Thomas Edward Collcutt 1840-1924

Collcutt was born in Oxford and was initially articled to R. E. Armstrong and then Miles & Murgatroyd. He then went on to work as an assistant to George Edmund Street along side R. Norman Shaw and W. E. Nesfield. He began designing for Collinson & Lock in 1870 alongside E. W. Godwin.

In 1871 the firm published Sketches for Artistic Furniture, although the plates were drawn and signed by J. M. Smith the designs are attributed to Collcutt.

Cabinet designed by Cullcott for Collinson & Lock.
Versions exhibited in London in 1871, Vienna in 1873 and Philadelphia in 1876.
The example in Vienna was purchased by the Prince of Liechtenstein and another example resides in the Victoria & Albert Museum, London.

His designs for Ebonised Art Furniture were shown at the Philadelphia Exhibition of 1876 and at the 1878 Paris Exhibition he designed a house for the 'Street of Nations'. along with collinson & Lock he provided designs for Gillow and Jackson & Graham. His most notable architectural achievements was the 1887 Imperial Institute in South Kensington of which only the tower now survives, Wakefield Town Hall in 1877 and the interior of the P & O Steamships.

In 1889 Collcutt was awarded the Grand Prix for Architecture at the Paris International Exposition and three years later the gold medal from the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). He was a fellow in RIBA and served as its president from 1904 to 1906.

The architectural practice still operates today, link below.

 Collcutt & Hamp Website
Michael Whiteway and Charlotte Gere, Nineteenth Century Design, 1993
Jeremy Cooper, Victorian and Edwardian Furniture and Interiors, 1987
Introduction by Edward Joy, Pictorial Dictionary of British 19th Century Furniture Design, 1977