Daler-Rowney

Daler-Rowney is an English manufacturer and commercial brand of artist materials headquartered in Bracknell, Berkshire. Its product portfolio covers a broad range of media used by professional artists, students, illustrators, designers, educators, and hobbyists, including acrylic, oil, and watercolour paints; brushes; charcoal; pastels; coloured pencils; drawing materials; papers; canvas products; boards; and artist cases and accessories. The business combines two historic strands of the British art-supplies trade: the Rowney business, whose origins are traced to 1783, and the Daler Board Company, established in the 1940s. The Rowney story began when brothers Thomas and Richard Rowney opened a London business known as T. & R. Rowney. It initially dealt in perfume and wigs, but Thomas Rowney increasingly concentrated on writing and artists’ materials after the brothers separated their business interests. In the early nineteenth century, Thomas’s son Richard entered the firm and later formed Rowney & Forster with Richard Forster. That partnership supplied materials to prominent artists, including John Constable and J. M. W. Turner. After Forster’s retirement and George Rowney’s takeover, the company became George Rowney & Company. Its products included artists’ boards, among them Birchmore Board, which was widely used around the beginning of the twentieth century. The enterprise was incorporated as George Rowney & Co. Ltd in 1924. The Daler side of the business was founded by the Daler family in 1946. During the post-war period it developed pads, canvas panels, stretched canvases, mountboards, and artist luggage. The Red and Yellow Series A pads became enduring parts of the product range. Daler’s emphasis on prepared surfaces and practical studio materials complemented Rowney’s heritage in artists’ colours and tools. The two companies merged in 1983, creating Daler-Rowney Ltd. The combined business later expanded its international distribution and brand portfolio. It established distribution offices in Cranbury, New Jersey, in 1988 and acquired the Robert Simmons artists’ brush brand in 1994. In 2006, it acquired Cachet, a United States hardback art-book line, broadening its offering beyond core paints and surfaces. F.I.L.A. Group, the Milan-based maker and distributor of creative and educational products, acquired Daler-Rowney in February 2016. Daler-Rowney moved its head office from central London to Bracknell in 1969. The Bracknell site is associated with production of colour and paper products, while the company’s brushes are manufactured in La Romana, Dominican Republic. The brand therefore combines British heritage and management with an international manufacturing and distribution footprint. Its principal positioning is as a comprehensive, multi-level art-materials supplier: the range serves entry-level users through established artists and includes both individual media and supporting surfaces and tools.

Daler-Rowney brings together the histories of George Rowney & Co. and the Daler Board Company. The older lineage began in London in 1783, when Thomas and Richard Rowney established T. & R. Rowney as a perfume and wig business on Holborn Hill. The brothers subsequently moved toward writing materials and artists’ supplies. When their partnership ended, Thomas focused on the artists’ side of the business. In 1806, Thomas Rowney’s son Richard joined the firm as an apprentice. After completing his apprenticeship, he entered a partnership with his brother-in-law Richard Forster. The resulting Rowney & Forster business supplied artists and became associated with customers such as John Constable and J. M. W. Turner. Forster retired around 1832. In 1837, George Rowney took over and the firm became George Rowney & Company. The company developed and sold artists’ materials, including Birchmore Board, which achieved broad use around the turn of the twentieth century. The business was incorporated as George Rowney & Co. Ltd in 1924. The Daler Board Company was founded by the Daler family in 1946. Its early post-war development focused on practical materials for artists, including pads, canvas panels, stretched canvases, mountboards, and artist luggage. Daler also developed product series that remained in the later combined range, including the Red and Yellow Series A pads. The two businesses merged in 1983 to form Daler-Rowney Ltd. The merger joined Rowney’s colour and artist-materials heritage with Daler’s strength in papers, boards, canvases, and related studio products. The company later pursued international distribution and brand expansion. It opened distribution offices in Cranbury, New Jersey, in 1988, strengthening its presence in the United States. In 1994, it purchased Robert Simmons, an artists’ brush brand. In 2006, it acquired Cachet, a US brand associated with hardback art books. Daler-Rowney relocated its headquarters from central London to Bracknell in 1969. Bracknell became the company’s principal administrative and manufacturing location. Colour and paper products are produced there, while brush manufacturing is carried out at a separate facility in La Romana, Dominican Republic. This arrangement reflects the company’s evolution from a British manufacturer into an internationally organized art-materials business. In February 2016, Daler-Rowney was acquired by F.I.L.A. Group, headquartered in Milan. The transaction placed the brand within a larger group focused on creative, educational, and art-related products. Daler-Rowney continues to be presented as an active artist-materials brand with a portfolio spanning paints, drawing media, brushes, papers, canvases, boards, and accessories. A major fire was reported at the Bracknell headquarters on 25 May 2026, with the surrounding area evacuated by emergency services; the available reference does not establish the long-term operational or financial consequences.

