Indholdsfortegnelse for September 2024 i Homes & Antiques

Although it's been nearly 40 years since I left secondary school, September's association with the start of a new year shows no sign of waning, so it feels fitting to kick off the issue with a splendid selection of antique desks (p6). This studious theme continues with a guide to displaying and storing books (from p23), with options for rooms and collections of all sizes. Turn to page 12 for Caroline Wheater's new column, In the Limelight, which brings us the story behind a remarkable sale. She begins with Surrealist artist Leonora Carrington, who joined the ranks of the most valuable women artists at auction when her masterpiece Les Distractions de Dagobert sold for $28.5 million at Sotheby's New York earlier this year. Meanwhile, for those seeking interiors inspiration, Kiera…

‘I love this painting,’ said Eduardo Costantini, in an almost dream-like state, when filmed with his new purchase, Les Distractions de Dagobert, moments after Sotheby's Modern Evening Auction came to an end. A few hours earlier on 15th May, the packed saleroom on Manhattan's Upper East Side had been pulsating with energy as the audience bid on, and watched, 53 lots up for sale. Lot 20, Dagobert – considered one of Leonora Carrington's greatest paintings – had been consigned for sale for the first time in three decades. During a 10-minute bidding tussle, Costantini, an Argentinian property developer and art patron, locked horns with other international art collectors before finally landing his catch for just under $28.5 million to applause, hugs and hollering. The previous record for a painting by…

THE SONG OF ACHILLES Madeline Miller Madeline Miller's critically acclaimed 2011 retelling of The Iliad has been released in a special new edition by The Folio Society, which is famed for its exquisitely produced and illustrated hardback books. The novel itself, a compelling account of the Trojan War from the perspective of Patroclus, is as epic and heartbreaking as ever, but what sets this edition apart is its glorious design, from the Ancient Greek-inspired artwork of the slipcase to the exquisite illustrations throughout the book. These artistic flourishes are the work of award-winning artist Julie Dillon and, coupled with a heartfelt introduction by classicist Emily Wilson, they add a new dimension to the work. Whether you're a long-time fan of Miller's mythological debut, or a first-time reader of this modern…

The expert advice often given to potential buyers when moving to a new town is to rent a property first. ‘Try before you buy’ allows time to explore all areas and find a neighbourhood that really suits. When Lizzy Tomley, her former husband and children Georgie, 12, and Ollie, 10, relocated from London to Bath, little did they know that the street on which they rented would be the very same one where they would eventually buy, subsequently narrowing their search to just 20 houses. ‘We instantly fell in love with the street,’ explains Lizzy. After a three-year wait, the right house became available and a sale was agreed. Unusually for Bath, the house was a Victorian property, built in 1893, and much to Lizzy's delight had a lot of…

Brighton has a rich tradition of silhouette-making, explains Annebella Pollen, Professor of Visual and Material Culture at the University of Brighton: ‘When the Prince Regent made Brighton his party destination and built the Royal Pavilion, the town became a place where the wealthy wanted to be seen. New buildings were erected, and local services and sites for visitors grew. This included the establishment of the Chain Pier in 1823 – its towers contained kiosks housing silhouette artists from the very start. Newspapers and other sources show around a dozen silhouette artists in operation, either on the pier or in the main tourist parts of town near the seafront in the 1820s and 1830s. This was the peak in production, however, silhouette art is generally perceived to have gone into decline…

1. Enchanted by The Silk Road Estimate £50,000–£70,000 Sold £277,200 London-born property entrepreneur George Farrow (1916–2001) spent his fortune wisely, amassing one of the most significant collections of 19th-and 20th-century silk carpets made by Armenian master weavers. As a boy, George was gripped by the crime novels of Edgar Wallace, set in a Victorian world of chinoiserie and Orientalism, and fed his imagination further at London's Horniman Museum and the V&A. By the 1950s he had made enough money to start collecting art and antiques, beginning with French furniture and Chinese works of art. He became enthralled by the culture of the Silk Road, a 4,000-mile-long network of trade routes which ran from East Asia to Europe via cities such as Beijing, Tashkent, Istanbul and Venice. Among the goods transported…

Having collected for as long as she can remember, Lucy Alcorn toyed with the idea of setting up her own decorative antiques and vintage interiors business for many years. Often putting pieces aside to sell, she would find them too hard to part with. This changed as her daughters grew up, and lockdown gave her the push to set up her own business, Iris & Mabel, in 2021. Lucy prides herself on curating one-off pieces at affordable prices, often buying and selling at UK fairs. What antiques are you attracted to? When sourcing for my business, I choose pieces I would buy for myself. I prefer items that have character, with a country-house interior look. I am also drawn to colour and pattern. I have developed a good understanding of…

