REFLECTING ON THE ARTISTRY OF FRANCIS JOHNSON & DICK REID

The pediments of each mirror are decorated with an urn, interlaced with festoons of laurel leaves. Each mirror sits within a moulded frame adorned with a beaded slip, while beneath it rests a three-branch candelabra with protruding leaves, upheld by a C-scrolled lower bracket.

The stunning design and exquisite craftsmanship are unmistakably apparent, and the mirrors come together with various proposed designs and working drawings by Johnson himself.

But who are the individuals behind these remarkable decorative pieces?

Francis Johnson was born in Bridlington in 1911. He was renowned for his work on country houses, predominantly in the Georgian style, and was an early member of the Georgian Society for East Yorkshire. 

Johnson was awarded numerous honours during his life, including being made a Fellow of the Society of Antiquities in 1955 and receiving a CBE in 1991.

Although Johnson passed away in 1995, his practice, ‘Francis Johnson and Partners, Architects', maintains a strong reputation for their historical property work, having had the privilege to work on some of the region's most notable buildings, including Sledmere House, Sewerby Hall, Burton Agnes Hall, Burton Constable Hall and Fairfax House.

Francis Johnson closely collaborated with an ensemble of skilled craftsmen, the most prominent being Dick Reid. The pair worked together on many projects, including the extensive restoration of Fairfax House (pictured) – a project that culminated to 20,000 man-hours of restoration work, the grand stable conversions at Heath Hall and the restoration of York Minster after the fire of 1984.

Reid was born in 1934, in Newcastle-upon-Tyne and exhibited a talent for arts and crafts from a young age. He was spotted by wood carver and sculptor, Roger Hedley, at the age of just 15 and was taken on as an apprentice.

In 1958 he established his stonemasonry workshop in York and quickly gained his reputation as a master sculptor and carver, recognised internationally for his expertise in conservation and restoration. During the 1990s his workshop was the largest in the UK, employing up to fifteen assistants and apprentices.

Reid gained great acclaim for his stonemasonry skills and in 1989 he was invited by the then Prince of Wales, King Charles III, to become a Trustee of his Institute of Architecture. He received an OBE in 2013 for services to Heritage and in 2016 was awarded the Duke of Gloucester Gold Medal for outstanding lifetime achievement in stonemasonry.