John Shaw Brown (1822–87), the linen manufacturer, was born on April 12, 1822, in Waringstown, Co. Down. He became a partner in Brown & Liddell until 1866, when John S. Brown & Co. (later John S. Brown & Sons) established a large warehouse on Bedford Street. The firm supplied sheeting and damask for table and bed linen to hotels, railway companies, and other concerns. Contents: a large John S. Brown & Sons ‘Designs of Damask Table Linen,' containing various designs and measurement tables (late 19th century). A large scrapbook containing artistic linen designs for tablecloths on card, paper, and other materials from John S. Brown & Sons Ltd., damask linen and handkerchief manufacturers; contains letters with descriptions of typescripts of various patterns and styles; one piece of correspondence is dated 1928; Chelsea Flower Show magazine pages (May. 1928); floral sheet drawings; the front page of the ‘Ulster Post’ issue November 4th, 1949; a newspaper fragment concerning Ulster Arts Club (Nov 30th, 1922); typescript notes on Celtic designs (1928/9). One Brown & Liddell design of damask table linen book. Archival boxes and loose oversize volumes of colour Pochoir or stencil print pattern books, including Christian Stoll and Kunstgewerbliche Schmuckformen für die Fläche (Decorative forms for the surface), The Art Decorator and Tentures Murales et Papiers Modernes (Modern Wall Hangings and Papers). Art Deco and Art Nouveau style. These volumes of decorative art and design plates are often European and include those from the Librairie d'Art Décoratif. Some bear the stamp of Aitken Dott & Son, Edinburgh. Pattern book of relief decorations from M.R.C.B. Limited, Belfast. A postcard and letter of invitation from W.R. M'Murray, of John S. Brown & Sons, Ltd., Ulster Works, Belfast, to a meeting of manufacturers to discuss the challenges presented to handloom weaving and embroidery by power factories. Also included are brochures from the embroidery trade in Switzerland and Germany on the Shuttle and the Adolph Saurer embroidery machines, along with other miscellaneous items, including a McCrum, Watson and Mercer postcard. Included with this archive are large embroidery design books with samples, dating from the 1950s. Three books are numbered 102,666-117,190, 119,130-119,749, and 105,834-107,251. These books have the name “M.J. Herz & Falk, British Made” on tags attached to sample patterns and the stamp Gebr. Laemmlin, St. Gallen. Within are fragments of headed company paper for Lewis Falk, Ltd. of Letchworth, with a price list for cambric and nylon embroideries stitched with art silk. A fourth book, labelled “Allovers Tracing Book 59,761”, was made by W.& G. Baird of Belfast.
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