Furniture Makers' Masters & Clerks Luncheon
4th October 2018The Furnitures Makers' Company is number 83 in the Order of Precedence and, therefore, an immediate neighbour to our own Company. The Masters' of our two Companies are frequently paired at events and in civic processions. It is unsurprising, therefore, that a special bond exists and so it was with great pleasure that both the Clerk and I eagerly accepted this invitation to the Masters & Clerks Luncheon at Furniture Makers' Hall in Austin Friars along with eleven other Masters, one Prime Warden and all of their respective Clerks.
The Furniture Makers' are unusual for a modern Company in that they have amassed a wealth in short order sufficient to allow for the purchase of a very fine Hall. Situated in Austin Friars, it is tucked away from the hullabaloo and passing through its doors you enter a world of serene gentility and elegantly proportioned rooms. The building retains many original characteristics including a spiralling, grand staircase. Its chambers are graced with elegant, finely crafted furniture and wood panelling and the walls sport paintings of Past Masters many of whom were at the lunch!
The Master Furniture Maker, Hayden Davies, extended his Company's hospitality in great style and he could not have been more welcoming to the visiting Masters and Clerks. After excellent speeches and a glass of port for the road, we left the peace of Austin Friars back to the noise and bustle of the City with warm feelings about the last few hours of leisure and good conversation.