Telling tales Using techniques perfected while at the University of Shanghai, Annika Reed's naive wallpaper designs start with sketches, followed by complex carving sequences. The process takes at least a month and any mistake means starting over. Her latest collection of six designs, inspired by British folk tales and traditions, references solstice celebrations and Staffordshire flatbacks, and costs £165 per roll. annikareed.com Down to Earth Bergs Potter has been producing plant pots that are a cut above since 1942. Designed in Denmark and made in small batches in Tuscany and Porto using premium clay, these terracotta pots are practical as well as stylish, with looks befitting both garden and home. The range includes pots in rich green and lustrous brown glazes, with sizes to suit everything from the smallest cuttings…

Library ladders have been a fixture in the homes of well-to-do book-lovers since the 1800s. And in today's digital age, it's reassuring to know that they remain popular for those lucky enough to have home libraries (or at least a suitably ample wall of bookshelves). In addition to their traditional function, library ladders these days are often used elsewhere in the home for reaching the uppermost shelves in tall storage units, which means they make a practical addition not just to libraries, but also to studies, utilities or even kitchens. They also make an attractive accessory in their own right, whether you opt for a bijou step-stool, a grand ‘rolling’ ladder or a solid set of antique steps. The kind of ladder you choose will depend on several factors, including…

F resh from the latest showing of his work at the Craft Council's prestigious craft fair, Collect, glass artist Tim Rawlinson is discussing his most recent pieces: a collection of near-oval and pear-shaped, highly polished glass sculptures that stand at around 30cm high. These are the latest additions to his Echoes of Light series, his best known and most popular series of work, which debuted at the same fair in 2015. Over the nine years since, this work has earned him awards, ongoing commissions and an international reputation. Presented as organic, sculpted rings of alternating coloured and clear blown glass, it's easy to see why these pieces have attracted so much attention. To look at one is to gaze into a hypnotic vortex of colour and light. And as the…

‘E very room should sing,’ is something I once heard Beata Heuman say in a podcast, and I love that expression because I think the same way! Every room in a home has its soul; even the laundry room,’ says pattern designer Cathy Nordström. It's a philosophy that comes to life in Cathy's new home in Torekov, Sweden, which she and her husband Erik bought a year ago, having previously rented a summer house here for several years. As a child, Cathy and her family spent holidays in the area too, so it's a place filled with happy memories. ‘We live on Lidingö, and that's where I have my studio, but we go down to Torekov whenever there's an opportunity,’ she says. The house, built in 1978, is located on…

Suzanis are prized among the historic textiles of Central Asia for their vibrant colours, exuberant patterns and, most of all, the exquisite hand-embroidery which earned them their name, derived from ‘needle’ in Persian. Suzanis were among textiles worked and traded for centuries along the Silk Road, including in Bukhara, Tashkent and Samarkand, with the finest coming out of Uzbekistan. These embroidered panels provided wall hangings, room dividers, bedcovers, table and cradle covers, all worked by women to furnish the yurts of the nomadic tribes, and the dwellings of more settled communities. Suzanis are thought to have been stitched as early as the 15th century, with surviving pieces dating from the late-18th and early-19th centuries. Regional variations in patterns were influenced by goods traded both ways along the Silk Road, from…

The story of Delft tiles is closely linked with the story of the Netherlands, says Durk Regts, director of a Dutch company specialising in antique Delft tiles. ‘In the early-16th century, Antwerp, in modern-day Belgium, was the European cultural capital, and the best craftsmen from all over Europe were based there. But after the Spanish invasion in 1584, they fled north to what we now call the Netherlands,’ he explains. Italian majolica-makers brought with them their tradition of making highly decorated, colourful clay floor tiles with an opaque glaze. ‘When you look at Dutch tiles made in the 1600s, you can see that a new distinctive tile-making tradition was emerging, with its roots in the work of the Italian potters.’ Nowadays, we refer to these tiles as Delft, but most…

THE ANTIQUES THAT SHAPED ME What first sparked your interest in antiques? My parents had a few nice pieces and the skill and craftsmanship always fascinated me. Handmade pieces look and feel completely different from machine-made furniture: nothing is quite regular, and wood mellows with age. Faded mahogany is so much more beautiful than new, dark wood. I also love visiting salerooms – I've always enjoyed the unexpected thrill of finding something nice. Often you are looking for something you need, but then you find some little gem that you don't need at all, but you have to find a home for. Tell us about the first antique you bought. I honestly can't quite remember, but it was almost definitely a watercolour. Finding art I could afford in salerooms and…

Fabric Wallpaper Chinoiserie prints featuring exotic flora and fauna pair perfectly with furniture from the Regency period. Look for cross-back dining chairs, and tables with paw-shaped feet, in dark woods such as mahogany or rosewood, with decorative marquetry details.…

