C W Briggs Antiques, Loughborough

A fairly recent addition to the antique dealer archives is some material associated with the Loughborough based antique dealer C.W. Briggs (1906-1981), acquired in January 2023 at the Nottingham auctioneers Mellors & Kirk.

C.W. Briggs archive and ephemera. Photograph, Mellors & Kirk auctioneers, Nottingham.

The material is an eclectic mix of stock books, personal letters and ephemera, together with a selection of material associated with an exhibition of ‘Old Masters’, held at the showroom of Smart & Brown Ltd, Nottingham in February 1928 – at which the paintings had been ‘hung’ by Mr C.W. Briggs. Smart & Brown Ltd were ‘Upholsterers, Cabinet Makers and Decorators’, so it’s an intriguing story, but I’ll save the ‘Old Masters’ exhibition for another blog post on C. W. Briggs. However, some of the other material offers an interesting insight into the life and history of a mid-20th century antique dealer.

Firstly, I just love this oak-framed collage of black & white photographs of popular antiques of the period. The oak frame appears to date to the 1920s, but the collage of photographs of antique furniture are all culled from antique collecting magazines of the 1940s and 1950s, so I’d guess the composition dates from the 1950s. It was obviously something that Briggs would have placed in his antique shop to encourage people to sell antiques to him.

C. W Briggs, framed photos of antiques, c.1950, (13in x 10.5 in). Photograph, Antique Dealers Research Project, University of Leeds.

Cyril William Briggs operated as an antiques dealer from the 1920s until the mid 1970s. According to letters in the archive he passed away in August 1981. He was born in 1906 and was the son of William Henry Briggs (born c.1853), a shopkeeper and licensed victualler in Nottingham. The archive material also indicates that C.W. Briggs was in partnership with an individual called Alexander Marks in the 1920s, trading as Marks & Briggs ‘Art Connoisseurs’ at Moot Hall Chambers, Market Place, Nottingham – this is part of the business history related to the ‘Old Masters’ exhibition held at Smart & Brown Ltd in Nottingham in 1928. Here (below) is Briggs’ trade card for his shop at 10 Leicester Road, Loughborough – ‘Genuine Antiques’ is a term often associated with the antique trade of the early 20th century (when ‘fakes’ were a common concern amongst collectors and those furnishing their homes with antique furniture), so it’s interesting to see this on Briggs’ trade card.

C.W. Briggs trade card, c.1930s? Photograph, Antique Dealers Research Project, University of Leeds.

The use of the phrase ‘Genuine Antiques’ was also used by Briggs in his shop sign (see below, made of glass), where he gives a date of 1925 as the establishment of the business (this may relate to the business that he started with Alexander Marks at Moot Hall Chambers in Nottingham) – Briggs would have been just 19 years of age when he started in ‘the business’. Sadly, the hanging sign is not part of the archive (it went for a bit too much at the Mellors & Kirk auction!)

C. W. Briggs Antiques hanging sign, 1950s? Photograph, Mellors & Kirk Auctioneers, Nottingham.

In the mid 1940s Briggs acquired ‘Kingscote’ 10 Loughborough Road, Walton-le-Wolds (he still retained his antique shop at 10 Leicester Road, Loughborough). ‘Kingscote’ is a mid-16th century timber-framed house (it was Grade II listed in 1966), and, according to a selection of photographs in the archive material, Briggs seems to have been very proud of his ‘ancient house’. Here are some photographs from the archive, showing the house and its interiors (the photos are probably from 1940s) – it looks like there was some restoration taking place.

C.W. Briggs, ‘Kingscote’ 10 Loughborough Road, Walton-le-Wolds, 1940s. Photograph, Antique Dealers Research Project, University of Leeds.

C.W. Briggs, ‘Kingscote’ 10 Loughborough Road, Walton-le-Wolds, 1940s. Photograph, Antique Dealers Research Project, University of Leeds.

C.W. Briggs, ‘Kingscote’ 10 Loughborough Road, Walton-le-Wolds, 1940s. Photograph, Antique Dealers Research Project, University of Leeds.

As readers of the Antique Dealers Research blog will know, antique dealers trading from and living in historic houses has been a consistent theme in the history of the antique trade (see blog posts March 23rd 2014; October 26th 2014; February 6th 2017; May 25th 2019; July 31st 2022) Such practices can be traced back to at least the 1920s, so C.W. Briggs was rehearsing an established tradition when he acquired ‘Kingscote’ in the 1940s.

