A late Victorian walnut and leather upholstered Chesterfield attributed to Holland & Sons, the cabinet-maker William Bryson

Footnotes

The stamp of W.Bryson has been recorded on a group of seat furniture identified in recent years and appears in particular on furniture from several important 19th century commissions by the London firm of Holland and Sons. The Bryson stamp was present on the set of thirty dining chairs designed by Alfred Stevens and supplied to Robert Staynor Holford for Dorchester House, Park Lance, London by Holland and Sons in 1869. The stamp is again seen on seat furniture in the Palace of Westminster and Holland and Sons were by far the most prolific supplier of furniture to the Palace from the 1830s onwards. Christina Anderson suggests that Bryson was an employee of Holland and Sons rather than an independent cabinet-maker working for himself, as Holland and Sons were a large scale integrated firm and there is no evidence to suggest that they sub-contracted work, (see C.Anderson, W.Bryson and the firm of Holland and Sons in Furniture History, The Journal of the Furniture History Society, 2005, p. 217-230).

Holland and Sons rose from their origins in the early 19th century to become, by the middle years of the century, a rival to Gillow and one of the greatest English furniture producers. Recorded as early as 1815, as Taprell and Holland, by 1843 under the auspices of William Holland, a relative of the Regency architect Henry Holland, they formed a business alliance with Thomas Dowbiggin of 23 Mount Street, who had made the state throne for Victoria's Coronation. They also worked successfully as undertakers and were responsible for the Duke of Wellington's funeral. Under William Holland the firm became cabinetmakers and upholsterers to the Queen, their first commission being for Osborne House in 1845, supplying furniture in the Queen's favoured Louis XVI style. They continued to supply furniture for Osborne until 1869 but gained further commissions for Windsor Castle, Balmoral and Marlborough House. Hollands also worked for many leading institutions including the Reform and Athenaeum Clubs, the British Museum and the Royal Academy. Along with Gillows they shared the commission for the new Houses of Parliament. The participated in many of the important International Exhibitions including London in 1862, Vienna in 1873 and Paris in 1867 and 1872. The Holland's labelled day books are now housed in the National Archive of Art and Design in London and present a virtual 'who's who' of 19th century society.