Ellmore, W. T. & Son (1880-1914)
Ellmore, W. T. & Son
Thurmaston, Leicester, Leicestershire. and London; cane, rattan, bamboo and wicker furniture makers (fl.c.1880-1914)
Ellmore specialised in cane, rattan, bamboo and wicker work. A wide range of their furniture was on view at the showrooms of the firm’s London agent, J. Sothcott, 47 Tabernacle Street, Finsbury in July 1885. They stocked chairs, couches, bamboo screens filled with glass, fern decoration, cabinets, tea tables and jardinières [The Furniture Gazette, 1 August 1885]; Illus. of screen and armchair in advertisement [The Furniture Gazette, 1 March 1885].
In 1887 the firm moved to 16 City Road, London, which comprised 5,500 square feet of showrooms, including a basement and four upper floors. Here they displayed ‘samples of all that Messrs. Ellmore produce in bamboo, willow, cane and rush, together with work people producing such things on the premises’. [The Furniture Gazette, 1 October 1887]. A patent folding table illus. [The Furniture Gazette, 1 May 1888].
Ellmore was known for its high standard of design. Examples of chairs, tables, standard lamps and plant stands that were advertised 1886-92 are illustrated [Walkling (1979), pp. 63 & 64]. An advertisement in Kelly’s Directory of Cabinet Furniture and Upholstery Trades, 1889, stated that ‘we are the largest manufacturers in willow and cane in Europe’ (illus. Agius (1978), p. 165).
The Furniture Gazette, 15 July 1892, reported that the firm had revived the wicker hooded chair/arbour, illus.
Sources: Agius, British Furniture 1880-1915 (1978); Walkling, Antique Bamboo Furniture (1979); Kirkham, ‘Willow and Cane Furniture in Austria, Germany and England, c. 1900-14’, Furniture History (1985).
Occupation
Ornamentation/Design