J. W. Love & Co.

MESSRS. J. W. LOVE & Co., Artists’ Colourmen, Drawing Material Importers, Carvers, Gilders, Picture-frame Makers, and Manufacturers of Mounted Drawing Papers, 36, Gordon Street, Glasgow. Workshops: 47, Waterloo Street.

    The superior drawing and painting requisites now at the disposal of modern artists count as one of the principal factors in the success and eminence of the various home and foreign schools of painting. The enterprise, too, displayed by the various artists’ furnishing houses has had the happy effect of smoothing the pathway of the amateur and dilettante, and so has given a great impetus to the non-professional pursuit of this department of the fine arts. Glasgow, which forms one of the principal centres of the distinguished Scotch school of painting, could not afford to be behindhand in catering for the wants of the artistic fraternity, and, in point of fact, as might be expected, has long been well to the front in this line. We have only to turn to the old and distinguished house whose title stands above to find the amplest evidence of this.

    The business was established in 1878 by Mr. John W. Love, and soon attained an importance and a celebrity which extended far beyond the limits of the City. Not only in Scotland, but in most parts of England and Ireland a flourishing and representative connection was secured and catered for with conspicuous and ever-increasing success. At length, in June of the present year, 1891, Mr. Love determined to retire from the business and hand it over to successors whose experience and skill might guarantee the maintenance of its reputation and success. Two gentlemen of exceptional qualifications presented themselves — Mr. James B. Ferguson, for a number of years Mr. Love’s principal assistant, and Mr. James Hamilton, of Messrs. L. and C. Hardtmuth, London and Vienna — and the transference of interests took place under the most favourable auspices. These gentlemen are now the sole owners, trading under the original title, and there is no fear that in their hands the name of Messrs. J. W. Love and Co. will suffer any diminution of lustre.

    The premises of the firm offer special facilities for a business of this nature, and form one of the most complete establishments of the kind imaginable. A most handsome front shop and showroom faces Gordon Street, beautifully appointed in every detail and displaying a complete stock of the specialities of the trade. On the same floor is the warehouse and counting-house, the whole extending back about eighty feet. Beneath this floor is a commodious basement devoted to storage and as a packing room. Within telephonic communication is their large well-lighted workshops, specially adapted for the work of picture framing and mounting of drawing and other papers.

    The business of the concern is of a most comprehensive character, including the supply of artists’ colours of every description, of the best quality and finest preparation, for the use of painters and students ; white wood panels, prepared paper and Academy boards for oil painting, and terracotta and china placques, water-colour paints, and painters’ and artists’ brushes of every description. Both in paints and brushes, as well as in mounts, the stock is of the very finest description, and displays a completeness and variety sufficient to meet every possible want of the studio or school. But this does not by any means exhaust the repertoire of Messrs. Love and Co. They hold, in addition, a stock of the best-made painting easels in every size, among which the fine studio easels, on castors, ranging in price from a guinea to £5 10s., deserve very special mention.

    For the ever-increasing class of amateur and drawing room painters, too, the firm cater in every fashionable material both for oil and water-colours, such as polished white wood goods, opals and fancy cards, while the necessary instruction is provided for in a range of, the newest art guide books. To complete the ensemble of the establishment a charming collection of water-colour sketches, studies in black and white, and art bijouterie is displayed, heightening the artistic interest of the concern and giving it a distinct aesthetic significance.

    The executive departments enjoy a reputation of their own for picture-frame making, carving, and gilding. The framing of a work often makes or mars its effect, and the technique of the craft is so nice and difficult and so seldom mastered that it is pleasing to meet with a firm such as this which commands the services of experts and of a general staff second to none. Beyond this the original proprietor did not go, but Messrs. Ferguson and Hamilton have added a new department for manufacturing mounted drawing papers, mounting charts, maps, Parliamentary and other plans, varnishing, and the like, which is under the charge of the most experienced workmen and personally superintended by the principals, who are masters in this class of work.

    It will be evident, therefore, that artists, draughtsmen, schools, and classes will find in the repository of this firm every requisite and facility for the pursuit of painting and drawing and for furnishing and fitting the studio. Clients, either in Glasgow or elsewhere, can confidently rely upon the firm to meet all their needs in a superior manner, and may place their orders in Messrs. Ferguson and Hamilton’s hands with a certainty of a most satisfactory fulfilment thereof.

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