Pair Of Antique Victorian Howard & Son's Armchairs For Upholstery Restoration

Royal House Antiques is delighted to offer for sale this once in a lifetime opportunity to own, a very rare original pair of Howard & Son's Berners street armchairs in the original distressed 1880-1900 with stamped legs and castors, ideally for reupholstery

A very good looking and well made pair, I've never seen this exact model before, it looks to be based on a Regency Gentlemen's club armchair. Both inside legs are fully stamped Howard & Son’s LTD Berners Street and with the serial numbers, all castors are original and fully stamped Howard & Sons London. All the original padding is present, they are super comfortable

The chairs are totally original as mentioned, the fabric is worn but serviceable, you could have them professionally cleaned however I think it would be better for the new owners to have their own choice of fabric fitted as there are some light splits as well

For those of you that are unaware of Howard & Son's chairs our late Queen had I think the largest private collection in the world, they are the finest hand made in England and most famous chairs in the world, highly collectable and extremely valuable, the more beaten up and original the better

These chairs are early models and with the rare mahogany timber frames, they are very fine examples

Howard & Son’s are the finest sofa and armchair makers in history

A History of Howard and Sons

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 adresses 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 premesis 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.

Exhibitions and Important Houses:

At the 1862 International Exhibition (The 3rd World Expo) Howard and Sons entered a suite of library furniture for which they won a prize. They also went on to exhibit at the Paris World's Fair, called an Exposition Universelle twice; once in 1878 and again in 1900. Also at the Exposition Internationale d'Anvers 1894 (International Exposition/World Fair Antwerp). Winning Prizes at them all including 1 silver and 2 golds. They also employed their eclectic styles working for many important clients providing furniture for important houses such as Sudbury Hall in Derbyshire, Elton Hall, Huntingdonshire and Stokesay Court, Shropshire.

Any questions please feel free to ask before you bid.

Price for set

Condition report:

Please view the very detailed pictures as they form part of the description pertaining to the condition. Please also ask any questions before you bid and not after, all of our items are sold as seen and as listed

Royal House Antiques cannot be held liable for any independent assumptions made regarding the items we sell, if you are unsure on any point, please feel free to ask for clarity

Please note vintage period and original items such as leather seating will always have natural patina in the form of creasing and wear, we recommend annual waxing to ensure no moisture is lost, also hand dyed leather is not recommended to sit in direct sunlight for prolonged periods of time as it will dry out and fade

Additional dimensions information:

Seat Height 55.5CM