funds
General
Howard		 Journal Ingram Anniversary Gadd Card Makers Total
Current year (2023-24) Fund
Fund		 Fund Fund Fund Fund Donation 2024
£
£		 £ £ £ £ £ £
Income From:-
Membership Subscriptions 81,906 — — — — — — 81,906
Donations, Grants and Legacies 5,999 — 5,000 — 11,710 — — 22,709
Charitable Activities 62,608 — — — 17,462 — — 80,070
Other Trading Activities 3,608 — — — — — — 3,608
Investment Income and Interest 4,850 — — 7,962 4,315 — — 17,127
Total 158,971 — 5,000 7,962 33,487 — — 205,420
Expenditure On:-
Charitable Expenditure 174,775 — — 6,419 39,511 — — 220,705
Total 174,775 — — 6,419 39,511 — — 220,705
Transfers between funds 1,845
(1,734)		 — —
—		 — (111) —
Net (Defcit)/Income (13,959) (1,734) 5,000 1,543 (6,024) — (111) (15,285)
Other Recognised Gains and
(Losses)
Gains on Investment Assets 8,575 — — 11,412 8,291 — — 28,278
Net Movements in Funds (5,384) (1,734) 5,000 12,955 2,267 — (111) 12,993
Balance Brought Forward at
1 July 2023		 123,648 9,990 — 215,554 128,071 376,000 269 853,532
Balance Carried Forward at
30 June 2024		 118,264 8,256 5,000 228,509 130,338 376,000 158 866,525

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14(b). Movements in Funds

Unrestricted
Fund		 Designated
Fund		 Restricted Funds Restricted Funds
General
Howard		 Ingram Anniversary
Hilda		 Alison Kelly Card Makers Total
Previous year (2022-23) Fund
Fund		 Fund Fund
Gadd Fund		 Fund Donation 2023
£
£		 £ £
£		 £ £ £
Income From:-
Membership Subscriptions 77,310 — —
—
—
—		 — 77,310
Donations, Grants and Legacies 2,279 — —
18,561
—
—		 — 20,840
Charitable Activities 56,045 — —
14,720		 —
—		 — 70,765
Other Trading Activities 3,688 — —
—
—
—		 — 3,688
Investment Income and Interest 4,628 — 7,561 4,287 —
—		 — 16,476
Total 143,950 — 7,561 37,568 —
—		 — 189,079
Expenditure On:-
Charitable Expenditure 148,039 — 6,974 40,458 —
—		 — 195,471
Total 148,039 — 6,974 40,458 —
—		 — 195,471
Transfers between funds 2,844 (545) —
—		 (1,855) (444) —
Net (Defcit)/Income (1,245) (545) 587 (2,890) —
(1,855)		 (444) (6,392)
Other Recognised Gains and
(Losses)
Gains (Losses) on Investment
Assets		 (1,122) — (3,589) (3,255) — — — (7,966)
Net Movements in Funds (2,367) (545) (3,002) (6,145) — (1,855) (444) (14,358)
Balance Brought Forward at
1 July2022		 126,015 10,535 218,556 134,216 376,000 1,855 713 867,890
Balance Carried Forward at
30 June 2023		 123,648 9,990 215,554 128,071 376,000 — 269 853,532

14(c). Split of Movements in Anniversary Fund

2024 2023
BIFMO Other
 Anniversary
Fund		 BIFMO Other Anniversary
Fund
Income From:-
Membership Subscriptions — —
—		 — —
—
Donations, Grants and Legacies 11,710 —
11,710		 18,561 —
18,561
Charitable Activities 17,462 —
17,462		 14,720 —
14,720
Other Trading Activities — —
—		 — —
—
Investment Income and Interest — 4,315 4,315 — 4,287 4,287
Total 29,172 4,315 33,487 33,281 4,287 37,568
Expenditure On:-
Charitable Expenditure 39,511 —
39,511		 40,458 — 40,458
Total 39,511 —
39,511		 40,458 — 40,458
Transfers between funds 10,339 (10,339) — 7,177 (7,177) —
Net (Defcit)/Income — (6,024) (6,024) — (2,890) (2,890)
Other Recognised Gains and (Losses)
Gains on Investment Assets — 8,291 8,291 — (3,255) (3,255)
Net Movements in Funds — 2,267 2,267 — (6,145) (6,145)
Balance Brought Forward — 128,071 128,071 — 134,216 134,216
Balance Carried Forward — 130,338 130,338 — 128,071 128,071