There are quite a few family photographs in the archive, and some interesting family correspondence, all of which presents a very human picture of Cyril. Here he is (see below), I guess from the 1940s, together with a photograph of his National Registration Identity Card from the Second World War, and a small cache of un-used fuel rationing coupons from the period 1947-1948, issued for his motor car, registration VO8932.

Cyril W. Briggs, 1940s. Photograph, Antique Dealer Research Project, University of Leeds.

National Registration Identity Card, C.W. Briggs, 1940s. Photograph, Antique Dealers Research Project, University of Leeds.

Motor Fuel Ration Book, 1947-1948, belonging to C.W. Briggs. Photograph, Antique Dealers Research Project, University of Leeds.

The stock books in the archive date from 1936 to 1940, (see below) and give a sense of the wide range of antiques that Briggs was selling in that period. There are some typically vague descriptions of objects, such as ‘Small Oil on Panel‘; ‘Oak chest‘ and a ‘China Bulb Pot‘, with very little detail in the descriptions. But Briggs seems to have been selling a very typical range of general antiques in the period, with lots of silver, pewter, ceramics and glass, together with the usual types of antique furniture.

C.W. Briggs stock book, 1938. Photograph, Antique Dealers Research project, University of Leeds.

C.W. Briggs stock book, 1938. Photograph, Antique Dealers Research project, University of Leeds.

The other antique dealer business related archive material includes a sales book (undated) but from the mid 1930s, a ‘Creditors and Debtors’ book from the 1950s to 1970s, and a ‘Cash Book’ (1973-1975) – all very useful for the study of a mid-range, mid-20th century antique business.

Perhaps the most intriguing material in the archive are a few letters sent to Briggs in 1956 and 1958, relating to a ships’ figurehead. The initial letter (see below), from the well-known American antique dealers ‘Sacks Antiques Inc’ of Massachusetts USA, sent to Briggs on 12th September 1956, mentions a ‘figurehead’ that Briggs appeared to be negotiating to buy.

C.W. Briggs archive – Sacks Antiques letter, 12th September 1956. Photograph, Antique Dealers Research project, University of Leeds.

I guess this is all fairly standard in terms of antique dealer practices, and I’m aware of several antique dealers buying and selling antique ships figures heads in the period. According to a few other letters in the archive Briggs did indeed acquire the figurehead and sold it to an American dealer (probably Sacks?). It seems however, that the figurehead was quite an important thing; it was from HMS Cornwallis, which, according to the letter from the ‘Commanding Officer’ at H.M.C.S. Cornwallis, Department of National Defence, Canada, ‘is reputed to have fired the last shot in the American War of Independence’ (see below).

C.W. Briggs archive, H.M.C.S. Cornwallis letter, March 25th 1958. Photograph, Antique Dealers Research project, University of Leeds.

HMS Cornwallis was launched in 1813, a 74 Gun ship, she was involved in the American War of Independence, and later in the Crimean War (1853-56). She was converted into a jetty in 1865 and broken up in 1957. I’ve not been able to trace what happened to the figurehead from HMS Cornwallis, but the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich has a ship model of the HMS Cornwallis, built at the same time that the full-size ship was commissioned in 1813. Here’s a photograph (see below) of the ship model – you can just about make out what the figurehead looked like, so if anyone knows the whereabouts of the figurehead, I’d be very interested to hear.

Model of ‘Cornwallis’ (1813). Photograph, National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, Royal United Services Institution Collection.

The C.W. Briggs archive material offers a fascinating view of the business of a mid-20th century antique dealer. It is more than the usual antique dealer archive material that we have at the University of Leeds (which are mainly stock books and business letter archives) in that it also gives us a very human insight into the life of Cyril William Briggs, antique dealer. The archive will of course be making it’s way to the Brotherton Library Special Collections at the University of Leeds in due course. And of course, I’ll post a little more on the intriguing 1928 ‘Old Masters’ exhibition and Briggs involvement in that exhibition in another blog post – do keep your eye on the Blog!

Mark

19th century Antique Dealers – William Forrest; William Boore

A very recent acquisition to the growing archive of antique dealer ephemera, gathered as part of the wider antique dealer research project, is a fascinating cache of invoices from the dealer William Boore, dating from the late 1880s to mid 1890s.

