{"id":5497,"date":"2022-03-25T10:03:22","date_gmt":"2022-03-25T09:03:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.homesandantiques.com\/?p=28001"},"modified":"2022-03-25T10:22:13","modified_gmt":"2022-03-25T09:22:13","slug":"behind-the-brand-howard-sons","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/homesantiques\/rss_feed\/behind-the-brand-howard-sons\/","title":{"rendered":"Behind the brand: Howard & Sons"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Molly Malsom\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Friday, 25 March 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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T<\/span>here is nothing like it. The proportions, the styling, how it makes you feel\u2026\u2019 says James Thorpe of Wimbledon Furniture, explaining the unique appeal of an antique Howard & Sons armchair. Although it would have been made 100 to 140 years ago, he says, it will still be more comfortable than many equivalent pieces made today. <\/span><\/p>\n

Established in 1820 by cabinetmaker John Howard, Howard & Sons quickly became one of the best-regarded furniture makers of the 19th century. In its infancy the company\u2019s repertoire was much more extensive than the sofas and chairs for which it is now known. In Victorian England, an \u2018upholsterer\u2019 or \u2018upholder\u2019 covered a wide number of jobs. An old trade card for John Howard offers expertise in parquet flooring, wallpaper hanging and even coffin lining. <\/span><\/p>\n

By the mid 1840s, as the company moved its workshops around the Whitechapel area, upholstery became its focus. Howard & Sons eventually settled in Berners Street, in London\u2019s West End. By this time, John\u2019s eldest son, George, was increasingly involved in the business and in 1851 he was noted as the principal upholsterer. <\/span><\/p>\n

Although upholstered furniture was not a new concept at that time, Howard & Sons certainly redefined it. Giles Bray of Middleton-Bray Upholstery has dedicated much of his career to studying Howard & Sons, having been impressed by an early Howard armchair he was asked to restore. \u2018I took great care over the restoration,\u2019 he recalls. \u2018And I realised, while working on it, that the exceptional quality of the frame and the formation of the feather and down cushions attached over a sprung foundation was quite unlike anything I had seen up to that point.\u2019 <\/span><\/p>\n

With great skill and imagination, Howard & Sons achieved a level of comfort that far exceeded anything that had gone before, and this was down to two inventions. First came the \u2018elastic seat\u2019, which was patented by George Howard in 1866. This invention totally upended traditional upholstery, as the use of coil springs in the seat allowed for movement up and down as well as side to side.<\/span><\/p>\n

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An advert from the November 1917 issue of The Connoisseur, depicting a Howard armchair. Advert courtesy of Paul Shutler<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

The height of luxury, however, was achieved through the \u2018si\u00e8ge de duvet\u2019 construction. \u2018This enabled a down-filled cushion to be fixed permanently to the upholstery frame in a hidden way, with the under-springing and quality horsehair keeping the cushion permanently lofted in feel and appearance,\u2019 explains Giles. \u2018Prior to this invention, feather and down cushions were loose and had to be shaken by hand to achieve comfort.\u2019 <\/span><\/p>\n

Aside from its revolutionary seats, Howard & Sons is also admired for its frames. \u2018The edges of all the inner wooden rails are chamfered to prevent wear on the materials, which is very rarely seen in other furniture,\u2019 says Giles. \u2018With the investment in tenon machinery, Howard was able to employ this structural advantage at a sensible price over its more zealous competitors, who stuck to handmade production, which ended up making their products too expensive.\u2019 <\/span><\/p>\n

Victorian design was influenced by the controlled, and sometimes rigid, style of the previous Regency period<\/a>. Howard & Sons broke this mould. \u2018Word quickly spread through the wealthier elements of society that a Howard armchair or sofa was the must-have item for one\u2019s country or city house,\u2019 says Giles. This reputation was bolstered by advertising, and listings for Howard chairs still survive from publications such as Tatler<\/i>, Vanity Fair<\/i> and The Illustrated London News<\/i>. As their reputation grew, the company went from strength to strength, and by the early 1900s it had 250 employees on its books. <\/span><\/p>\n

In 1935 Howard & Sons was bought by decorating firm Lenygon & Morant, who continued to create furniture to the original designs and traded as Lenygon & Morant makers of Howard Furniture. \u2018My father, George Webb, was hired as an upholsterer in the 1960s and ended up running the place,\u2019 says Chris Webb, explaining the company\u2019s more recent history. \u2018You end up being part of the furniture here \u2013 no one tends to leave.\u2019 Chris now co-owns the company with his father and, along with their staff, they have years and years of experience between them. Sofas and chairs are made to plans drawn up in the 1900s and for some designs the original cutting sheets are still used. \u2018It\u2019s all bespoke. We can add 2cm here or there to the height or the width,\u2019 Chris says, and it\u2019s not uncommon for customers to order \u2018his and hers chairs\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

