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Journalists and interior designers are choosing Emissary's designs for publication in well known decor magazines.

March 2010
Home Accents Today published a feature on Emissary CEO Peter Nealing.

Veteran Vanguard

Peter Nealing is the founder and CEO of Emissary, Atlanta-based designer/manufacturer of decorative accessories for home and garden, lighting and occasional furniture.

This year marks the 30th since Nealing brought his company to life, an idea that first came to him when, as a young Air Force captain stationed in Thailand, he was introduced to the work of local village artisans.

In 1980 he turned inspiration into opportunity and launched Emissary, named for the agent whose mission it is to advance the interests of one party to another, in this case product resources in Asia to the North American markets.

Nealing started out importing brass gift items from Thailand and a couple of years later moved Emissary into the decorative accessories market with carved wood products. Today, the company is known for its extensive selection of ceramics, garden stools, glazed pottery, figurines, planters, water fountains, lamps, metal furniture and accessories.

Emissary's early entry into home decor was further advanced through a business relationship with The Coca-Cola Trading Company wherein Nealing imported a variety of items from China for the soft drink manufacturer's complex in Atlanta. When some of the items were introduced in High Point, the popularity of the ceramic planters led to the launch of the company's garden division. By 1989, Emissary was introducing planters and garden accents in a groundbreaking variety of colors and styles.

In 1991, at the urging of his Vietnamese employees, Nealing made an exploratory sourcing trip to Vietnam. “After the trade embargo was lifted in 1994 we began importing ceramics from Vietnam,” Nealing said. “We had the first container from Vietnam to enter the port of Savannah since 1975.”

Since then, Nealing's company has produced a constant flow of new product styles, colors, sizes and glazes, resulting in a current offering of more than 3,000 distinct SKUs that includes the industry's largest collection of ceramic garden seats.

The biggest changes he's seen over the past 30 years have happened in technology. “We were sending telexes at the start,” he said. “I think that technology will lead to more significant change in the near future. The dynamic among showrooms, tradeshows, sales reps, advertising and Web sites will change. Exactly how it will come out I don't know, but we must remain flexible.”

During Emissary's second decade, an investment in welding and bending equipment expanded the inventory to include metal plant stands and pedestals, tables, display racks, bar carts and etageres. Lamp production and tabletop ceramics were eventually added and, in 2001, Nealing brought in Arthur Wang as creative director to expand Emissary's proprietary designs.

More than 200 colors and finishes are offered throughout the company's entire line, the result of considerable time spent “searching for the best glazes and the factories that can produce those glazes consistently,” Nealing said. The Hidden Village Collection, for example, is made by artisans in a remote region of China using old and rudimentary firing and glazing techniques to give the pieces a rustic, earthy, natural look.

Emissary maintains its headquarters and a 70,000-sq.-ft. warehouse in Chamblee, Ga., and has warehouse and production facilities in Vietnam and offices in Ho Chi Minh City and New York.

November 2009
House Beautiful featured our Dragon Medallion garden stool.
Interior design by Markham Roberts. Photo by Christopher Baker.
1917WT Dragon Medallion Garden Stool