A variety of interesting pieces have been lent by the Worshipful Companies of Carpenters, Stationers and Clothworkers. In the course of their history the City Companies have suffered many misfortunes. Of these the most disastrous was the Great Fire of 1666, which wrought havoc with their Halls and historic possessions. Most of the Halls were destroyed or suffered damage. Many were rebuilt under the influence of Sir Christopher Wren and his successors, but in most cases have been reconstructed in the nineteenth century. Fortunately, some of the panelling, carvings and furniture have been preserved and incorporated in the new buildings. The octagonal table in this exhibition, lent by the Carpenters’ Company, is one of the few existing pieces earlier in date than the Great Fire. From the Charterhouse a few good pieces of English furniture have been obtained. First a Carthusian monastery, afterwards a nobleman’s palace, and lastly a Pensioners’ Hospital, the Charterhouse still shows records of the different phases of its romantic history. The splendid Elizabethan staircase and some of the panelling belong to the period when the Duke of Norfolk occupied the building as a residence. Other furniture and decoration commemorates the foundation of the hospital by Thomas Sutton, a wealthy trader and philanthropist; worthy of special mention is the small communion table in the chapel, bearing his arms and a mutilated date (16—), perhaps the most distinguished piece of furniture of its period which the country possesses. Unfortunately, it has not been possible to secure this table for the present exhibition. Much of the furniture, here exhibited, was lent to the exhibition at Bethnal Green Museum organized by the Department of Science and Art in 1896. O. B. [Illustration] _Near the Alcove_ ARM-CHAIR, walnut wood, carved with the head of Neptune and acanthus foliage, with front legs in the form of dolphins: upholstered in red velvet, embroidered on the back in coloured silks and silver thread with the arms of the East India Company, 1698 (ar. a cross gu. in the dexter chief quarter an escutcheon of the arms of France and England, quarterly, the shield ornamented and regally crowned or. _Crest_: a lion ramp. guard. or, supporting between the fore paws a regal crown ppr. _Supporters_: two lions ramp. guard. or, each supporting a banner erect ar. charged with a cross gu. _Motto_: AUSPICIO REGIS ET SENATUS ANGLIÆ). In the “Old India House” this chair was the seat of the Chairman when presiding over the Court of Directors; it is shown in T. H. Shepherd’s drawing in this exhibition, No. 66. At the India Office it has been used by each successive Secretary of State for India in Council. Height, 4 ft. 11½ in. Middle of the XVIIIth century. _Lent by the Secretary of State for India._ _On either side of the Alcove_