A George I walnut and burr walnut secretaire-cabinet, the broken arched cornice above two star-engraved arched bevelled mirrored doors opening to reveal a fully fitted interior of drawers, feather-namded within double half-round carcase mnouldings, above a candle slide and four long drawers, the first a secretaire opening to reveal drawers and piigeon holes and an inset panel of hide, another lined with the paper trade label of WIlliam Old and John Ody, reading 'WILLIAM OLD AND JOHN ODY At the Castle in St Paul's Church-Yard (over-against the South-Gate of ye Church) London Makes and Sells all sorts of Cane & Dutch Chairs, Chair Frames for Stuffing and Cane Lashes. And also all sorts of the best Looking-Glass & Cabinet-Work in Japan Walnut-Tree & Wainscot, at reasonable Rates.', the whole raised on bun feet

Furniture with the label of William Old and John Ody are rare, with only a handful of examples currently identified. Formed around 1717, the partnership drew on Old’s experience as a turner and Ody’s as a cabinet-maker to cover a larger market. Their label intriguingly features a classical aedicula-like structure with Corinthian columns enclosing a medieval castle with crenellations and arrow-slits. Other pieces of case furniture by Old and Ody can be seen in the Pictorial Dictionary of Marked London Furniture 1700-1840. 

A pair of chairs by Old and Ody, still bearing the trade label, is in the collection of the Museum of the Home (formerly the Geffrye Museum), London (14/2006)