Invoice, W. Boore to J.E. Taylor, 1888. Private collection.

They relate to sales of antiques and jewellery by the dealer William Boore to John Edward Taylor (1830-1905), the prominent newspaper proprietor and owner of the Manchester Guardian, which had been founded by his father John Edward Taylor (1791-1844). John Edward Taylor the younger was a major art collector; he donated many watercolour paintings to The Whitworth Art Gallery in Manchester and to the Victoria & Albert Museum in London in the 1890s. His extensive collection of paintings, sculptures a very wide range of antiques was sold at auction by Christie’s in 1912, following the death of his widow, Martha Elizabeth Taylor (1828-1912). Here (below) is a cover of the auction catalogue of Taylor’s collection.

Christie’s auction catalogue of the John Edward Taylor collection; July 1912. Private collection.

But of course, whilst this research blog is interested in collectors such as Taylor, it’s much more interested in the antique dealers that helped to assemble such collections. In fact, as well as the contents of the invoices of course and what they tell us about Taylor’s buying activities, what prompted me to acquire the cache of letters was the printed invoice headings themselves – ‘W. Boore, Late Forrest’ as they state – which connects William Boore with one of the most famous antique dealers of the 19th century, William Forrest (1798-1854).

Indeed, the writer George Retford, publisher of the famous Art Sales: a history of sales of pictures and other works of art (2 vols. 1888), described William Forrest as ‘the best informed dealer of his day’. He began trading in Edinburgh in the 1820s, but by the late 1830s he was in London at 54 Strand trading as ‘jeweller and dealer in silver plate and curiosities’. He died in Paris on 14th October 1854. Forrest sold antiques and curiosities to all the major collectors of the first half of the 19th century, including Ralph Bernal (1783-1854) and A.W. Franks (1826-1897); he was also a regular buyer at key auction sales such as those at Strawberry Hill, the collection assembled by Horace Walpole (1717-1797) and sold by the auctioneer George Robins (1777-1847) in 1842, and at the auction of the contents of Stowe in 1848.

It seems that William Boore not took over Forrest’s shop in Strand, but also seems to have continued the business? He certainly seems to have deliberately drawn from the high profile and reputation that Forrest had amongst collectors of antiques by highlighting Forrest’s name in his invoices. What is also interesting (to me at least!) is how Boore highlights in his invoice headings of a range of antiques and curiosities that hark back to the practices of early 19th century dealers such as Forrest. The printed invoice heading, dating from late 1880s, lists a range of objects that would have been very familiar to Forrest in the 1840s – ‘Paintings, Curiosities, Sevres and Dresden [porcelains], Limoges Enamel, Statuary, Bijoutrie [jewellery, trinkets], Clocks & Watches, Precious Stones, Buhl Furniture [Boulle], Bronzes, Ancient Carvings, Arms & Armour, Gems and Cameos, Antique Plate [silver], Ivories, Majolica [ceramics]…all under the main heading of ‘Dealer in Works of Art’ – (see below).

Invoice, W. Boore to J.E. Taylor, 1888. Private collection.

Invoice, W. Boore to J.E. Taylor, 1888. Private collection.

Boore continued the tradition of Forrest, selling antiques to major collectors of course; as well as selling to John Edward Taylor, William Boore also counted George Salting (1835-1909), who left his collections of paintings to the National Gallery, his prints and drawing to the British Museum, and his antiques to the Victoria & Albert Museum, as a customer.

And if you are interested in finding out more about dealers such as William Forrest, you can always consult my Biographical Dictionary of 19th century antique & curiosity dealers (2009 & 2011) – it’s FREE and online at the White Rose Research Online

And for those provenance researchers out there – the invoices from William Boore don’t seem to point to any of the objects that were sold at Christie’s in 1912? But I’ll keep looking!

Mark

Part of the Furniture: The Library of John Bedford – exhibition

Exciting news for the forthcoming start of 2024 – I’ve curated a new exhibition (with Rachel Eckersley, rare book specialist at the Brotherton Library Special Collections and Rhiannon Lawrence-Francis, Special Collections Curator), which opens on 9th January 2024 at the Treasures of the Brotherton Gallery at the University of Leeds. 

