Description
Royal House Antiques
Royal House Antiques is delighted to offer for sale this extremely rare very large Howard & Son’s 1881 stamped burr & burl walnut chest of drawers with military history.
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.
These are pretty much the finest quality chest of drawers I have ever laid my hands on, they are substantial in weight, the cuts of walnut have a deep rich grain and simply glow in the right light, they are the most exquisite quality.
The inside top right drawer is stamped Howard & Son’s Berners street, there is also remnants of a paper label which has the serial number on of 8696 4332 and then “Easy Chair & Sofa Factory, Howard & Son’s Upholsterers 2526 & 27 Berners Street London Patent dining table” What a great piece of history. The real Piece De Resistance! Is the back of the drawers, they have the original name tag of the owner who commissioned them, one Sir C Pigott, its dated Sept 12 1881, the full history of the good chap is as follows
“Captain Pigott, was born 13 January 1859, son of Sir Charles Robert Pigott, 3rd Baronet, and Mary Louisa (who died in 1873), daughter of Captain C Hallowell Carew, RN, of Beddington Park, Surrey.
He joined the 60th King’s Royal Rifles; served in the Zulu War, 1879 (Medal with clasp); in the Boer War, 1881, with Mounted Infantry; in the Egyptian Campaign of 1882, in which he was dangerously wounded. He received the Medal, Bronze Star, the 5th Class Medjidie, and was promoted Captain, and given a troop in the 21st Lancers. He served in the Eastern Sudan Campaign in 1884 (two clasps); with the Nile Expedition, 1884-5 (two clasps). He was given the Brevet of Major in 1886, and in the same year married Fanny Ada, daughter of the Reverend Wellesley Pole Pigott, and Fanny, daughter of Bernard Granville, of Wellesbourne Hall, Warwickshire, and they had two children: Berkeley and Florence Ada Cecile.
He served on the West Coast of Africa, 1887-8; and was created a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order [London Gazette, 9 March 1888]: “Charles Berkeley Pigott, Major, 21st Lancers”. For services in Burma. He was promoted Lieutenant Colonel in 1896 and created a CB. Lieutenant Colonel Pigott took part in the Ashanti Expedition of 1895-96 and was made Commandant of Kumasi.
All his promotions were Brevet, for services, and he was mentioned many times in Despatches. Lieutenant Colonel C B Pigott died 12 September 1897. Source: DSO recipients (VC and DSO Book)”
And there you have it, quite an impressive gentleman. These drawers will only be listed for a short while until I move home, if they don’t sell until then I will be keeping them for myself as they are as rare as they come.
The condition is very very good, they have some light patination but mostly they are in fine order throughout.
Dimensions
Height:- 49cm
Width:- 115.5cm
Depth:- 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
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
