Maple & Co.

John Maple owned a small London furniture shop on the Tottenham Court Road in the mid 19th Century but it was his son John Blundell Maple, born in 1845, who turned the company into such a significant business.

Maples offered a wide range of furniture, as opposed to being specialist retailers of campaign equipage. However, with the need to encompass all their customer's needs, it was important for them to have a department of portable furniture for officers and those wishing to travel. They advertised the standard military furniture that the specialist makers such as J.W. Allen, Day & Co. and Hill & Millard offered. Campaign Chests with packing cases, portable iron or brass beds, Douro chairs with packing cases converting to tables, portable towel rails, wood and brass washstands, canteens and iron chairs that converted to beds all featured in their catalogues. It is not known if they produced their own camp furniture but it is likely that they were supplied by a third party. Certainly the Douro chair they sold shares the same distinctive back shape that Allen gave to theirs.

Maples flag ship premises encompassed 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147, 148 and 149 Tottenham Court Road but they also had stores at 64 Boulevard de Strasbourg in Paris, 17 & 18 Local Baron Aliotti, Smyrna and in Buenos Aires. They had agents in Madras, Calcutta and Tabreez. They also had at Factories at Tottenham Place, Southampton Court, Beaumont Place and Euston Road and an Export Department at Grafton ... show more

John Maple owned a small London furniture shop on the Tottenham Court Road in the mid 19th Century but it was his son John Blundell Maple, born in 1845, who turned the company into such a significant business.

Maples offered a wide range of furniture, as opposed to being specialist retailers of campaign equipage. However, with the need to encompass all their customer's needs, it was important for them to have a department of portable furniture for officers and those wishing to travel. They advertised the standard military furniture that the specialist makers such as J.W. Allen, Day & Co. and Hill & Millard offered. Campaign Chests with packing cases, portable iron or brass beds, Douro chairs with packing cases converting to tables, portable towel rails, wood and brass washstands, canteens and iron chairs that converted to beds all featured in their catalogues. It is not known if they produced their own camp furniture but it is likely that they were supplied by a third party. Certainly the Douro chair they sold shares the same distinctive back shape that Allen gave to theirs.

Maples flag ship premises encompassed 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147, 148 and 149 Tottenham Court Road but they also had stores at 64 Boulevard de Strasbourg in Paris, 17 & 18 Local Baron Aliotti, Smyrna and in Buenos Aires. They had agents in Madras, Calcutta and Tabreez. They also had at Factories at Tottenham Place, Southampton Court, Beaumont Place and Euston Road and an Export Department at Grafton

Street East.

Maples main period of expansion was at the end of the 19th Century but they continued into the late 20th until they were acquired by Waring and Gillow in 1980, finally going into receivership in 1997.