 

 The exhibition, ‘Part of the Furniture: The Library of John Bedford‘, which runs until 2nd December 2024 (so plenty of time to see it) is focused on the library of furniture history, assembled by former antique dealer, John Bedford (1941-2019). John owned William Bedford Antiques in North London, and which became a Public Limited Company (PLC) in the 1980s. John spent 45 years creating a remarkable library of books and manuscripts, dating from the 17th century to the twentieth century, and the exhibition celebrates John’s extraordinary gift to the University of Leeds.

Thomas Chippendale, The Cabinet-maker and Gentleman’s Director (1754)

 The exhibition explores the history of furniture as a subject, highlighting the role that books and publications have played in the evolving discourse, and directing attention to the influential role that antique dealers and collectors have played in the formation of furniture history. It is full of rare and wonderful books and manuscripts, from a early 18th century Apprenticeship Indenture, and a unique copy of Jacques Androuet Du Cerceau’s Furniture Designs (c.1545-1565), to key texts such as Chippendale’s Director (1754) and Sheraton and Hepplewhite pattern books.

 One of the most interesting items (as far as the antique dealer’s blog is concerned at least), is a unique sketch book of designs for drapery and furniture produced by Daniel Thorn (c.1788-1853) in the early 19th century. Thorn began trading as ‘Upholsterer’ in the 1810s, but by the 1830s he was trading as a ‘curiosity dealer’ and ‘dealer in ancient furniture’. Such a transition, as readers of the antique dealers blog will know, was quite common in the early 19th century.

Sketch book of Daniel Thorn, c.1814-1820s. Photograph Brotherton Library Special Collections University of Leeds.

 Thorn’s sketch book contains dozens of designs for upholstery schemes, as well as sketches for furniture designs, all in the fashionable taste of the 1810s and 1820s. But his sketch book also contains some fascinating drawings of antiques and curios, demonstrating his evolving interests as a dealer in ancient furniture and curiosities. This drawing (below) is typical of the detailed sketches in Thorn’s album – a loose page inserted into the bound volume – it shows 16th and 17th century ‘Bellarmine’ jugs, a ‘Curious Bason [sic] plate (old Earthen Ware painted Yellow & B [brown/black?] ornam[ent]’, together with 17th century glass vessels, a knife ‘very rude’ and a ‘Yellow Earth[enware] pot’

Sketch book of Daniel Thorn, c.1814-1820s. Photograph Brotherton Library Special Collections University of Leeds.

 The exhibition also includes a fabulously vibrant trade catalogue produced by Henry Lawford in 1855 – The Cabinet of Practical, Useful and Decorative Furniture Designs. It folds out, rather like an old Ordnance Survey Map, and contains brightly coloured lithographed designs, mounted on a linen background, for deep-buttoned sofas in typical Victorian styles of the period. It reminds us that the Victorian interior was a riot of colour, rather than being dour, dark and drab!

Henry Lawford, The Cabinet of Practical, Useful and Decorative Furniture Designs (1855). Photograph Brotherton Library Special Collections University of Leeds.

  The exhibition is FREE to visit – the Treasures Gallery is open Tuesday to Friday 10am-5pm – and runs from 9th January until 21st December 2024. Do also keep your eyes open for events associated with the exhibition ‘Part of the Furniture: the John Bedford Library’ throughout 2024. I hope you get a chance to come and see the exhibition – do say hello!

 Happy New Year to all our readers!

Mark

Antique Shops in Visual Culture III

Our thread on ‘Antique Shops in Visual Culture’ seems to be very popular with readers of the Antique Dealers Research blog, so here’s the third instalment (the last for a little while at least). If you have missed Parts I, & II of this thread, you can catch up in Blog posts July 30th 2023 and September 30th 2023.

Our first image in this third instalment of the ‘antique shop’ in visual culture is by the artist John Watkins Chapman (1832-1903) and dates from about 1880.

John Watkins Chapman (1832-1903), ‘The Antique Dealers’, c.1880. Oil on canvas. Private collection. Photograph Antique Dealers Research Project, University of Leeds.