As all book lovers know, one of the great joys of books – aside from the pleasure of actually reading them – is the simple sight of one's collection lining a room. Although exhibiting books upright on shelves with spines facing outward is the standard form of display – making best use of space as well as being safe and attractive – it's not the only option, and doesn't make the most of a well-designed cover or beautiful illustrations. If you have particular works you'd like to draw attention to, you could turn them so the front covers face outward, as they do in many bookshops. ‘This works especially well for modern first-editions with colourful dust-jacket designs,’ says Adam Douglas, senior specialist at rare book dealers Peter Harrington. For this…

‘At home, the main thread is always vintage: traditional with a twist, never too wild; layered, but organised; colourful, yet knocked back’ As a former advertising director working for agencies around the world, Lisa Mehydene made a name for herself bringing prestigious brands to life. But on returning to London in 2015 with her husband, Hil, and their twins, Milla and George (now 11), Lisa was keen to begin a new journey. Drawing on her passion for vintage homeware, she launched edit58, an online brand that creates and sources one-off artisan and vintage finds. Having established a London base for their family, Lisa and Hil were keen to find a place they could decamp to at the weekends. Focusing their search on the lesser-known corners of the Cotswolds, Lisa explains…

Everything here is for sale,’ says Birgit Niehaus of her 150-year-old thatched farmhouse in Germany's picturesque Lower Saxony region. Everything, that is, apart from the fridge, cooker and, in a way, her beloved blue Dutch cupboard in the living room, which has been given an impossibly high price to ensure that it's never bought. Despite being a ‘shop’ of sorts, the farmhouse is decidely homely, with Birgit quick to rustle up ‘a little soup’ for her customers, adding to the warm atmosphere. Birgit started dealing in Gustavian antiques 10 years ago and, when she and her husband Holger bought the farmhouse in 2016, the idea was to live in it temporarily and use it primarily as a showroom. Eight years later and they're still here. One would imagine that living…

Over the last decade, the focus of the top London auction houses, Sotheby's and Christie's, has evolved away from the traditional middle-ground of art and antiques to focus on selling major paintings – particularly Impressionist and 20th-century art – and masterpiece antiques. If you only ever read about multimillion-pound Monets going under the hammer, or five-figure French commodes, you'd be forgiven for thinking that the auction world is an exclusive place, but nothing could be further from the truth, as the leading regional auction houses take up the slack. Increasingly, art and antiques below a value threshold of around £10,000 are being consigned to the Shires, bringing the likes of Cheffins, Dreweatts, Lyon & Turnbull, Woolley & Wallis, Tennants and Sworders a wonderful stream of items to put into their…

Collecting ‘Silhouettes are an ancient art form, just as powerful today as thousands of years ago,’ says David Vyvyan Robinson, a picture specialist at the auction house Bearnes, Hampton and Littlewood. ‘Ancient Greek pottery featured black figures in profile, and in the modern world, road signs still often use silhouettes. They're a bold, uncomplicated form of imagery.’ The peak of silhouette portrait production was in the late-18th and early-19th centuries. Whether cut from paper or, more rarely, painted onto glass, ivory or plaster, artists’ methods for creating the image were largely the same, David explains: ‘The sitter posed by a large sheet of paper, their shadow cast by candlelight. Meanwhile, the artist drew their outline. This was then reduced using a pantograph – a zigzag-shaped instrument used for scaling images…

Durk Regts explains how to use antique Delft tiles at home ‘We sell antique Dutch Delft tiles all over the world, where customers are not bound to the traditional Dutch approach. They use Delft in exciting combinations and contexts; it's inspiring to see what they achieve. The most important thing is to think ahead. Lay everything out and plan it carefully. You can use tiles together from different historic periods, but as older tiles are much thicker, you need a really skilled tiler who is able to use different grout thicknesses to get an even surface. And remember that, as they are handmade, antique tiles are rarely precisely the same size. Removing tiles is a messy business. Over the years, we've become expert at it and we use precision equipment…

Bude Sea Pool Built in 1930, at the height of Britain's lido-building frenzy, this huge rockpool on Cornwall's Summerleaze Beach took an existing slick of seawater and made it permanent. The idea was to give all holidaymakers a safer spot to enjoy the health benefits of sea bathing, and entry remains free today (though donations are welcome). Still flushed by the sea twice a day, the pool is now professionally managed by a dedicated band of local volunteers. Swimmers in search of wilder waters are well catered for on this part of the southwest coast; Westward Ho! and Trevone tidal pools are also within an hour's drive of Bude. Free, budeseapool.org La Vallette Bathing Pools Going strong on Guernsey's east coast since 1865, in its time this popular bathing spot…