12 December 2016
During a recent visit to Salisbury, I took some time to enjoy the magnificent cathedral. Walking past the north transept, my eye was caught by a life-size seated figure. On inspection this turned out to be a funerary monument to…
Read More...10 November 2016
C.F.A Voysey’s armchair, with a heart-shape in the back, is one of his most recognisable designs. The armchair with rush seat (above) is a close variant of this widely published model, which is itself known in various forms; see, for…
Read More...7 November 2016
As was acknowledged during their lifetimes, the crucial relationship between the fabulously wealthy patron and collector Alfred Morrison (1821-97), and the supremely talented enamel artist Charles Lepec (1830-90), led to much of Lepec’s artistic output, during the 1860s, finding a…
Read More...27 May 2016
According to the entirely justified headline to an online article in Apollo, ‘Antique ivory poses no threat to elephant conservation: in fact, it needs protection itself’ (see here). We all love elephants, and who brought up on Jean de Brunhoff’s Babar (below)…
Read More...17 May 2016
Just back from Chicago, where I was kindly invited to speak to the Antiquarians at the Art Institute of Chicago, on ‘Alfred Morrison (1821-97): an overlooked patron and collector of decorative arts’. This remarkable maecenas lived in Carlton House Terrace,…
Read More...19 April 2016
23 April 2016 marks the four hundredth anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death. Shakespeare (1564-1616) is revered as the greatest figure in English literature. Although long admired, it was not until the Great Shakespeare Jubilee arranged in 1769 by the actor…
Read More...7 March 2016
Time is rapidly running out to find a solution for the Judges’ Lodgings Museum in Lancaster, and its renowned collection of furniture by Gillows, the ‘Northern Powerhouse’ cabinet-maker. Against the brutal background of cuts to local authority budgets, Lancashire County…
Read More...3 February 2016
A long stay on the East Coast for the Winter Antiques Show began with a day in Washington. It seems that fatigue is casting a shadow over many of the groups involved in the battle to retain the free movement…
Read More...19 January 2016
The year is barely three weeks old, but here we all are, back in New York for the Winter Antiques Show. This long running fair, established in 1955, supports the East Side House Settlement, which was itself founded in 1891….
Read More...6 January 2016
Since 2013, Mark Westgarth, based at the University of Leeds, has been investigating ‘Antique Dealers: the British Antiques Trade in the 20th Century’. This project grew out of his earlier work that culminated in A Biographical Dictionary of Nineteenth Century…
Read More...19 November 2015
Lost works of art are sometimes hidden in plain sight. Such is the case with a magnificent chandelier that undoubtedly once hung at Thomas Hope’s Duchess Street mansion in London, and later at his country house the Deepedene, Dorking, Surrey….
Read More...3 November 2015
The seemingly simple form of this pair of Regency ‘tub’ chairs exemplifies Thomas Hope’s timeless genius as a designer. Their apparently effortless curved backs seem redolent, for example, of the 1920s ‘art deco’ seat furniture by designers such as Emile-Jacques…
Read More...27 October 2015
The atmosphere at PAD, the Pavilion of Art and Design held each October in Berkeley Square, was scintillating. The show was packed for the duration and, quite simply, worked. Visitors from across the globe loved the ambience created by our Parisian organisers, while the equally international exhibitors benefited from the response to their carefully created stands. During a mild autumn week, with Frieze Masters up in Regent’s Park, London’s art market felt in rude health.
Read More...12 October 2015
As ever, the set up for PAD was a delight. This may be accounted for by our pleasure in this event; by the friendly atmosphere created by the organisers and exhibitors alike; by the range of fascinating materials brought by…
Read More...25 August 2015
Since the publication on 29 July in Washington of the Fish & Wildlife Service’s ‘Rule’ setting out proposed amendments to the Endangered Species Act, auction houses, collectors, dealers, and museums in the States have been considering and progressing their responses. The clock is ticking down on the 60-day window allowed for written arguments.
Read More...26 July 2015
Make no mistake: the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) is faced with a tough task. It must, among many other responsibilities, implement universally supported government policy on the conservation of endangered species. With regard to Director’s Order 210, first issued in February last year, its role is to contribute to the elimination of the illicit trade in poached ivory. It has been evident for the past eighteen months that this quest has been sweeping up in its wake the trade in world-class works of art made from or incorporating ivory.
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