Chapman’s painting, which is quite large, about 2 feet by 3 feet, is typical of his work. In the painting Chapman seems to be rehearsing common visual and literary tropes of the antique and curiosity shop – the shop piled high, cluttered with curious things. Chapman also presents the viewer with a quintessential Victorian sentimental narrative; the woman to the left, dressed in black is evidently a widow and in need of funds. She appears to be trying to sell some small paintings to the antique dealer, who is examining them carefully with his magnifying glass in an act of obvious connoisseurship. I’m not sure what the character reading a book in the centre is supposed to represent; he appears to be dressed, deliberately, in antiquarian style as an 18th century gentleman – perhaps he is a poetic memory of the life of the array of objects surrounding him? The painting was previously sold at auction at Christie’s in London in 1948 but we are pleased to say that it is now part of the collections of the antique dealer research project.

John Watkins Chapman is well-known for his representations of ‘The Old Curiosity Shop’, made famous through Charles Dickens’ story in 1840-41. Chapman painted dozens of examples in the second half of the 19th century. Perhaps Chapman’s most well-known and accomplished painting of this subject is his superbly detailed ‘The Old Curiosity Shop’ (also dating from c.1880), which was sold at Christie’s in 1991 – I think it remains in a private collection in Italy? But one of our readers may know otherwise?

John Watkins Chapman (1832-1903) ‘The Old Curiosity Shop’, c.1880. Photo © Christie’s Images.

This painting also formed the visual basis for our own contribution to the theme of the antique shop in visual culture, with our recreation of ‘The Old Curiosity Shop’ at the exhibition ‘SOLD! The Great British Antiques Story’ at The Bowes Museum (January to May 2019) – see various blog posts on the Antique Dealers Research blog from December 2018. You can still download a PDF copy of the SOLD! exhibition catalogue (for free!) here https://antiquedealers.leeds.ac.uk/research/sold-the-great-british-antiques-story/

SOLD! The Great British Antiques Story, exhibition install of ‘The Old Curiosity Shop’. The Bowes Museum, Jan-May 2019. Photograph, Antique Dealers Research Project, University of Leeds.

However, whilst both of Chapman’s paintings have a common theme, that of the antique and curiosity shop, Chapman’s representation of ‘The Old Curiosity Shop’ is much more anchored in the narrative of Dickens’ story. ‘Little Nell’ sits front and centre, and one can also see her Grandfather, the curiosity dealer, tucked away at the back of the shop, worrying over his mounting debts, and which will eventually lead to their escape from the shop and ultimately to the death of Little Nell.

What is also interesting about Chapman’s paintings is the representation of curious and antique objects. All of them will, I guess, be representations of real antique objects; some are iconic – the suits of armour in both paintings are emblematic objects of both the (generally) earlier ‘curiosity shop’ and the (generally) later ‘antique shop’. Although it’s clear that the suits of armour are not exactly the same example in each painting. However, the 18th century giltwood mirror (in the centre of ‘The Antique Dealers’, facing outwards; and just to the right, side-on, in ‘The Old Curiosity Shop’) is clearly the same ‘antique’ mirror. Perhaps this was an antique object from Chapman’s own collection?

As I say, Chapman’s visual representation of ‘The Old Curiosity Shop’ draws heavily from the literary description of Charles Dickens. In Dickens’ by now iconic description of ‘The Old Curiosity Shop’, he writes, it was:

”one of those receptacles for old and curious things which seem to crouch in every corner of this town, and hide away their musty treasures from the public eye in jealousy and mistrust. There were suits of mail standing like ghosts in armour, here and there, fantastic carvings brought from monkish cloisters; rusty weapons of various kinds; distorted figures in china, and wood, and iron, and ivory; tapestry. and strange furniture that might have been designed in dreams.” (Dickens, The Old Curiosity Shop (1841) p.3)

As I have written elsewhere, ”Dickens’ interior descriptions of the shop are well known and rehearse the trope of the shop as problematic space, one that is retentive with its knowledge and in which the dis-ordered objects in its interior provided the antithesis to the ordered collections assembled by the collector.” (Westgarth, The Emergence of the Antique & Curiosity Dealer 1815-1850: the commodification of historical objects (2020, p.28).

Two further visual representations of the history of the antique trade in Britain offer both a continued visual tradition (one is an image of a cluttered interior of an antique shop) and a contrast (one is not an image of an interior of an antique shop but of an open air second-hand market stall). This pair of watercolour paintings, (also now part of the collections of the antique dealers research project) date from c.1940s; they are about 12 inches by 8 inches. They are obviously by an amateur hand, but are charmingly naïve in the representations.

