Indholdsfortegnelse for May 2025 i Homes & Antiques

Do you consider yourself a collector? A friendly dealer recently advised me that ‘once you’ve amassed a few, you’re a collector; once you’ve amassed many, you’re a dealer,’ and I suspect that a high proportion of our readers comfortably occupy one of these camps. I grew up around collectors – my grandmother’s cabinets stacked high with precious blue-and-white ceramics – and a recent visit got me thinking about what it means to be so captivated by objects. Typically, Ellie Tennant was one step ahead of me, and has been exploring the art of collecting through the ages, digging as far back as 105,000 years ago, when it has been revealed that people in southern Africa collected crystals. Settle in for a fascinating read on page 29… you may see a…

Iconic acorns A love of nature radiates from every brushmark made by Wiltshire-based designer and illustrator Fanny Shorter. Using traditional printing processes, the artist’s wallpapers are surface- or screen-printed in Leicestershire, and her latest offering, Mill Oak (£159 per 10m roll), encapsulates this quintessential symbol of British heritage. fannyshorter.com Soft landing Come on in, pull up a stool, but just make sure it’s one of these beauties from Arlo & Jacob. Each footstool is crafted with supreme comfort in mind, and made to order, so you can choose the exact fabric you want. Accent footstools start from £276 for a small Drum design, seen here in spicy Turmeric. arloandjacob.com Shades of Charleston Bold and beautifully bohemian, Bloomsbury Revisited will usher a slice of Charleston Farmhouse into your home. Find shades…

Thomas Howard The 14th Earl of Arundel: an English peer, courtier and diplomat during the reigns of King James I and King Charles I, known as ‘The Collector Earl’ because of his vast amounts of art, antiques and curiosities. His finds can now be seen at the Ashmolean Museum. Sir Hans Sloane The Irish physician and scientist collected some 71,000 items in his lifetime, which became the foundation of the British Museum’s collection. He had a large network of traders, naturalists, apothecaries and physicians, and items came from across the world. Joseph Banks An explorer, botanist and scientist, who travelled on board Captain Cook’s first famous voyage. He collected shells and plants throughout the expedition. The majority of his shell collection is housed at the Natural History Museum in London.…

Some people are born collectors. Artist Paul Adams’ first memories involve hunting in junk shops with his father, rummaging through the Victoriana that was everywhere in those days and returning triumphantly with bamboo furniture and Japanese prints. His wife, Maxine, is also a connoisseur, though she vaguely remembers her first collection being an accumulation of 500 or so Pez sweet dispensers. Many will recognise the thrill of collecting: that dopamine rush on discovering an item that will somehow be artfully displayed with similar items, and that feeling you get from seeing them all together. At best, it’s an absorbing hobby; at worst, it’s an obsessive addiction – often to the detriment of the bank balance. Nowadays, Paul and Maxine go collecting together, at boot sales and online, still relishing the…

Antique textile buying and selling is a moveable feast, serving a public decidedly hungry for collectable handweaves and embroideries to hang on walls and cover furniture. Machines do what they can to copy these covetable antique pieces, but the vital human connection is missing – and we’ve noticed. Watching the upsurge in interest levels, sensible advice to a new buyer of any antique textile is to research availability, quality and price at auctions, galleries and from individual dealers. ‘The three emerging markets for decorative textiles coming to our auctions are Asian, African and Indian,’ says Sarah White, textile specialist at Tennants. ‘Prices began rising five years ago, notably for Central Asian printed, appliquéd, woven or embroidered textiles with bold decorative motifs in vibrant colours. These pieces lend themselves to interior…

In the summer of 1935, The Bodley Head published 10 new titles in paperback, marking the birth of the phenomenally successful Penguin Books. The brainchild of Allen Lane, Penguin was established upon the realisation that there was a gap in the market. Quality literature and non-fiction in paperback format, aimed at a mass audience (with decent design and typography, too) were considerably lacking, and Lane saw an opportunity to sell through newsagents and at railway stations, priced at 6d a piece. Initially dismissed as folly, Lane’s gamble paid off and, by the end of 1935, Penguin had sold a million books. The rest, as they say, is history. Today, vintage Penguin Books are deservedly popular with obsessive enthusiasts, some of whom have amassed vast collections. I might include myself among…

Overlooking the River Thames, and a mere couple of minutes’ walk away from the splendid Hampton Court Palace – once the home of Henry VIII – The Mitre offers a unique spot for anyone looking to enjoy a dose of culture and a boutique hotel experience in one fell swoop. But while Henry’s impressive former abode is certainly worth a visit*, you don’t have to leave the comfort of this hotel to immerse yourself in a sense of history and heritage. The Grade II-listed building dates back to 1665, and was originally used as accommodation for guests of King Charles II to the Palace. Today, its winding corridors lead guests to a series of spacious rooms and even roomier suites, the latter named after members of the Tudor court and…

