Homes&Interiors
HEAL’S APPEALS Our homes and interiors expert Holly Johnson, of Holly Johnson Antiques in Knutsford talks to Shire about the furniture favourite Heal’s
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eal’s is a well-established name in the UK furniture market. and often have it in their own homes,” Its heritage dates all the way back to 1810, when John Harris says Holly. “Designers very often Heal and his son set up the business. Originally, they made and choose Heal’s for their clients’ sold French-style feather-filled mattresses, and later expanded homes as well, as its simplicity into a wider range of furniture, including beds, dressers and tables. complements many different styles.” Ambrose Heal, great-grandson of John Harris Heal, joined the The classic materials of aged family company in 1893, and the business really started to boom. oak and limed oak provide a light Holly says: “Ambrose was not the most popular member of the and natural look in the home, and Heal’s team – he was seen as a bit of a tyrant by other members are signature styles of Heal’s. of the staff. However, he was a great marketeer and an ambitious A salesman, which was very good for the growth of the business.” RARE FINDS se al o f dis It was around this time that Heal’s became a ‘destination’ shop, At Holly Johnson’s showroom, Heal’s tinction renowned for its modern furniture designs. Ambrose Heal was pieces always sell quickly, and Holly says that ahead of his time and loved the Arts and Crafts the brand continues to grow in popularity. “The aged style. His designs appeared at shows run by oak pieces from Heal’s are very popular and are still reasonably priced, although prices do seem to be on the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society, and “Aged oak soon became so successful that the previous the rise. There are plenty of chances to find lovely pieces are very antipathy towards him started to shift. mid-century Heal’s furniture, although the painted popular and Ambrose was a founding member of the furniture is rare and harder to come across.” Design and Industries Association (DIA), set During the Second World War, the Heal’s factory still reasonably up in 1914-15 to bring some of the values of turned to producing parachutes, the new skills mastered priced, although the Arts and Crafts movement to industrial by the workforce later helping in launching the fabric prices are on production. In 1910, to mark the centenary of arm of the business. the rise” Heal’s, commemorative postage stamps were In 1983 the produced, bearing the company was sold emblem of a fourto Terence Conran’s poster bed – after the store’s sign. The Storehouse company, but despite Tottenham Court Road location had investment of money and talent become such a popular meeting it never fully regained the status place that it was deemed iconic it had held in earlier decades as the leading retailer of wellenough to be put on envelopes designed products for the home. and posted all over the country. Holly concludes: “In many In 1913 Heal became chairman ways, the history of Heal’s of the firm and the Tottenham mirrors that of British design Court Road store was rebuilt, with reform, with strong influences an gallery on the upper floor. Heal from the Arts and Crafts was knighted in 1933 and appointed movement and the DIA, as a royal designer six years later. and a growing awareness of “Interior designers, both in the Scandinavian design.” UK and abroad, love Heal’s furniture, Classic good looks
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March/April 2022 | SHIRE MAGAZINE 61
