Constantine & Co.
Active: 1833 - 1881
Function: Carvers, gilders, house fitting, decoration, upholsterers
History or description: The firm was established, or expanded, by William Sutcliffe Constantine (c.1793-1854, born in Leeds). From the early 1830s (or possibly earlier), the business operated as a partnership between William Constantine and William Ingham (1808-c.1892 , born Leeds) trading as Constantine and Co. This partnership continued until 1 January 1852 when it was dissolved, probably because William Constantine retired. The firm was afterwards run solely by William Ingham and probably passed to his heirs (based on the probate record for Ingham).
The earliest confirmed reference (so far) is an advertisement in the Leeds Mercury of 1833 referring to the expansion of the company's premises in South Parade, Leeds. Constantine and Co. had extensive operations at this location including warehousing, workshops, yards and residential buildings as well as some further warehouses, workshops and yards in Park Lane, Leeds (c.1850). In 1842 there were 15 carvers employed in the workshop, and the firm employed around 100 people altogether. Constantine's worked on a variety of trades associated with house fitting and decoration. Samuel Wallis, older brother of the renowned carver, Thomas Wilkinson Wallis (1821-1903) was carvers' foreman at Constantine's in the early 1840s.
The business was one of the most well known in Leeds and became a byword for quality - at house sales, furniture by Constantine and Co. was expected to command high prices. Amongst the firm's known commissions was decorating the banqueting hall and pavilion at Harewood House for a week of festivities in early November 1845 in honour of Viscount Lascelles (heir to Harewood) achieving his majority and getting married.
Locations
Address 3 South Parade Leeds England | View on map
1830 (Circa) - 1881 (Circa)
Address 2 South Parade Leeds England | View on map
1830 (Circa) - 1881 (Circa)
Associated People
Employer of Thomas Wilkinson Wallis
June 1842 - July 1842
Thomas work for Constantine's for six weeks, he obtained the work through his older brother, Samuel, who was the carvers' foreman ['Autobiography', 1899, pp. 55-6]
Trade name of William Sutcliffe Constantine
1830 (Circa) - 1852
Trade name of William Ingham
1830 (Circa) - 1881 (Circa)
Sources
19th Century British Library Newspapers
Advertisements & Notices .
The Leeds Mercury (Leeds, England), Saturday, June 8, 1833; Issue 3399. AND Advertisements & Notices .
The Leeds Mercury (Leeds, England), Saturday, September 21, 1839; Issue 5517 AND
FESTIVITIES AT HAREWOOD HOUSE .
The York Herald, and General Advertiser (York, England), Saturday, November 08, 1845; pg. 5; Issue 3813. 19th Century British Library Newspapers: Part II. AND
LOCAL NEWS .
The Leeds Mercury (Leeds, England), Saturday, November 15, 1845; Issue 5841. AND Advertisements & Notices .
The Leeds Mercury (Leeds, England), Saturday, May 11, 1850; Issue 6075. AND
Advertisements & Notices .
The Leeds Mercury (Leeds, England), Saturday, April 10, 1852; Issue 6175.
Gillbanks' Leeds and Neighbourhood Directory and Gazeteer, 1856
1856 (Presumed)
p. 148
Kelly's Directory of Leeds and Neighbourhood, 1881
1881
p. 363
McCorquodale & Co.'s Topographical and Commercial Directory of Leeds and Neighbourhood, 1876
1876
p. 382
White's Directory and Topography of the Boroughs of Leeds and Bradford, 1861
1861
p. 276
Citing this record
'Constantine & Co.', Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain and Ireland 1851-1951, University of Glasgow History of Art and HATII, online database 2011 [http://sculpture.gla.ac.uk/view/organization.php?id=msib5_1213715802, accessed 23 Sep 2023]
