A Mulberry Love Token

The inscription on the back of this little picture frame reads:

SHAKESPEARES MULBERRY WOOD.
STRATFORD ON AVON. 1873.
A PRESENT FROM. J. T. M. TO E. K.
ON HER 21ST. BIRTHDAY.

The frame was almost certainly made by John Marshall (1817-1887). John Marshall moved to Stratford-upon-Avon from Warwick shortly after his marriage to Eliza Morris in 1845. The 1851 Census records him as living in Chapel Street with his wife and three young children; Josephine (4), Hamnet (3) and John T. (1). The couple would go on to have two more children; Joseph and Frederick.

John was described in the 1841 Census as a cabinet maker, alongside his father and brother. Later records describe him variously as an upholsterer, cabinet maker, wood carver and a dealer in antique furniture and curios.  

Marshall often made items out of wood that was in some way connected with Shakespeare: oak from Shakespeare’s Birthplace or Holy Trinity Church; mulberry wood supposedly from the tree planted by Shakespeare in his garden at New Place, and wood taken from barns that stood on the grounds of New Place.  

Much of what we know about Marshall’s life and career is taken from his obituary in The Stratford Herald in 1887. He is described as ‘an old Stratfordian, one well-known to many of the visitors to this town’. The obituary goes on to say that:

Marshall played an unofficial role in the early years of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. His obituary notes that William Oakes Hunt (Stratford’s Town Clerk and a founding trustee of the SBT) ‘paid an almost daily visit’ to him to get his opinion on ‘nearly every object before it was admitted to the museum’. It was recorded that Marshall’s own work was featured in the growing museum collection and several items made by him are still with us today. This little picture frame is our most recent acquisition of his work.

The inscription on this frame tells us that it was given by ‘J.T.M.’ to ‘E.K.’ in 1873. J.T.M. is John Theobald Marshall, son of John Marshall, born in 1849. John T. was described in the 1871 census as a ‘carver’ suggesting that he was being taught his father’s trade. This makes it possible that it was John T. who made the frame.

The recipient was a local woman named Eliza Kitchen. John Theobald Marshall and Eliza Kitchen were married in Holy Trinity Church on 2nd December 1874.  This little frame, a 21st birthday present, was possibly given while the couple were engaged. The family would not have been wealthy and the gift is not a showy one. It is, instead, a handmade present with a personal inscription that makes use of family skill and resources. The postcard, possibly in the frame when it was given, is a souvenir of the 1864 Shakespeare Festvial, celebrating 300 years since SHakespeare's birth and a significant event in Stratford’s history. It is just the sort of thing a Victorian lady would have kept as a memento. The mulberry wood used to make it would have been rare and valued as a collector’s item.

Sadly, John and Eliza’s marriage would be short-lived. John Theobald died in 1888, just one year after his father. He was 39 and left behind Eliza and their young son, Francis.

Though he may have started his career as a wood carver, John Theobald is described in the 1881 Census as an artist. We are lucky to have some of his work in the collection. The earliest is a pen and ink sketch of the Old Mill Bridge (also known as Lucy’s Mill Bridge) after it was partially destroyed by flooding in 1867. Marshall would have been about 17 at time he produced this lively sketch. The frame is punched with the words ‘OAK FROM THE OLD MILL BRIDGE’ and was probably made by John Theobald, who was clearly following in his father’s footsteps in his use of souvenir wood taken from significant local landmarks. The other paintings we have in the collection show Anne Hathaway’s Cottage and Mary Arden’s Farm (the building now known as Palmer’s Farm) produced in oils in the 1870s and 1880s.

About 5 years after John Theobald’s death, Eliza married prolific local artist William Wells Quartremain. He was born in Lambeth in 1858 and married Eliza on 17th April 1895 when he was about 37 years old and she was 42. They lived together at number 9 Church Street in Stratford. The painting below shows the view from the Quatremains' front door.  Eliza’s son from her first marriage lived next door and ran a confectioner’s shop.

Quatremain sold many of his works to J. Salmon Ltd of Kent to use as the basis for their very popular pictorial postcards which they began producing in the late 19th century. We hold many examples of these in our archive collection. Although he was recorded as having been a shy man who did not boast about his work, the link to J. Salmon Ltd has ensured that Quatremain's name is well known across the country as a painter of celebrated local scenes.