needs additional citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . january 2013 learn how and when to remove this template message h.j. cave & sons ltd type private limited liability company industry retail founded 1839 founder henry cave headquarters london uk key people bluff family products luxury goods website 1 h.j. cave & sons is a london based leather luxury goods company founded in 1839 and regarded by some 1 as the inventor of the luxury leather handbag . 1 2 contents 1 history 2 famous owners 3 modern company 4 references history edit the original company was established in 1839 as a sole trader the company is famous 3 for making the osilite trunk a strong and light trunk used on the 1933 everest expedition 4 and several other adventures . the case won several major prizes in the 19th century including first prize in paris in 1867 beating rivals asprey . the trunk was popular as an early flight case . 5 it is also thought that they could have been earliest pioneers of the modern purse or handbag . 1 it is known that samuel parkinson ; an industrialist purchased a handbag in the mid to late 1800s made of the same leather as the luggage for his wife to use on the train . this is the first record of a designer handbag or purse as in modern use . it is known that cave inspired both louis vuitton 1857 and a young guccio gucci circa 1910 . the company in 2014 filed documents to launch on tmall in china and hk . gucci as an immigrant in london was impressed with the luxurious luggage he saw hotel guests brought with them and louis vuitton had observed that the hj cave osilite trunk could be easily stacked . the h.j. cave s tote was large enough to hold a baby thus conferring one of theatre s all time classic lines on lady bracknell in the importance of being earnest . 6 the company held a british royal warrant of appointment until the 1940s 1 and counts among its customers ruth vincent 7 t. e. lawrence and sir winston churchill 8 the company name all but disappeared in the 1940s but production continued in a minor capacity . the company name has changed hands several times and in the early 21st century the company was formally resurrected as h.j. cave & sons ltd. it has updated its product line to include more modern designs as well as maintaining their vintage collections . famous owners edit katherine mansfield 9 winston churchill f.d. roosevelt modern company edit the modern company is based in london and is rather secretive . the company only produces small production runs and offers very individual service . it has recently started offering sales in china and the middle east . references edit a b c d philippa stockley . philippa stockley yes the contents mean a lot but it s the bag that matters most commentators voices . the independent . retrieved 2016 06 21 . the handbag phenomenon 2015 05 05 . the handbag phenomenon . desiblitz . retrieved 2016 06 21 . philippa stockley . philippa stockley yes the contents mean a lot but it s the bag that matters most commentators voices . the independent . retrieved 2016 06 21 . h.j. cave & sons official site . hjcave.com . retrieved 2016 06 21 . aero club ports flying flying club 1933 0102 flight archive . flightglobal.com . 1933 07 13 . retrieved 2016 06 21 . lauren laverne . lauren laverne on style handbags fashion . the guardian . retrieved 2016 06 21 . a large suitcase of coffee colour leather with leather straps and with black and claret paited owner s stripes monogrammed r.f. the interior fitted with a tray and labelled h.j. cave and sons osilite trademark 31.5 x 18 x 11in . 80 x 46 x 26cm . ; another matching smaller case 29 x 17 x 10in . 74 x 43 x 25.5 cm . ; and a smaller lightweight case the interior labelled as above 24 x 13.75 x 6in . 61 x 35 x 15cm . 1930s 3 . christies.com . 2000 01 25 . retrieved 2016 06 21 . the churchill papers a catalogue . archives.chu.cam.ac.uk . 1909 10 16 . retrieved 2016 06 21 . h j cave & sons trunk and portmantea ... items national library of new zealand . natlib.govt.nz . retrieved 2016 06 21 . retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title h.j. cave % 26 sons & oldid 743891154 categories leather manufacturershigh fashion brandsluxury brandscompanies established in 1839hidden categories use dmy dates from november 2013use british english from november 2013articles needing additional references from january 2013all articles needing additional references navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages add links this page was last modified on 11 october 2016 at 21 29 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; 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