• 2026

  Fire at the Bracknell headquarters

  [1]Daler-Rowneyen.wikipedia.org

  A major fire is reported at the Bracknell headquarters, prompting an emergency evacuation of the surrounding area.

• 2016

  F.I.L.A. Group becomes owner

  [1]Daler-Rowneyen.wikipedia.org

  F.I.L.A. Group acquires Daler-Rowney and adds it to its international creative-products portfolio.

• 2006

  Cachet is acquired

  [1]Daler-Rowneyen.wikipedia.org

  The company acquires Cachet, a US hardback art-book line.

• 1994

  Robert Simmons is acquired

  [1]Daler-Rowneyen.wikipedia.org

  Daler-Rowney acquires the Robert Simmons artists’ brush brand.

• 1988

  United States distribution expands

  [1]Daler-Rowneyen.wikipedia.org

  Daler-Rowney establishes distribution offices in Cranbury, New Jersey.

• 1983

  Daler and Rowney merge

  [1]Daler-Rowneyen.wikipedia.org

  George Rowney & Co. and the Daler Board Company combine to form Daler-Rowney Ltd.

• 1969

  Headquarters move to Bracknell

  [1]Daler-Rowneyen.wikipedia.org

  The company moves its headquarters from central London to Bracknell, Berkshire.

• 1946

  Daler Board Company is founded

  [1]Daler-Rowneyen.wikipedia.org

  The Daler family establishes a company focused on boards, pads, canvases, and related artist supplies.

• 1924

  George Rowney & Co. becomes a limited company

  [1]Daler-Rowneyen.wikipedia.org

  The Rowney business is incorporated as George Rowney & Co. Ltd.

• 1837

  The business becomes George Rowney & Company

  [1]Daler-Rowneyen.wikipedia.org

  George Rowney takes over the firm, which adopts the George Rowney & Company name.

• 1806

  Richard Rowney joins the family business

  [1]Daler-Rowneyen.wikipedia.org

  Thomas Rowney’s son Richard begins an apprenticeship and later forms Rowney & Forster with Richard Forster.

• 1783

  T. & R. Rowney is established

  [1]Daler-Rowneyen.wikipedia.org

  Thomas and Richard Rowney establish a London business that later develops into an artists’ materials supplier.

A long-established British artist-materials brand offering a broad portfolio across fine-art colours, papers, surfaces, brushes, drawing media, and accessories for professional, educational, and recreational users.

• Paints

  Artists’ paints

  Daler-Rowney’s colour portfolio includes acrylic, oil, and watercolour products. These ranges form the core of the brand’s traditional fine-art offering and are intended for varied levels of use, from student and educational work to professional studio practice.

• Paper products

  Artists’ papers and pads

  The company produces papers, drawing pads, and other prepared surfaces for painting, sketching, and mixed-media work. The Red and Yellow Series A pads are among the historically associated products that remained part of the Daler-Rowney range.

• Artist surfaces

  Canvases and boards

  Daler-Rowney’s surface products include canvas panels, stretched canvases, mountboards, and artists’ boards. Birchmore Board is a historically notable product associated with the Rowney business and was widely used around the beginning of the twentieth century.

• Brushes · 1994

  Robert Simmons brushes

  Robert Simmons is an artists’ brush brand acquired by Daler-Rowney in 1994. Its inclusion gives the wider portfolio a dedicated brush business alongside paints, papers, canvases, and drawing media.

• Drawing materials

  Drawing media

  The range includes charcoal, pastels, coloured pencils, and other drawing products. These materials extend the brand beyond wet colour and support sketching, illustration, classroom work, and finished drawing.

• Art books · 2006

  Cachet art books

  Cachet was a US hardback art-book line acquired by Daler-Rowney in 2006. The acquisition expanded the company’s activity into an adjacent publishing and presentation category.

• 2016

  Acquisition by F.I.L.A. GroupM&A

  Background

  Daler-Rowney operated as an established British artist-materials manufacturer with international distribution and several associated brands.

  Action taken

  F.I.L.A. Group acquired Daler-Rowney in February 2016.

  Aftermath

  Daler-Rowney became part of F.I.L.A. Group’s international portfolio of creative and educational products.

  Source

• 1983

  Merger of Daler and RowneyM&A

  Background

  The Daler Board Company and George Rowney & Co. represented complementary areas of the artists’ materials market, combining prepared surfaces and boards with a long-established colour and art-supplies business.

  Action taken

  The businesses merged to create Daler-Rowney Ltd.

  Aftermath

  The combined company developed a broader portfolio covering paints, papers, canvases, boards, brushes, and accessories.

  Source

1. 1Daler-Rowneyen.wikipedia.org