Companies

Companies

A. Blackborne & Company was the trade name of father Anthony (1824-1878) and son Arthur Blackborne (1856-1952), lace dealers. They began work around 1850 and operated their business from 35 South Audley Street, London (UK), near the fashionable shopping areas of Bond Street and Oxford Street. They held a Royal Warrant from 1863 to 1912 from Alexandra, Princess of Wales and later the Queen.

The Atelier Stadelmaier, Nijmegen (the Netherlands), was set up in 1930 and eventually became one of the world's largest producers of liturgical clothing. It closed down in 2010. The company was set up by Arthur Stadelmaier (born in Germany; 1901-1981) and his wife, Magdalena Stadelmaier-Glässner (Poland; 1906-1989), who came to Nijmegen in the 1920's.

The British Museum in London houses a trade card for the French firm of Chomel & Co., dating to the period 1760-1818.  The text reads: "Chomel et Compagnie, tiennent magazin de modes, broderies et fabrique des fleurs à Paris." The print itself says: "A l'union des arts, Rue Neuve St. Eustache."

The Clark Thread Company was originally a Scottish firm that manufactured embroidery and sewing threads for many years. The company was established in the 1750's by two brothers, James and Patrick Clark. The story of this company is complicated, as it involves British as well as North American based companies run by various members of the Clark family.

J. & P. Coats is an originally Scottish fine-thread company that was founded by a weaver called James Coats (1774-1857) and his brother Patrick, in Paisley, near Glasgow. The story of Coats is complicated, as it involves British as well as North American based companies, run by various members of the Coats family. It was also closely involved in the activities of the rival Scottish company of Clark.

DMC (Dollfus-Mieg et Compagnie) is a French firm that was set up in the mid-eighteenth century by Jean-Henri Dollfus, Jean-Jacques Schmalzer and Samuel Koechlin. The three partners established a company known as Dollfus, based in Mulhouse, France. The company produced textiles with hand printed, Indian-style designs for the European market. 

The Dun Emer Guild and the Dun Emer Industries were two Irish companies based in Dundrum, Ireland. They were at the forefront of the Celtic Revival of the early twentieth century and the use of Celtic Revival designs for embroidery. The initial company, Dun Emer Guild, was set up in 1902 by Evelyn Gleeson (1855-1944) and two sisters, Lily Yeats (1866-1949) and Elizabeth Yeats (1868-1940).

Hand & Lock is an embroidery firm based in London, England, which was created in 2001 by the fusion of two embroidery businesses, namely that of M. Hand and S. Lock. These two firms themselves had a long history.

The Haslemere Peasant Industries is the general name given to a group of industries, workshops and societies that were set up in the late nineteenth century in Haslemere, Surrey, England. By that time, this place had become an attractive residence for various artistic people, moving from London, enjoying the country life. Among them was the poet laureate, Alfred Lord Tennyson.

Hawthorne & Heaney is a company operating from a studio in London, specialising in the design and production of (hand) embroideries for a broad range of purposes, including haute couture and military. The firm was set up by Claire Barrett after she left the firm of Hand & Lock in 2011.

The House of Worth was a French fashion house that specialized in haute couture. It was founded in 1858 by Charles Frederick Worth (1825-1895). The fashion house was based at Rue de la Paix 17, Paris (France). Charles Worth was an English designer who used to work for various dry-good shops in London before moving to the dry-good and dress making firm of Gagelin et Opigez (Paris) in 1846.

The Ideal Art Needlework Company was a famous early twentieth century firm that sold items for art needlework in the eastern USA.

The Langdale Linen Industry was set up in Westmorland, Cumbria, by Alfred Fleming, with the support and patronage of William Ruskin (1819-1900) and upon earlier work carried out by Miss Susanne Beever (1805-1893), who came from the area and who was the editor of Ruskin's book, Modern Painters. The Industry was initally led by Fleming's housekeeper, Marian Twelves.

Liberty is a large shop on Regent Street, London. It is known for selling luxury goods, including a wide range of patterned materials that are known as the Liberty Art Fabrics collection. The patterns are often known simply as 'Liberty Prints.' The shop was set up in 1875 by Arthur Liberty (1843-1917), and sold materials, ornaments and other items from Asia, especially China and Japan.

Madeira is a family company based in Freiburg (Germany), which produces machine embroidery thread and related items such as felt, needles, scissors, as well as backing materials, etc. The company was founded in Freiburg, Germany, in 1919 by the Messrs. Schmidt. The third generation of the family is now running the business.

Maison Lesage, or Lesage et Cie, is a French embroidery house that specialises in embroidery and working with sequins. The Lesage family has been running an embroidery atelier (Maison) in Paris since 1860. In 1924 its director, Albert Lesage, bought another embroidery atelier, that of Albert Michonet in Paris, both of which he then built up, under the name Maison Lesage, to cater for French haute couture designers.

Michaels Arts and Crafts is a popular retail chain throughout the USA and Canada, which was set up in 1973 and by 2014 had over one thousand outlets. Michaels Arts and Crafts sells inexpensive art and hobby supplies, including needlescross stitch and other needlecraft kits, beading supplies, frames and embroidery threads.

'The Needlewoman Ltd' (London, England) was registered in October 1928 as a retail shop in Regent Street, London (later nos. 146 and 148 Regent Street). The shop was partially owned by the embroidery designs, material and thread company, William Briggs & Co Ltd. It was seen as a major source of threads, materials, designs as well as a source of inspiration for those working with decorative needlework throughout the world.

Omoto Shoten is possibly Japan’s only embroidery thread shop that still sells a wide range of pure silk threads, including fresh threads that still need to be dyed. The shop receives orders from all over the world. Silk threads are sold by the weight, using a scale.

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