Fine Important Restored Pair of Antique Howard & Sons Leather Chesterfield Sofas

Royal House Antiques is delighted to offer for sale this stunning exceptionally rare pair of original early Victorian Howard & Son’s Berners street cigar brown leather, fully restored Chesterfield buttoned sofas with serpentine front panels

Please note the delivery fee listed is just a guide, it covers within the M25 only for the UK and local Europe only for international, if you would like an accurate quote please send me your postcode and I’ll provide you with the exact price

This pair of sofas have been on a journey, they came to me in the original unrestored condition with the period ticking, it was very distressed and in need of fully restoration, as they are such a rare model I have decided to take them through full top to bottom restoration, this is the only know pair of matching Serpentine fronted Chesterfield Howards for sale anywhere in the world today

In terms of the stamps, all castors are correctly stamped, the inside back left legs have the serial numbers on and one of the exposed support beams has the remnants of the Howard paper label, they both also have the duel exposed support base beams which is synonymous with Howard sofas. This model is super rare as mentioned, they have the serpentine front panels, the sloped front arms and the turned front legs

For the restoration we managed to save all the original horsehair padding, they were both stripped back to the frame, they had all the joints checked, they were then rebuilt with as mentioned all the original padding etc, they were both then upholstered using the finest 100% natural Italian cattle hide aniline leather which was hand nail tacked in place using antique brass studs, the sofas then went to my leather polishers where they were hand dyed and antiqued six times, they were then sealed, waxed down and given one final polish, the end result is a period perfect look and feel

Howard & Sons are simply put are the finest son and armchair makers in history, the Queen even has a private collection.

Dimensions

Height:- 69.5cm

Width:- 196cm

Depth:- 91.5cm

Seat height:- 41.5cm

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 Au