Howard & Sons Bridgewater & Amazone Armchairs Deep Seated Pair Original

Howard & Sons Bridgewater & Amazone Armchairs Deep Seated Pair Original

Splendid Antiques is delighted to offer this wonderful pair of Howard Armchairs, the first being a Howard & Sons loose cushion back deep seated Bridgewater chair labelled to underside, H&S Serial Number 7507, with H& S lining, raised on light medium beech stained legs, tapered forelegs with brass casters,

Howard & Sons Bridgewater Amazone Armchair by Lenygon & Morant

The second chair is a wonderful small Amazone Howard Armchair by Lenygon & Morant labelled to underside and stamped to rear leg Howard Chairs Limited, Number 1583, raised on short tapered forelegs with brass casters, the Amazone model is a slightly smaller version of the Bridgewater.

Do not be deterred by the worn appearance, these chairs are supremely comfortable and the aged worn appearance is exactly on trend, you do not need to try too hard with this type of chair, it speaks for itself................


Provenance: Bruern Abbey Boarding School, Oxford.

Condition report Bridgewater: The chair is offered in good original condition, finest horse hair and down filling, the fabric is slightly frayed to the back of the seat just behind the head area to the right, this has been stitched, there are smells or odours, the joints are all solid all casters are present, makers label to underside of chair.

Condition report Amazone: The chair is offered in good original condition, finest horse hair and down filling, the fabric is stained to the head rest and arms, there are no tears or rips, the joints are all solid all casters are present, makers stamp to rear leg and also label to underside of chair, there is a new cushion supplied by Howard & Sons in original fabric.

Background:

The name of Howard and Sons is probably one of the best known and highly sought after names in Upholstered furniture. Over the next few paragraphs I will do my best to give you a brief history of the company.

The company was started by John Howard in 1820 trading from 24 Leman St, London as a Cabinet Maker. Over the next 25 years they would make several changes of premises within the Whitechapel area. First to 27 Great Alie St (Now just Alie St) before moving a short distance to 34 Great Alie St.

In 1844 the company made its first venture into upholstered furniture by opening a showroom/workshop at 36 Red lion St. This was also to be a big move towards what would be their next and most famous location.

In 1848 they moved to a new address much more accustomed with the name; Berners St. London as “Cabinet Maker, Upholsterer and Decorator” under the name John Howard and Sons. The business seemed to boom at this location with workshops opening up at Tottenham St, Charlotte Mews and Fitzroy Sq and an expansion to a second Berners St building in 1853.

In 1869 the company consolidated its many workshops into the one building on Cleveland St. By 1872 the company was occupying 25, 26 and 27 Berners St. These addresses would remain unchanged until 1935. During this period they became a limited company in 1899 and won the first of their Royal warrants in 1901.

In 1935 the the well established decorators Lenygon and Morant appear to take over the name with the business address being given as 31 Old Burlington St (Lenygon and Morants premises since 1909). Lenygon and Morant later moved to South Audley St where from 1954 they advertised as 'Makers of Howard Chairs and Sofas'.
In 1967 the owners of Lenygon and Morant open Howard Chairs Limited, the company operating from Lyme St continue to make high quality sofas and armchairs


Dimensions Bridgewater:
Height: 31” inches / 75cm
Width: 29” inches / 74cm
Depth: 34” inches / 87cm
Floor to Seat: 17” inches / 44cm

Dimensions Amazone:
Height: 27” inches / 69cm
Width: 27” inches / 69cm
Depth: 30” inches / 76cm
Floor to Seat: 15” inches / 38cm

Delivery:
Free delivery is offered to England & Wales