Heal’s

In 1810, while Beethoven was composing Für Elise and Jane Austen was completing Sense & Sensibility, John Harris Heal started the company Heal & Son, producing mattresses for the English people. Shortly afterwards, the premises moved to the now coveted Tottenham Court Road. At that time the location was more rural, and the lease actually stated that the building should have accommodation for 40 cows! In 1833, Fanny Heal took over the family business. Heal’s grew and in 1854 the space became too small and therefore a new building was designed in the Venetian Pallazo style and Heal’s became one of the largest shops in London. In 1916 the building once again took on a new shape and Heal’s continued to thrive. Even during World War II, when sales plunged, Heal’s decided to organize part of the production so they could sew parachutes for the troops. Ib Antoni and Heal’s were to meet when Heal’s in 1967 was to host an exhibition about Denmark. The exhibition was called “Heal’s Have Denmark” and the royal couple, Queen Ingrid and King Frederik, were also to participate. Antoni was to design the exhibition poster and was also one of the exhibitors. Here in the picture to the left you can see Antoni showing his illustrations to the Queen.

As Antoni Legacy is constantly working on cleaning Ib Antoni’s beautiful original drawings, one can never know when a new illustration from Antoni’s hand will see the light of day. But when the illustration is ready for reproduction, it is added to the collection on this page, both under Products, Illustrations and the client for which the illustration is designed. If you have a special interest in, or further knowledge about an Antoni-illustration or an Antoni-customer, you are more than welcome to contact us.

See the products associated with Heal’s below.