I & JL Brown

Founded by two teachers, this family firm combines British craftsmanship with a keen eye for timeless design

It was in the early 1970s that teachers Ian and Joyce Brown first began to source and sell antique English chairs as an enjoyable sideline. The Browns built their business the oldfashioned way: travelling from their Herefordshire home to knock on doors across the Atlantic, where American antiques dealers snapped up their chairs. Within a decade I & JL Brown, the firm they established in 1985, was also selling to the public and receiving requests for restoration projects and bespoke pieces. Through the final decades of the 20th century, the workshop in the company’s five- storey Victorian headquarters began to thrum with the rap of hammers as a growing team of artisans and apprentices hand-produced fine furniture.

With the founders’ two children and son-in-law now at the helm, I & JL Brown is still very much a family firm, while many of those former apprentices have notched up over 20 years with the company.

Known for a pleasing mix of old and new pieces, I & JL Brown is the place to find special antique pieces from all corners of the world, as well as new furniture items that pay respectful nods to heritage designs.

The rm now also stocks interiors products, from lighting to paints and fabrics BELOW RIGHT

ABOVE All furniture is handmade by a long- serving team of artisans BELOW LEFT

The showrooms in London and Hereford highlight the breadth of I & JL Brown’s furniture design skills