Cole & Son

Cole & Son is an English wallpaper company based in London. It holds a Royal Warrant, the recognition given to suppliers of the British royal household. In Italy it is distributed by B&B Distribuzione.

Since 1875

The company's history begins in 1875, when John Perry opened a hand block-printing workshop in Islington, north London. Perry also printed for other firms, such as Jeffrey & Co and Sanderson, and developed new techniques, including one for striped papers and one that imitates the effect of silk.

In 1941 the company was bought by A. P. Cole, together with around two thousand wooden printing blocks that Perry had collected over sixty years from firms that closed. In 1948 the Cole family opened what is described as Europe's first wallpaper screen-printing studio.

The archive

Those blocks, together with hundreds of screen-printing designs, make up the company's archive, from which Cole & Son still draws patterns to reissue alongside its new collections.

Sources

• Our story: Cole & Son's 150 years – Cole & Son
• Cole & Son (Wallpapers) Ltd – Royal Warrant Holders Association