THE ROWLEY GALLERY

The Rowley Gallery was founded in 1898 by Mr and Mrs Albert James Rowley, primarily as a small business specialising in picture framing, mounting, restoration, carving and gilding. By the 1920s they were active from their premises at 140-2 Church Street, Kensington specialising in decorative schemes to include distinctive designs for inlaid pictures and mirrors, screens and furniture. Well renowned artists such as Sir Frank Brangwyn, William Chase, Robert Anning Bell, W J Palmer Jones, Henry Butler, and Horace Mann Livens were amongst those contributing designs, which were competently executed by Rowley and his team of highly skilled craftsmen

They were regularly reviewed in the Studio Yearbook and exhibited both home and abroad. In 1933 a new shop front had been designed by Sir Frank Brangwyn. The frieze of three life-sized carved wooden panels depicting carpenters at work was featured in The Studio that year and the firm was well established. Tragically an incendiary bomb destroyed the premises in 1941 and although the business continued it was sold in 1969.

Interest today in the Rowley Gallery is growing, with many examples of panels, mirrors, screens and furniture being sold regularly in auction houses and galleries, as well as being exhibited at the V&A, Brighton Museum and the William Morris Gallery. For over fifty years The Rowley Gallery was a force within the field of decorative arts and merits its place in the history of British Arts & Crafts.

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Rowley Gallery framed mirror.
Flowers in tubs.
Attributed to W.A. Chase

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Rowley Gallery framed mirror.
Swiss scene ‘Castle by Lake’

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Rowley Gallery panel.
‘Half Way House’