History

Prints and Fine Art is part of the award-winning Rosenstiels family.
Founded in London, we are a long established and stable family owned business,
with the current owners being the 4th and 5th generations.

Founded in London in 1880 by Felix Rosenstiel our 143 year heritage forms the backbone to a progressive and agile business that thrives on creativity, curiosity and ideas.

Quality

We pride ourselves on the quality of our service. From the artworks offered, accompanied by our expert advice, to the highest standard art products, delivered timely and safely.
Made in England

Prints and Fine Art keep it’s production close to home. Our artworks are masterfully printed and hand framed by an experienced team of the finest craftspeople in England.
Sustainability

Being environmentally friendly is of the upmost importance to us. We use sustainably sourced materials and recyclable packaging, making new improvements where possible.

Felix Rosenstiel

1880

The Early Years

Felix Rosenstiel was born in Berlin and worked for a picture framing company as a salesman. Berlin was then the Capital of Prussia and Felix became disenchanted with continuous call-ups to participate as a member of the Prussian Army in the wars against Denmark and France. He had previously travelled to London on business and decided in 1880, to move to London permanently to establish an art and framing business based in the City. He returned to Berlin six months later in order to marry Josephine, who was already at the age of 25 sadly a widow and they then settled down to family life in London.

Felix worked hard and the business was a success. The British public not only wanted fine and ornate frames, but also there was a strong appetite for prints. Using his old business acquaintances based in Bavaria, the home of lithography and engraving, Felix started to publish for the marketplace in his new Country.

However, the struggle to create his own business took its toll on Felix’s health and when he realised that he had a serious heart condition and not wanting his small but sound business to close-down upon his death, he requested that Josephine should promise to carry the company on after him. Sadly, in 1895 he suffered a fatal heart attack at Baker Street Tube Station.
Josephine Rosenstiel

Felix Rosenstiel’s Widow and Son

Josephine, mindful of her late husband’s wishes, retained the name of Felix Rosenstiel and simply added Widow to her husband’s name. The title was as unusual then as it is now. She was left with three children under the age of ten to raise and the struggle to combine home and business was a difficult one.

When her eldest son Percy reached the age of 15, she was advised by the Accountants to bring him into the Company as a ‘pair of eyes’, since the then General Manager had a significant drink problem.

Percy learnt his trade and quickly started to run the business together with his brother Edgar, who joined the Company a few years later. The trading name of the Company was changed to ‘Felix Rosenstiel’s Widow and Son’. The First World War brought many changes to the Company, including the change to the family name from the Germanic ‘Rosenstiel’, to the English ‘Roe’.
Percy Roe

The War Years

The Company moved to new premises, still in the City of London and was forced by the austerity of post-war depression and by a fall-off in demand for reproduction prints, to diversify into fields which would astonish those who know Rosenstiels today. Barbola Ware, glass cloches, painted mirrors, dart boards, jigsaw puzzles, coasters, calendars and table mats, all became part of the range and by the end of the 1930s, Rosenstiels employed almost 150 staff and occupied five buildings in Cowcross Street in the centre of London.

The Second World War brought this ‘purple period’ to an end. Edgar died in 1942 and a substantial part of Rosenstiels’ property was destroyed by enemy action. After the War, Percy threw himself into a wholehearted effort to restore the prosperity of the pre-war years, aided by his two eldest sons, Peter and Jervis, who had returned to London after their war service.
David Roe

Going Global

Percy Roe died in 1953 and Peter and Jervis continued as partners until 1957, when they took the decision that Rosenstiels should become a Limited Company. In 1965, David Roe (son of Jervis) joined the business, having decided to make fine art publishing his career.

His drive has taken Rosenstiels into exporting to over 100 countries and in 1993, a grant of the prestigious Queen’s Award for Export Achievement was given to the Company.

The Company continued to prosper and in 2007, the Company was granted for the second time, the prestigious Queen’s Award for Export Achievement.
Today

The Next Generation

At the end of the 20th century, David’s son Nicholas also joined the Company and represents the fifth generation. Nicholas is now the Managing Director.

Over the years, Rosenstiels has taken over a number of publishing companies including John Harrap and Son in 1938, Richard Wyman and Son Ltd in 1948, the publishing business of Frost and Reed (then known as Venture Prints) in 1992 and acquiring some of the publishing assets of Stehli Freres based in Switzerland, when that long-established firm eventually closed. By these acquisitions, Rosenstiels also incorporated into their range, the publishing archives of renowned publishers such as Lawrence and Jellico, Lawrence and Bullen and numerous small publishing houses.

The Company celebrated its 140th anniversary in October 2020.

In September 2021, the printing company of Fine Art Solutions was merged into the Rosenstiels group thus adding reproduction and digital printing in-house to the publishing company