Made from the mulberry tree in Shakespeare's garden at New Place, Stratford- upon-Avon as part of a flourishing trade in souvenirs developed by local craftsmen after the tree was cut down in 1756.
In his lifetime many magnificent pieces of furniture were presented by the late Brigadier W,E. Clark CMG, DSO, to the Victoria and Albert Museum through the Art Fund. After his death, a trust was set up in 1976 so that his estate could be used by the V&A to add to its collection of English seventeenth. and eighteenth-century furniture and cIocks. Again, Brigadier Clark wished this bequest to be through the Art Fund, though the fund is administered by the V&A.