Made In England - The Best English Homeware

By Author: K Harper-Cuss
Total Articles: 43
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While this year's Decorex exhibition will undoubtedly showcase some of the best new products from the design industry, some exhibitors continue to fuse new production processes with more traditional techniques and timeless styles. Here, we celebrate a selection of those companies, who are custodians of our colourful history of interior design. In a climate where many have little option but to manufacture abroad, it is reassuring to see companies prolonging our legacy of quality English manufacturing.

The Little Greene Paint Company

Although increasingly renowned for its environmentally friendly paint colours, we also admire Little Greene for its firm commitment to preserving our rich heritage of decoration.

Championing the confident use of paint in interiors throughout history, its Colours of England range is a beautiful and inspiring palette of 128 classic and contemporary shades.

Hues such as Secret Shell (a soft, romantic pink) and Mischief (a daring violet magenta) have modern origins. Conversely, nearly half of its range consist of shades painstakingly replicated from the 1760s to the 1950s, ...
... and are the result of a collaboration with English Heritage to revive the nation's most enduring and distinctive colours.

Stone-Mid-Warm (from Georgian times) is described as if 18th century Bath could be distilled into one colour while Terra di Sienna, an earthy burnt umber (from the Regency era), was literally uncovered from one of the earliest surviving paint cards from 1807. Little Greene credits the depth and richness of such colours to the fact that they contain 40 per cent more pigment than most paints.
The company has devoted the same meticulous attention to detail to its co-ordinated wallpaper collection, based on original documents from the English Heritage archives.

Imperial Bathrooms

At The English Home we increasingly look to nostalgic references for design inspiration and seek products that will stand the test of time. Knowing that many of you do too, it is no surprise that classically themed bathrooms continue to be a popular choice for our homes.
From a thriving workshop in Aldridge, the West Midlands, this family-run company has produced original bathroom designs to the highest standards for more than
20 years. Each piece of ceramic ware is carefully hand crafted using the finest materials and traditional techniques. Each perfected piece is then subject to rigorous quality testing and carries a lifelong guarantee against manufacturing defect.
The Classical Style range showcases designs that recall the most successful shapes of bygone eras. With floral ceramics echoing the splendour of the Victorian period, 1920s designs capturing the glamour of Art Deco and the sophistication of ornate Edwardian styles, there is something for every period of home.

Richardson Paintings

There are few things we regard to be more evocative of classic English country house style than a fine oil painting. From ancestral portraits that keep a watchful eye over the current dwellers to landscapes that capture a nostalgic scene, they are a timeless and personal addition to interiors, both grand and humble in scale.
Traditionally such artworks have been passed down through the generations, but not all of us have been so fortunate as to receive such treasures.

In 1991 Tony Richardson discovered that many families who wished to pass on works of art to their heirs could not justify paying the associated inheritance tax. Others simply could not afford to insure them. Many, therefore, had no choice but to sell their favourite pieces at auction.

In response, Richardson brought together a team of classically trained artists to discreetly hand paint exceptionally high quality replicas, so that his clients could continue to enjoy their favorite works after selling the original.
Today, the business is run by Tony's son Oliver and is recommended by Sotheby's, Christie's and Bonhams auctioneers. With a stable of 75 fine artists around the world, the company has recently expanded its service to offer a stock of classic and contemporary paintings and popular museum pieces.

Locker & Riley

Certain custodians of the nation's historic houses provide such seamless restoration that their work can go almost undetected. Fibrous plasterwork specialist Locker & Riley is a case in point.

The company was founded almost by chance when joiner Clive Locker was visiting his local timber yard one winter. While there, he was astonished to see that a stock of 7,000 beautiful wood block carvings were being thrown on an open fire to keep the workers warm. Horrified, he stopped them in their tracks and offered to buy the whole collection. Locker subsequently spent the next two years investigating the origins of the carvings and eventually traced them back to a famous fibrous plaster company that had closed in the sixties. He then sought financial backing to revive the business from his school friend Michael Riley.

Since 1982, the company's key activity has been the careful re-creation and restoration of mouldings and covings damaged, lost or decayed in listed buildings. Using techniques and production methods handed down through generations; their master craftsmen often work alongside leading historians and conservation organisations such as English Heritage, to ensure their work is authentic and exacting.

Cornices, corbels, friezes and arches are often carefully removed and taken to their workshop near Chelmsford, Essex, for repair. Here, the renowned mould library now exceeds 10,000 hand-carved wooden blocks with some dating back to the eighteenth century.

While gracing some of the grandest domestic homes, the company's ‘heritage works' have also extended to iconic buildings such as the Royal Albert Hall, the House Of Commons and some of London's most famous theatres. Many an audience have undoubtedly appreciated the beautiful lavish plasterwork decoration, without ever realizing the care taken to breathe new life back into them.