Cooper Hewitt says...
The manufacture was founded in the mid-nineteenth century by the James Donald (1780-?), a tailor from Kirkton of Lundie, Scotland. He retired in 1864, and the company was renamed Donald Brothers and run by his sons James, David and John Donald.
The manufacture originally produced rugged linen and jute fabrics for wallcoverings and home furnishing purposes. In 1926 it launched a line of printed and jacquard-woven fabrics called Old Glamis Fabrics in reference to the location of the mill. This patterned textiles used finer yarns such as mercerized cotton and linen-rayon. Donald Brothers collaborated extensively with designers of the Industrial Art Movement, such as Bernard Adeney and Marion Dorn in the late 1930s.
With the arrival of Peter Simpson-who previously officiated at JOFA and befriended there Jack Lenor Larsen- as design director in 1951, the firm started to offer high quality woven textiles for home furnishing in linen, silk, cotton, and wool. Donald Brothers Ltd acquired a good reputation of producing an unusual range of creative and innovative designs, developing for instance Supertweed for Herman Miller and Scotch Tweed for Knoll Textiles.
The company was eventually bought in 1976 by William Halley and Sons, and the factory was closed in 1980.
