Royal House
Antiques
Royal House Antiques is delighted to offer for sale very rare and original pair of Howard
& Son’s Lenygon & Morant sofas with the original ticking fabric.
These have to be the most comfortable pair of sofas I have
ever sat on, the cushions are light fibre filled, fibre was used for many years on Howard sofas because it is super comfortable and light weight, it seats like feathers but retains its shape better, its like sitting on a huge comfortable duvet that's been folded up, the frames are solid hardwood, they have coil sprung bases and bases and the traditional Howard exposed support beam along the base
The sofas retains all the original features, the factory ticking fabric, the hessian covers which have the Howard
& Son's Lenygon Morant labels, these are real period gems
This pair are a must have for any fine English
furniture connoisseur, they scream country house style charm and
charisma. Howard & Son’s are simply put the finest chair makers in
history, the late Queen by repute had the largest private collection in the world
Condition wise the pair have the original ticking fabric as mentioned, it is discoloured and aged in places, mostly on the back and sides, the main body cushions look to be perfect order, this aged related patina is super desirable on Howards as it shows the age and originality
Dimensions
Height:- 82cm
Width:- 169.5cm
Depth:- 106cm
Seat Height:- 51cm
Please note all measurements are taken at the
widest point, if you would like any additional or specific measurements please
ask
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.
Please note all measurements are taken at the
widest point, if you would like any additional or specific measurements please
ask
Any questions please feel
free to ask before you bid.
ABOUT US
Royal House Antiques is a privately owned family
ran business founded in Wimbledon SW19 and now based in Pulborough RH20. We
specialise in finding, restoring very fine luxury antique leather seating,
along with every single other type of antique ranging from the 16th
century to the 20th century. We also stock a number of designer
brands such as Fritz Hansen, Ralph Lauren, Cavalli, Charles & Ray Eames,
Vitra, David Linley, Rolex, Tiffany, Jager Le Coulter and so on
PAYMENTS
We accept payment via Bitcoin, Bitcoin cash,
Ethereum, Bacs, Chaps, PayPal or Card, we would kindly ask that all items are
paid for within 48 hours and collected within 7 working days, we can hold all
paid items for 14 days free of charge, there after a £20 a week storage fee
will apply. We have long term storage which is very economically priced, we are
happy to hold stock for as long as needed providing it is arranged prior to the
purchase
If sold items aren’t collected within three months
and no arrangements have been made for long term storage you will forfeit the
item and payment
CONDITION
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
DELIVERY OR COLLECTION
This item is available for collection from our Pulborough
warehouses RH20-1DF by appointment only, alternatively we can have it delivered
nationwide to include Scotland, Wales and Ireland for a fee
Please contact me via email, alternatively my
contact information is under the business seller section of the listing, with
your postcode for a delivery quotation, as mentioned above the fee listed
covers with the M25 for the UK, for international deliveries the amount listed
covers local Europe only so parts of Belgium and France
Please be sure to include which item you would like
to buy as the price is determined on size and distance, if you would like more
than one piece of furniture the courier offers a substantial discount on the
second and third item, for international shipping please view the below
information
COURIER, LARGE ITEMS ONLY THAT CAN’T BE POSTED
We can arrange delivery nationwide, mostly with our
nominated couriers, for Europe we use one reasonably priced professional company
that we trust, for the rest of the world we use international shippers that can
send any size item crated via air freight within 7-14 days after crating or
soft packed and container shipped via sea freight within 30-60 days. The time
frames outlined are guides only, non-domestic shipping is almost entirely
governed by the airlines, sea freight loading times and custom clearances
Whomever delivers will always require help on the
larger items to unload, the price you will be quoted will always be based on
this assumption, if this is not possible, please let us know as it will affect
the price to send a two-person team
Delivery is to the ground floor only, again if you
need help upstairs or in flats etc that's absolutely not a problem, the
couriers charge £10-£20 per flight per man per item, if you have a working
elevator then naturally there’s no additional fee
All courier fees are paid by yourself directly to
the courier company, the contract for delivery is between yourselves the client
and whichever courier you chose from those available I’m happy to accommodate
your own courier after a cleared payment has been received, they need to book
in a collection time with at least 24 hours notice, all collections must be
made within 14 working days of the close of the sale unless agreed by prior
arrangement
IMPORT DUTY
Most countries charge some kind of import duty
however almost all of our items won’t incur any charges as the items are exempt
from tax due to the age and materials used
For European deliveries the price you will be
quoted will include all clearance documentation and any customs charges so
there won’t be any additional fees
For international deliveries such as the United
States there can be some import duty to pay and or a clearance fee, I would
estimate that 99% of all deliveries clear customs without being stopped for
either
All duties are the responsibility of the purchaser
who is the importer, they can’t be covered by the seller or shipping agent or
factored in with additional retrospective discounts
RETURNS
Royal House Antiques offers a no quibble return
policy if the item is not as described, if there are any issues with the piece
you will be refunded in full once the item has been returned and inspected
within 14 days, alternatively if there is a small issue, we can discuss finding
a mutual resolution that makes all parties happy
We don’t offer a sale on approval service which
means you can purchase the item, have it delivered and if you simply don’t like
it, return it, this comes under change of mind or doesn’t fit. There is a lot
of time, money and work involved in transporting goods around the world, the
costs incurred can be vast so my advice would be if you are unsure on a piece
please ask as many questions as you like to make sure you understand everything
before you buy, if you are still unsure then please either arrange a viewing in
person or if that’s not possible then don’t buy from an online retailer,
perhaps look for a local gallery instead