A Potted history of the Painter Stainers

The Worshipful Company of Painters otherwise known as the Painter Stainers, had its origins as a London Guild although the date of its original formation is unknown. From royal archives it is clear there were a number of important court painters.
The first mention of the Stainers, whose craft was to paint or stain cloth is in 1268, when Grafton’s Chronicle refers to them as the Steyners. However, it is likely that this was a mistranslation and the next written evidence of them is not until 1400.
The first formal document describing the work of the Painters was issued in the 1283 Ordinances written in Norman French and described the painting of saddlebows. The decorating of saddles could only use specific colours such as blue, sinople, green and vermilion. Colours that should not be used included brasil (red) and Baghdad indigo.
By the mid thirteenth century Peter Hispanus, William of Westminster and Walter and Thomas of Durham were decorating the walls of the King’s palace and abbey in Westminster. These early painters may have been members of the Painter’s Guild although the records do not confirm this. However it is a fact that Walter and his son Thomas were instrumental in restoring the Painted Chamber of the Palace of Westminster in 1307.
In 1348 the Black Death wiped out many families of painters including the Stockwell family. Painters had to literally fight to preserve their independence. In 1327 the Saddlers attempted to force associated trades to join with them. A pitch battle in Cheapside and Cripplegate in London resulted in deaths and injuries with the Mayor and Sheriffs intervening. The court action resulted in a victory to the Painters and other trades.
In 1400 the Stainers applied for their own Ordinances. Only new cloth and colours of good quality were to be used otherwise the offender risked a fine of 3s 4d for a first offence. During the fifteenth century the Painters and Stainers separately grew in strength and power. In 1486 the prestigious Grant of Arms was given to the London Painters, which is displayed in the Painters’ Hall.
On 18th October 1502, the Painter Stainers Company was formed from the two Guilds on the Feast of Saint Luke (the patron saint of painters). By now the distinct membership of court painters had disappeared. The following day a petition was sent to the Lord Mayor who duly granted the petition.
It is likely that one of the founding members of the new Company was the painter John Browne. In 1511 he was appointed Painter of the Navy and in December of the same year he was granted for life the title of King’s Painter.  This title was changed in 1527 to Serjeant Painter. Browne worked on the famous Field of the Cloth of Gold in 1520 and when he died he left his house in Little Trinity Lane to serve as the Painter Stainer’s Hall.
In 1581, Queen Elizabeth granted the Painter Stainers a Royal Charter which hangs in the Court Room of the Hall. In 1582 a full Book of Ordinances setting out 37 rules were published.
The Hall served as a meeting place, social centre, dining room and storage space for the Company’s possessions and archives. Many other companies hired the Hall for their use. The Apothecaries used it between 1621 and 1629. The Pipemakers used it in 1635 and in 1651 the Hatband Makers held court in it.
In another typical dispute the Goldsmiths attempted to wrest control of the manufacturer of gold and silver leaf, which the Painter Stainers traditionally imported. This dispute continued for many years.
It was the custom for the Master and his wardens to be painted each year. Unfortunately few survive since it was decided in 1635 to sell off the numerous portraits that were subsequently collected by William Foster who operated a second hand trade in the portraits.  By 1639 the list of the Livery showed a membership of an elite fifty two names.
Curiously the minutes of the Painters Stainers rarely seem to show the outside world impacting upon its business. The Civil War is only briefly alluded to from mentions of ‘disturbances’ and ‘distractions’. However, the war was thrust upon the Painter Stainers when a Company of Soldiers was billeted in the hall in December 1648. A year later when King Charles I was executed as a member of the Company, Edward Bower, painted not one but three portraits of the king during his trial.
In both the Great Fire of 1666 and again centuries later in the Second World War in 1940 the Painter’s Hall was destroyed. There is a story that King Charles II took refuge in the Hall during the Great Fire and called the Lord Mayor, Sheriffs and Aldermen to meet to give instruction on how to form fire breaks to stop the fire. By 1670, after four years of rebuilding from the foundations up, the building was sufficiently complete to allow dinner to be held in the new Hall.
In July 1685 a new royal Charter was issued by the new king, James II.
The widening divide between fine and decorative arts resulted in the formation of The Royal Academy in 1768, although the Painter Stainers Company was far larger. In fact the Company’s first Book of Apprentices lists over 4,000 names between 1666 and 1796. At over thirty on average per year the demand for high quality Painter Stainers was very high.
Throughout the eighteenth century the Hall was refurbished with the pictures cleaned in 1726 and a new floor ordered in 1735.
From 1534 there had been continuing disputes with other trades over the jealously guarded boundaries of work. Finally, in 1738, the dispute with the Heralds was ended by the judgement of the Attorney General and Solicitor General in favour of the Painter Stainers.
John Stock was one of the Company’s notable benefactors and he is first mentioned in December 1769 after making a donation of £5 to be used to help the “poor, disabled and lame painters”. Stock was Painter to His Majesty’s Dockyards and when he died in 1781 he left a considerable legacy to the Company and charity. 
The Crace family had a long line of professional decorative painters starting with Thomas who set up as a painter in 1768. His son John (who caused a stir in 1776 by eloping with Ann Eastham) was foremost in reintroducing ‘marbeling and graining of wood’ during the 1790’s. John decorated the Interior of the London Pantheon. John’s eldest son, Frederick Crace was the distinguished designer of the Music Room at the Brighton Pavilion. Frederick’s sons John Gregory served as Master of the Company in 1879 and John Dibblee in 1884. It was John Dibblee who decorated the State Rooms of Windsor Castle in 1854. The Crace’s were firm supporters of the Company’s Exhibitions and John Gregory had been much involved in the Great Exhibition of 1851. The Company’s own Court had resolved in 1859 to hold its own exhibitions and these proved to be very successful over the following years. In 1860 Thomas Kershaw was given a Highly Commended prize for his marbling.
At various times in the nineteenth century the Hall was nearly sold; 1868-9 by the City of London Board of Guardians and in 1880 by the Metropolitan District Railway. Fortunately both attempts failed and the Hall remained in safe hands.
The twentieth century brought great grief from the First World War when a number of sons of Liverymen were killed. A typical fatality was that of Captain Francis Scott Cowtan who died in April 1917. In the last months of the war around one hundred blinded soldiers were entertained in the Hall with a concert and refreshments.
On 10th May 1941, in spite of the brave attempts to quell the fire by the Beadle, Thomas Ninian, the Dining Hall and Court Room was destroyed by enemy bombs. In January 1951 another momentous event took place when women were approved to be awarded the Freedom for the first time in the Painter’s history. It was not until 7th June 1962 that the new Hall had been rebuilt and opened by the Lord Mayor. During the twentieth century the number of the Company increased. In 1880 there were 144 Liverymen and 157 Freemen but by 2003 there were 321 Liverymen and 203 Freemen. We trust the Painter Stainers will continue to grow from strength to strength in the 21st century and enjoy  great success.

With grateful thanks to ‘The History of the Worshipful Company of Painters otherwise Painter Stainers’ by Alan Borg CBE, FSA

Painting and Decorating Association
June 2009