Reeves Story

Laying the Foundations12

Laying the foundations

The early Reeves family were not travellers but the Reeves foreign markets grew effortlessly through contacts with the military academies such as Woolwich and Addiscombe.

Drawing instruments and colour boxes were needed by officers posted abroad on survey duties and a large number of paint boxes, rolls of paper and stationery products were shipped by Reeves to India as military stores.

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Apart from exceptional purposes, such as keeping ‘General Bonaparte’ occupied as a prisoner on the Isle of St Helena, the great bulk of supplies were sent to India and a trade card of ‘Reeves & Woodyer’ announced that they were ‘Colourmakers to the Honourable East India Company’.

Interestingly, the Indians called Reeves the ‘Dog’ company as there were no greyhounds in India.

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In the Beginning
In 1766 William Reeves opened his first shop near St Paul’s Cathedral in Well Lane, Little Britain where he ma...
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William & Thomas Reeves
The Reeves brothers were very different. William had the inventiveness and intransigence of a genius and was t...
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Moist Watercolour Paint Cakes
The embossed paint-cake was the invention of William Reeves. His training as a wire-drawer gave him the idea t...
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The Greyhound
They greyhound crest was ’discovered’ by Thomas Reeves and adopted as trademark by William John Reeves, the st...
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Laying the Foundations
Once established in England, the Reeves business grew effortlessly across foreign markets. This was mainly thr...
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Into education
By 1866 Reeves was being run by Henry (son of William Reeves) Reeves’ two nephews, Henry Wild and Charles Kemp...
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Into the 20th Century
In 1921 Reeves built the Greyhound Colour works at Enfield which became famous for its Greyhound Pastels. Unfo...
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Today
Reeves continues to be a huge brand both in the UK and internationally. Manufacturing a range of quality acryl...
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