What first sparked your interest in antiques? My granny was very interested in antiques and would often take me to National Trust properties in the countryside. She would always point out the furniture when we were there, and tell me stories about the pieces. It never failed to ignite my imagination, thinking of all the different people who had sat on ‘that chair’ or slept in ‘that bed’. Tell us about the first antique you bought… I was just married and we were living in a tiny flat above a shop in Twickenham. The staircase was so narrow that no furniture could get up it, only flat-pack pieces, so I decided to add cushions and accessories to inject some character. There was a little antiques shop down by the river…

While today ‘folk art’ often conjures images of dancing florals and stylised figures, the term wasn’t commonly used until the 19th century. Once described by William Morris as ‘anything exhibiting cultural heritage in a non-elitist, primitive or homemade style’, folk art is typically rooted in tradition and community, with skills and techniques passed down through multiple generations. Despite its far-reaching roots and wildly varied forms, there are several visual qualities that link folk art pieces together – a common thread being expressive painted details. Tess Newall, a decorative artist known for her hand-painted murals and furniture, explains: ‘Folk art is imbued with emotion. It is a very pure form of art, made from the heart, often to tell a story.’ It’s resourceful too, she continues. ‘People created patterns using the…

Before Soap and Salvation, we owned a small Tudor house in Rye, which we restored and furnished using a mix of antique and vintage pieces. We rented it out, and holidaymakers would regularly ask where they could buy the things in the house. This encouraged us to set up a small online shop – The Mint in Rye. Later, after we moved to Rye, the desire to find an interesting living/working space led us to a set of buildings that were in need of some love. One was an old Salvation Army chapel, which inspired a name change… We sell a mix of decorative antique and vintage pieces including furniture, textiles, art, lighting and objects. We also have our stockroom on site in a former stable, which we open for…

Agalis Manessi is waiting to see what will come out of the kiln. This is always an anxious moment, even for an expert like Agalis, who, in 2023, celebrated 50 years of working in ceramics, with the publication of her book, A Journey Painted in Clay. Agalis has a lot of orders to fulfil, with galleries and customers eagerly anticipating her next batch of characterful animal figures and elegantly painted portrait plaques and plates. She is also making work for Ceramic Art London, which, although several months away, she likes to prepare for well in advance. ‘The animals take a long time to make, and then they take an awfully long time to dry, because for those I am working with a solid piece of clay,’ she says. ‘And then…

Before Tracy Rutherfurd and Nic Holland had even set eyes on the romantic, Belle Époque townhouse that would become their French home, they had a passion for French antiques. The couple – who are originally from New Zealand, and still spend the winter months there – had been travelling to France every summer to scour the antiques shops, brocantes and vide-greniers of the Poitou-Charente area. It was here they would buy the stock for their New Zealand-based French antiques business, Romantique, which they would ship back home in a container. ‘Antiques are not as common in New Zealand, and the variety and style of French antiques was so exciting to us,’ says Tracy. ‘We were both potters when we met 25 years ago, and we both have a passion for…

Moribund and stagnant’ are the words author and collector Mary Ann Wingfield uses to describe the jewellery industry in the years immediately following the Second World War. Much the same could be said of the nation. For many people in Britain, the 1940s and 1950s were a difficult time, with restrictions, and a stifling, conservative culture. Buying and wearing expensive new jewellery was out of kilter with the national mood. By the late 1950s, things started to change. In the world of jewellery, a pivotal moment came in 1961. The International Exhibition of Modern Jewellery, held at London’s Goldsmiths’ Hall, showcased jewellery from 33 countries. New work was commissioned from leading British artists, such as Elisabeth Frink and Henry Moore, and De Beers sponsored a competition with a dazzling £10,000…

My dad, Peter, and I visit specialist stamp shops all over the country. We regularly drive up from Devon to Provincial Philatelics in Oxfordshire to spend six hours browsing the lots, so we can decide what to bid on when the auction takes place. Provincial is one of the few remaining auction houses that doesn’t sell online. I’ve probably got over 100,000 stamps. A lot of them are different versions of the same stamp – you can have two stamps that look the same, but one is worth 50p and one is worth £50, depending on the quality. I sell the ones I no longer require once I’ve found the best examples of each. I’ve collected stamps since I was 12 or 13; now, at 54, I’m one of the…