15(a). Movements in Funds

Balance Incoming Outgoing Transfer Gains Balance
Current year 1 July 2023
£		 Resources
£		 Resources
£		 £ and Losses
£		 30 June 2024
£
Restricted Funds
Ingram Fund 215,554 7,962 (6,419) — 11,412 228,509
Anniversary Fund 128,071 33,487 (39,511) — 8,291 130,338
Hilda Gadd Fund 376,000 — — — — 376,000
Card Makers Donation 269 — — (111) — 158
Designated Funds
Howard Fund 9,990 — — 1,734) — 8,256
Journal Fund — 5,000 — — — 5,000
Unrestricted Funds
General Fund 123,648 158,971 (174,775) 1,845 8,575 118,264
853,532 205,420 (220,705) — 28,278 866,525

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15(b).Movements in Funds

Previous year Balance
1 July 2022		 Incoming
Resources		 Outgoing
Resources		 Transfer Gains
and Losses		 Balance
30 June 2023
£ £ £ £ £ £
Restricted Funds
Ingram Fund 218,556 7,561 (6,974) — (3,589) 215,554
Anniversary Fund 134,216 37,568 (40,458) — (3,255) 128,071
Hilda Gadd Fund 376,000 — — — — 376,000
Alison Kelly Fund 1,855 — — (1,855) — —
Card Makers Donation 713 — — (444) — 269
Designated Funds
Howard Fund 10,535 — — (545) — 9,990
Unrestricted Funds
General Fund 126,015 143,950 (148,039) 2,844 (1,122) 123,648
867,890 189,079 (195,471) — (7,966) 853,532

16(a). Analysis of Net Assets Between Funds

Other
Current year Investments Assets Total
£ £ £
Unrestricted General Fund 111,409 6,855 118,264
Designated Fund
Howard Fund — 8,256 8,256
Journal Index Fund — 5,000 5,000
Restricted Funds
Ingram Fund 169,757 58,752 228,509
Anniversary Fund 111,024 19,314 130,338
Hilda Gadd Fund — 376,000 376,000
Card Makers Donation — 158 158
392,190 474,335 866,525

16(b).Analysis of Net Assets Between Funds

Other
Previous year Investments Assets Total
£ £ £
Unrestricted General Fund 102,834 20,814 123,648
Designated Fund
Howard Fund — 9,990 9,990
Restricted Funds
Ingram Fund 158,347 57,207 215,554
Anniversary Fund 102,731 25,340 128,071
Hilda Gadd Fund — 376,000 376,000
Card Makers Donation — 269 269
363,912 489,620 853,532

17. Taxation

As a registered charity the society is exempt from corporation tax since all income is applied for charitable purposes.

18. Trustees’ Expenses and Remuneration

The Honorary Secretary, Dr. Megan Wheeler, was paid a total of £2,631 (2023: £2,636) comprising £2,600 (2023: £2,550) for website administration services and other sundry costs £31 (2023: £86).

Dr Megan Aldrich was paid a total of £5,460 (2023-£5,400) comprising £5,000 (2023 £5,000) for editing the annual journal and other sundry costs £460 (2023: £400).

Expenses paid to one trustee in the year totalled £720 (2023: £941), comprising reimbursed travel £650 (2023: £762) and sundry other costs £70 (2023: £79).

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THE FURNITURE HISTORY SOCIETY

INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES OF THE FURNITURE HISTORY SOCIETY FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2024

I report to the charity trustees on my examination of the accounts of The Furniture Histmy Society (the 'Charity') for the year ended 30 June 2024.

Responsibilities and basis of report

As the charity trustees you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 ("the Act").

I report in respect of my examination of the Charity's accounts as carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5) (b) of the Act.

Independent examiner’s statement

I have completed my examination. I confirm that no matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:

  1. Accounting records were not kept in respect of the Charity as required by section 130 of the Act; or

  2. The accounts do not accord with those records; or

  3. The accounts do not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a true and fair view which is not a mater considered as part of an independent examination.

I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Christopher Pexton FCA Begbies, Chartered Accountants 9 Bonhill Street, London EC2A 4DJ

Date: 13 October 2023

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