carver and gilder, n. — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

carver and gilder n.

[ironic use of SE; the elite professions are reduced to sl. in the lowly context of match-making]

a match-maker.

1821		in J. Burrowes Life in St George’s Fields 25/2: Carver and gilder, a match maker.
1823		Egan Grose’s Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.