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.
Read More...18 July 2015
On 15 July, Senators Steve Daines [R-MT] and Lamar Alexander [R-TN] introduced into Congress a wide-ranging Bill aimed at halting the over-regulation of ‘legal ivory’. If adopted the Bill would specifically end what is, in effect, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s unilateral ban on the import of lawfully possessed ivory. Impediments to internal trade and legitimate ownership would also be overturned. Equally, the Bill would lead to significant efforts being funded to assist anti-poaching efforts in countries with at risk elephant populations.
Read More...14 July 2015
Sybella Bullock was a daughter of the entrepreneur and showman William Bullock (1773-1849), and the niece of the sculptor, designer and cabinet maker George Bullock (1782/83-1818). Such little information as is known of Sybella Bullock’s life can be gleaned…
Read More...3 July 2015
As July begins, it finally feels like summer. The art market is entering its end-of-season phase, but here in London, at least, things will remain active for several more weeks. In what a modernist architect perceptively described to me as…
Read More...22 June 2015
Masterpiece looks set, once again, to achieve its ambition of presenting a luscious array of luxurious objects to lighten the chill of a London summer. The weekend saw a building site being transformed into a glamorous shop window for works…
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