About Us
For more than 35 years…
David Howell & Company has specialized in the design and manufacturing of sophisticated, museum quality gifts, including metal bookmarks, jewelry and ornaments. Our innovative gift designs are inspired by museum pieces, adapting original, iconic work to modern, meaningful gifts.
David Howell & Company has won numerous awards:
2015 White House Historical Association Ornament Design Award
2014 Media & Partnership Award from Public Lands Alliances (formerly known as Association of Partners for Public Lands)
Numerous Buyers Choice Award from Museum Store Association (MSA)
2013 First Vendor Member Advisor for the Museum Store Association (MSA)
2012 Service Award from Museum Store Association (MSA)
David Howell graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1969 where he had the distinct pleasure of learning how to draw with the great Maine landscape painter Neil Welliver.
After marrying Susan Allport (author of five books including one which David Howell illustrated), he founded his design and manufacturing company in 1980. His first sale to a museum was to the Smithsonian and his second, the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Since then he has been supplying museum stores around the world including the British Museum, The Van Gogh Museum, The Hermitage in St. Petersburg, with products that speak about the art in the museum with clarity and creativity.
David views his work as a daily trip to a great museum.
Jeanne May is your key to the perfect custom product. A graduate of Rochester Institute of Technology, she brings an intentional approach to the design process ensuring a balanced accounting of every detail.
As Sales Manager at David Howell & Company, and her 25 years within the cultural industry, there are no questions she hasn’t been asked. She can always find a solution.
Jeanne is known for the generosity she brings to each partnership, which we like to attribute to her mid-western roots in Illinois.
Her inspiration is true-blue, “I love my clients and what I do for them.”