A Howard & Sons oak octagonal centre table

A Howard & Sons oak octagonal centre table,
c.1880, in a 'reformed Gothic' style, having an octagonal parquetry top, on ring-turned supports with beaded collars and a chamfered cross-shaped stand, stamped 'Howard and Sons, Berners St' to the underside of the top,
123cm diameter
72cm high

Literature: 'English Furniture 1800-1851', p.143, where it is incorrectly dated to 1850.

Howard & Sons, one of the most famous and fashionable of British furniture makers, was founded in 1820 at 24 Lemon Street, London, by John Howard. In 1848, the company moved to 22 Berners Street, expanded in 1853 into 26 Berners Street. The Crystal Palace Exhibition of 1862 saw their first awarded prize for an exhibited suite of library furniture. In 1865, George Howard patented a method for the wood veneering of walls and, in 1867, a patent for the improved production of parquet flooring. The firm exhibited and won medals at the 1878 Paris Exhibition, the 1894 Antwerp Exhibition, the Paris Exhibition of 1900 and were awarded the first of their royal warrants in 1901.