Campaign Furniture Expert, Nicholas Brawer Lends His Expertise To Stanley Furniture

Furniture World Magazine

Author and curator Nicholas Brawer, the world’s foremost authority on British campaign furniture, helps kick off the debut of Barbados, a new collection by Stanley Furniture Co., at the International Home Furnishings Market, April 14 through 20. Brawer, the author of British Campaign Furniture: Elegance Under Canvas, 1740-1914, will display his authentic campaign antiques and discuss the origins and evolution of the stylish furniture designed to be folded up, packed and carried on the march to world domination. He will speak informally with retailers who visit the showroom and make a special presentation to the news media on Thursday, April 14 at 4:30 p.m. Brawer also will provide special training to Stanley’s sales associates. During the expansion of the British Empire in the 18th and early 19th centuries, British gentlemen in the army, government and commerce in colonies traveled throughout the world. An officer’s personal baggage might include 1,000 pounds or more of portable furniture created by the finest cabinetmakers of the day, including Chippendale, Hepplewhite and Sheraton. This campaign furniture, known, was as elegant as any furniture in England. “He wanted to take England with him,” Brawer says. “As Lord Curzon, Viceroy of India, once famously proclaimed, ‘I should never think of traveling either to Timbuctoo or even the North Pole without a dress suit.’ “Journalist Hugh Boyd wrote in 1793, ‘Of all the people under the sun our countrymen alone, as if insensible to cold or heat, affect to brave all vicissitudes of climate and obstinately to wear the same dress in every part of the world.’ As with their clothing, so with their furniture,” Brawer notes. Brawer, an American, earned a master’s degree in art history from the Courtauld Institute of Art in London. He worked as a researcher in the Indian and Southeast Asian Department at the Victoria and Albert Museum and as a research curator at the British Empire and Commonwealth Museum in Bristol, England, before joining Sotheby’s New York. Today, Brawer is an independent curator and a partner in F.M. Allen, an upscale safari outfitter and antique British campaign furniture dealer on New York’s Madison Avenue. In addition to his groundbreaking book, he has published numerous articles on furniture and architecture and has lectured on British campaign furniture at the Bard Center for Decorative Arts in New York. He and his wife live in Westchester County, New York. “Nicholas Brawer very generously educated us on Campaign furniture as we developed Barbados,” says Phil Haney, executive vice president, marketing and sales, of Stanley Collections. “His knowledge about British campaign furniture provided great insight and inspiration, and enabled us to design furniture with details authentic to the period.” One of the largest furniture manufacturers in the United States, Stanley Furniture Co., Inc. is widely recognized as a style and design leader. The company has received ten coveted Pinnacle Awards for fine quality residential wood furniture, ranging from traditional to contemporary. Stanley Furniture Collections are presented as dining room, bedroom, home entertainment and accent tables, and home office. Young America® is the industry leader in youth furniture. Founded in 1924, Stanley Furniture has a strong tradition of superior product supported by excellent quality and service. The shipment of orders to retail stores is among the fastest in the industry. Production facilities are located in Stanleytown and Martinsville, Va., as well as Robbinsville and Lexington, N.C. Stanley Furniture's upper-medium priced furniture is sold to furniture specialty stores, department stores and furniture store chains. Stanley Furniture common stock is traded on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbol STLY. For additional information, visit stanleyfurniture.com.