The Sir David Kirch Collection of Skit Notes

Mendham’s Tea Warehouse, Ipswich, a note promising to pay the bearer 5 Shillings on demand, hand dated 1803, no serial number or signature, vignette of a tea chest at top left, complete with with naive depiction's of Chinese characters, wonderful condition, good very fine and extremely rare
Outing unlisted £240-£300

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The Sir David Kirch Collection of Skit Notes.

View
Collection

William Mendham was born in 1770 in Ipswich. In September 1792 he opened a new grocery and tea warehouse in Bank Buildings, Ipswich. He was quite successful and operated the business for several decades, and married Hannah Baker in 1793 and died in August 1838. The wording on this note is extremely interesting, unequivocally promising to pay the bearer 5 shillings. It is possible it was a real voucher of some kind.
Ex. Godfrey Burr Collection, 2007