Snowshill Manor Charles Wade (1883-1956) espoused a view that will resonate with any lover of antiques: ‘What a joy these old things are to live with,’ he enthused. ‘Each piece made by the hand of a craftsman, each has feeling and individuality that no machine could ever attain.’ This philosophy is at the heart of the collection at Snowshill Manor, a trove of curious objects, amassed by its eccentric owner over the course of his life. Wade’s passion for collecting is even championed in his self-created coat of arms, emblazoned with the motto ‘Let nothing perish’. True to form, he entrusted Snowshill to the National Trust, to safeguard its future. nationaltrust.org.uk Sir John Soane's Museum Celebrated architect Sir John Soane was also an enthusiastic collector, and his home in Holborn,…

Last November, movie buffs flocked to see a pair of ruby sequinned slippers worn by Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz as they went on show in London at the Mayfair showroom of Heritage Auctions. Mouthwateringly, these were the very heels that Garland’s character, Dorothy, clicked together three times at the end of the iconic 1939 film, while simultaneously declaring ‘There’s no place like home’, as she and her pet dog, Toto, magically returned to Kansas. Joe Maddalena, Heritage Auctions’ entertainment memorabilia specialist, says the importance of these ruby slippers cannot be overstated, and describes them as ‘the most important prop in Hollywood history’. And he should know, having brought to market Marilyn Monroe’s white ‘Subway’ dress from The Seven Year Itch and Luke Skywalker’s lightsaber from the Star…

Fabric Wallpaper Combine whimsical folk prints in different scales for a pleasing effect. Choosing a selection of unifying hues – such as reds, greens and neutrals – will help to curate a cosy and cohesive look that ties the patterns together…

At Basildon Park -an 18th-century Palladian mansion in Berkshire, now managed by the National Trust – there is a grand room upstairs filled, floor-to-ceiling, with shells. Huge glass cases displaying pink conch shells from tropical waters sit alongside specimen drawers packed with hundreds of small, shiny cowrie shells. The walls are adorned with mosaics and murals created from elegant fan-shaped scallop shells, coral-like thorny oyster shells and row upon row of tiny sea snail shells. This impressive hoard was amassed by passionate shell collector Charlotte Gilding (1881-1972) – later Lady Iliffe – who began collecting shells when she was just a teenager and continued throughout her life. Perhaps she was inspired by tales of Grotto House in nearby Lower Basildon and immortalised by the poet Richard Graves in 1746? Or…

A place of peace and tranquillity, far from the light and noise of the city, is what Anne Bournas had in mind for her new home when she was looking in the early 2000s. Having spent many years living and working in Bordeaux, she dreamt of a house deep in nature, where the solitude and silence would provide the space she needed to focus on her painting, and where she could surround herself with the things that inspire her: art, music, poetry and literature. Located at the end of a track, set in a hectare of woodland and meadow, the single-storey house in the Landes forest (between Bordeaux and Bayonne) was built in 1862 as accommodation for forestry workers. It sits on top of a small southwest facing hill that…

My father didn’t receive any formal training in jewellery design. He didn’t know the rules, so he didn’t follow them. Before the Second World War, he’d studied engineering, but he ended up working as a bookkeeper for his father-in-law, whose family had a two Brazilian salesmen turned up with a suitcase filled with rough-cut gems and really big semiprecious stones. His father-in-law was completely uninterested. But my father was captivated and persuaded him to buy the lot. That’s how he came to design his first collection, using those unusual stones. He was also very brave, not just in his approach to design, but in his business decisions. In 1963, he spotted that Lord Snowdon, the husband of Princess Margaret, had given a speech criticising modern jewellery for being ‘unadventurous’. Grima…

The world’s first adhesive postal stamp was the Penny Black, which was issued in 1840 and featured a profile of Queen Victoria. Stamp collecting began almost immediately and, within a few years, people all around the world were hooked on the hobby. ‘People began to build up albums, and many fabulous collections were sold as early as the 1890s and early 1900s,’ says Arthur O’Hanlon, auctioneer at Provincial Philatelics. ‘It remained a popular hobby amongst all age groups, right up until the 1960s when it began to decline.’…

Choosing a venue that’s unique, untapped and special enough to hold the emotional weight of a wedding is a substantial task – and for those whose loves of history and interiors are important considerations, the hunt to find somewhere that passes muster is trickier still. From chic barns to walled gardens, here are seven of our favourites… BEST FOR ROYAL GRANDEUR Hatfield House Hatfield, Hertfordshire Write a ‘happily ever after’ at The Old Palace at Hatfield House, steeped in British royal history. Queen Elizabeth I spent a joyful childhood here, and this was where she addressed her first council of state in 1558. The Riding School in the charming stable yard is perfectly proportioned for an intimate wedding of 50 to 100 guests, while, at the other end of the…