Archive of Thomas Goode & Company 1827-2021

Material relating to the china and glass retail and design business founded in Mayfair by Thomas Goode in 1827.
TG/A Family 1814-1959
TG/B Company (1828) 1858-1999
TG/C Staff 1865-1979
TG/D Property and Premises 1844-1978
TG/E Sales and Accounts Ledgers 1827-1999
TG/F Stocklists 1870-1973
TG/G Antiques 1900-1980
TG/H Correspondence (1828)-1995
TG/I Design 1848-2021
TG/J Exhibitions 1851-1977
TG/K Advertisements 1890-1998
TG/L Miscellaneous (1870)-1951

2024 Collection is temporarily in storage and not accessible to external researchers.

Functional

Access by appointment via Archivist

• Catalogue of the Archives of Thomas Goode and Company. A Giles Jones. Unpublished bound typescript 1990-1992
• Spreadsheet and index of customer names from crestbooks 1848-1912 available from Archivist.

Thomas Goode was a Mayfair based retailer of luxury homeware primarily glass, porcelain and flatware specializing in supplying bespoke British design as well as sourcing continental brands. Founded in 1827, by the eponymous former clerk of the Horticultural Society(later RHS), Thomas Goode (1794-1870), not only drew on his aristocratic Horticultural Society contacts as customers but according to the Thomas Goode records he continued to help the Society organise their annual fete (later Chelsea Flower Show). His store, based at 15 Mill Street off Hanover Square soon became the principal London retailer for several leading British potteries and glass makers and specialized in exclusive ranges serving the upper echelons of society and those newly rich furnishing London homes and country estates. Thomas Goode moved to 19 South Audley Street in 1844, the shop stayed there and in adjourning buildings until 2021 when it relocated to Burlington Arcade.Thomas Goode's son, William James Goode (1831-1892), succeeded his father in managing the business and did much to expand and promote the Company, developing personal relationships with Stoke based potteries particularly Minton and Copeland. A talented artist, who attended the Kensington based Minton Art Pottery Studio in the 1870s, William changed the business emphasis from retailer to ?designers in pottery and glass?. An obsessive collector of 18th Century Sevres porcelain William began a bespoke design service in 1848 often using monograms and crests within Sevres inspired designs. In 1858, a service made for the new residence of the House of Commons Speaker (John Evelyn Denison later 1st Viscount Ossington), caught the eye of Prince Albert who commissioned a dinner service for the 18th birthday of the Prince of Wales, later Edward VII. Royal warrants for the British Royal family for items in their household and as gifts followed with later warrants for the Italian, Spanish and Russian Royal families.William James Goode commissioned the architects Ernest George and Harold Peto to design a shop at the South Audley Street premises with eight show rooms and interior and exterior decorations incorporating aesthetic design with sunflowers, pottery tiles, and vases on the exterior and frescos and stained glass in the interior. The new building opened in 1876. A personal request from the Duke of Westminster had ensured that it was the first building to use the Queen Anne style which now characterizes much of the Grosvenor Mayfair estate. Two years later William and two of his sons went on a tour across Europe to Russia where he had an audience with the Czarina who ordered a service from the company. This trip was written up in an illustrated diary.William exhibited Thomas Goode wares including some of his own designs at the 1851 Great Exhibition as well as later International Exhibitions in Paris and London. He purchased all the items from his display of Minton and Thomas Webb pieces shown at the 1878 Paris exhibition displaying them in his South Audley Street store, where the Prince and Princess of Wales came to see them. For the 1889 Paris Universelle Exposition William Goode commissioned Minton to supply a pair of 8 feet high elephants. These were also brought back to London and continued to feature in Thomas Goode?s window display until 2021. The elephants were the centrepiece of a 2015 exhibition Sculpture Victorious held at the V&A.After William Goode's death in 1892, his collections were sold and two of his sons Herbert and Minton inherited the business which was incorporated in 1918. Thomas Goode Limited continued in family ownership until 1993 when it was purchased by Alexander Riahi. Riahi opened a restaurant in one of the show rooms which was patronized by Princess Diana. The last family member on the Thomas Goode Board retired in 1996 when Riahi sold Thomas Goode to Lord Verjee. In 2015 Lord Verjee sold the South Audley Street buildings but retained the business only selling that in 2018.