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A pair of Howard & Sons Titchfield armchairs flank the fireplace in this interior designed by Henriette von Stockhausen of VSP Interiors<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

For purists, however, only a pre-1935 chair will do. Douglas Girton leads the furniture department at Lyon & Turnbull and notes a very strong market for genuine Howard & Sons pieces. \u2018I don\u2019t believe traditional taste or a sense of style and comfort will ever go out of fashion, and that is the core appeal of this furniture,\u2019 he explains. It\u2019s unsurprising, then, that interior designers are frequently asked to source antique Howard armchairs and sofas for clients. Aficionados dream of finding antique examples in good, original condition, with the iconic monogrammed ticking well preserved. But a genuine Howard piece is so collectable that condition can be overlooked. \u2018You can refresh the feather and down inserts and underlying padding, and change the outer covers, but it is the essential quality of the frames that makes them what they are,\u2019 says Douglas. <\/span><\/p>\n

Chris Webb warns that not all so-called antique Howard sofas and chairs are what they seem. He recently challenged a seller on eBay who had listed a chair as being 100 years old. \u2018But from the stamp, serial number and the initials,\u2019 Chris says, \u2018I knew it had been made by me!\u2019 <\/span><\/p>\n

The easiest way to determine whether or not you have a genuine Howard piece is to start with the legs. \u2018When I\u2019m visiting a client, you\u2019ll often find me on my hands and knees pulling up slipcovers to check for the tell-tale Howard & Sons stamps on the legs and castors,\u2019 says Douglas Girton. These stamps often include an address, which helps to determine the period. You will also sometimes find paper labels sewn into the hessian of the frame.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Close-up of a castor on a Howard & Sons armchair, stamped \u2018Howard & Sons London\u2019, Lorfords<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Country salerooms can be a good source of Howard pieces but, if you can\u2019t wait for the antique chair of your dreams to turn up at auction, you can always order something bespoke from the company\u2019s London showroom.<\/span><\/p>\n

Iconic Howard & Sons models<\/h2>\n

Bridgewater<\/h3>\n

A late 19th-century example of the classic button-back Bridgewater armchair in modern upholstery, with a company stamp on the rear leg, sold for \u00a32,125 at Lyon & Turnbull.<\/p>\n

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Portarlington<\/h3>\n

With the company\u2019s stamp on the frame and upholstered in Howard & Sons\u2019 monogram-print fabric, this c1900 Portarlington sofa sold for \u00a316,250 at Lyon & Turnbull.<\/p>\n

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Wing back<\/h3>\n

This generously proportioned wing back chair, c1870\u201390, has been re-covered in a block-printed calico and sold at Lorfords. The all-important Howard & Sons stamp is on the leg<\/p>\n

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By Molly Malsom Published: Friday, 25 March 2022 at 12:00 am There is nothing like it. The proportions, the styling, how it makes you feel\u2026\u2019 says James Thorpe of Wimbledon Furniture, explaining the unique appeal of an antique Howard & Sons armchair. Although it would have been made 100 to 140 years ago, he says, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":5498,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"6"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2022\/03\/behind-the-brand-howard-sons.jpg",1680,1281,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2022\/03\/behind-the-brand-howard-sons-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2022\/03\/behind-the-brand-howard-sons-300x229.jpg",300,229,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2022\/03\/behind-the-brand-howard-sons-768x586.jpg",768,586,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2022\/03\/behind-the-brand-howard-sons-1024x781.jpg",800,610,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2022\/03\/behind-the-brand-howard-sons-1536x1171.jpg",1536,1171,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2022\/03\/behind-the-brand-howard-sons.jpg",1680,1281,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/homesantiques\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Molly Malsom Published: Friday, 25 March 2022 at 12:00 am There is nothing like it. The proportions, the styling, how it makes you feel\u2026\u2019 says James Thorpe of Wimbledon Furniture, explaining the unique appeal of an antique Howard & Sons armchair. Although it would have been made 100 to 140 years ago, he says,…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/homesantiques\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/5497"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/homesantiques\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/homesantiques\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/homesantiques\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/homesantiques\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5498"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/homesantiques\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5497"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/homesantiques\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5497"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}