25 June 2026
In recent decades there has been increased academic interest in the history of the antiques trade over the past two centuries. An ongoing programme, begun in 2013 and led by Mark Westgarth, was initially funded by an Arts and Humanities... Read More...
13 January 2026
William Morris (1834-96) and Philip Webb (1831-1915), Trellis, designed 1862 In 1880, Albert H. Davenport (1845-1906) bought a business that had been established in 1842 by Ezra H. Brabrook. This Boston-based company expanded to include an entire range of decorating... Read More...
5 August 2025
My grandparents Celia and Philip Blairman had four children and 12 grandchildren. My cousin Charlotte is one of the granddaughters. Charlotte Hodes (born 1959), whose mother Joan was a painter, has a long-standing engagement with the boundaries between fine art... Read More...
24 February 2025
Le Jardinier (our title) remains something of a mystery. Following a query raised on Instagram, however, some answers are emerging. The form of the faience plate, 23 cm in diameter and with a blue ‘feathered’ border (emulating eighteenth-century faience), can…
Read More...18 July 2024
Patricia and I are excited to let you know that by the end of the summer, following a year of careful planning, we shall be running Blairman’s more privately. This change will see us staying in personal touch through travel…
Read More...29 April 2024
Last month, we had the opportunity to acquire a selection of gothic-revival furniture and works of art, from private collections. These, added to examples already in our stock, are a celebration of architect/designers and manufacturers active from the second quarter... Read More...
5 February 2024
In a year when the number ‘70’ has a personal resonance, I have just returned from the Winter Show in New York, which was celebrating seventy years since it was first established. I arrived to familiar weather that reminded me... Read More...
17 September 2023
'The Birmingham Daily Post, 7 May 1866, reported that Christopher Dresser had recently been lecturing in Birmingham and had agreed to supply designs for papier-mâché objects to J Bettridge and Co.’ (British and Irish Furniture Makers Online; accessed 14 September... Read More...
2 August 2023
Herbaceous border at Munstead Wood, a new National Trust property The first half of 2023 has been filled with activity, beginning with The Winter Show in New York in January. It was good to reconnect with so many people at... Read More...
10 April 2023
AN EXHIBITION H. BLAIRMAN & SONS 15 QUEEN ANNE’S GATE, LONDON SW1H 9BU 21 JUNE – 14 JULY 2023 Our friendship with Clive (1942-1999) and Jane Wainwright goes back a long way. Now that Jane has generously given her house... Read More...
19 January 2023
Over the past few days, there has been much laughter (and hard work) around the Park Avenue Armory with exhibitors preparing their stands for the Winter Show, which opens to the public on Friday 20th January, closing on Sunday 29th... Read More...
9 October 2022
As we spent a warm weekend setting up in Berkeley Square, it felt like summer might never end. By Sunday evening the stand (A 10) had been arranged and lit. Our installation is dominated by clean-lined furniture and works of... Read More...
28 June 2022
As the heat broke on Thursday morning, we dodged the rain and packed our exhibits for Masterpiece. Then, on Saturday, we arrived early to begin installing our stand. As ever, minor adjustments were made, but by and large the placements…
Read More...30 March 2022
Faced with familiar (if unseasonal) sub-zero temperatures, we have spent the last couple of frigid days setting up our stand for the Winter Show, here in New York. This year we are in the old Barneys department store building on... Read More...
14 December 2021
The organising team behind the Winter Show has worked strenuously and successfully since the last fair to maintain enthusiasm for this year’s event. Sadly, the fair has now been postponed until March. A series of online panel discussions in advance... Read More...
25 February 2021