Anon. ‘An interior of an antique shop’, c.1940s. Watercolour. Photograph Antique Dealer Research Project, University of Leeds.

Anon. ‘A view of Portobello Road market’, c.1940s. Watercolour. Photograph Antique Dealers Research Project, University of Leeds.

The painting of the antique shop interior (you can just see the remaining letters forming the words ‘Antique Dealer’ in the window), illustrates the wide range of antique objects that one might expect to see in an antique shop in the period. There’s also a clear sense of British nationalism in the choice of items represented – a portrait of Sir Walter Raleigh; a portrait of Horatio Nelson; the various British paintings displayed along the front of the display table. As well as objects from across the world – an Egyptian mummy, Chinese porcelains.

By way of contrast, the street market scene in the other painting illustrates a typical range of objects from second-hand cultures. Old but still usable pots and pans, bags, shoes, alongside the odd piece of broken pottery. As in the other painting, there’s a strong sense of British nationalism; the Second World War was probably taking place, or was a very recent memory, when these paintings were produced. As if to emphasise this, the small painting/photograph? to the right in the street market scene, depicts Charlie Chaplin in the famous American anti-war film ‘The Great Dictator’, which came out in 1940.

The shop behind the central figure is named ‘J. Bodger’ (certainly a fictional name – a ‘bodger’ is a wood-turner, someone who makes chair legs and turned parts of chairs and furniture). ‘J. Bodger’ is named as a ‘furniture dealer’, but seems to be buying and selling all sorts of second-hand material. The relationships between second-hand dealers and antique dealers has always been very close, but here, by the 1940s, there’s a very clear distinction between the two practices, as articulated in the pair of paintings. Indeed, Portobello Market (located in Portobello Road, as the street sign in the painting illustrates), which had developed as an open air market in the late 19th century, became associated with the second-hand trade by the 1920s, and became famously associated with the antiques trade in the 1940s, when these paintings were created.

The 19th century paintings by John Watkins Chapman and the anonymous pair of 20th century paintings of Portobello Road antique and second-hand markets, offer fascinating insights into the visual culture of the antique trade, and it’s rich potential as a research resource for the history of antique dealing.

Mark

10 Years of the Antique Dealers Blog!

This month, October 2023, is a significant moment for the Antique Dealers Research Blog – it’s our ANNIVERSARY!….we are 10 years old this month! Our first post was back on 25th October 2013 – a small, two sentence post briefly announcing the start of the new Blog with a small image of an antique dealer invoice dated October (the symmetry was deliberate) 1907, from ‘Adams’, ‘antique dealer’, who was trading in Edinburgh and New York. (see below) –

Adams Antique Dealer invoice, 1907. Photograph, Antique Dealers Research project, University of Leeds.

Since then, we have posted 231 individual Blog posts, including 2 or 3 guest blog posts from our friends and colleagues, Chris Coles (May 2014) Dr (now Professor!) Clare Taylor (February 2012 – May 2021) Anne Atton (a relative of F.G. & C. Collins Antiques) (April 2023), and from our former Laidlaw Scholar at the University of Leeds, Olivia Powell, (April 2017). Over the past 10 years we’ve composed over 120,000 words on the Blog, on a huge range of subjects related to the history of the antique trade in the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries, in Britain, Europe and the USA. I won’t rehearse all the themes here of course (there are far too many!), but you can search for all sorts of themes, name of dealers and a range of other antique dealer-related topics using the ‘TAGS’ and ‘SEARCH’ functions in the Blog.

The Blog has build up a hundreds of dedicated ‘Followers’ over the years. Our first Blog post in October 2013 has just 20 views, but the last few years we consistently get between 800 and 1,000 views per month. Since October 2013 we’ve had more than 77,000 views and more than 50,000 visitors, from all over the world – at the last count we’ve had visitors from 142 countries, from every Continent – not bad for such an arcane subject as the history of antique dealing!

Thank you to everyone that follows the Antique Dealers Research Blog – and to all our visitors, from where ever you are, Thank You!

We look forward to the next 10 years; do keep your eyes on the Blog, we have some exciting news to announce in the next few months!

Happy Birthday to us!

Mark

Antique Shops in Visual Culture II

Following on from the last Blog Post (which seemed to go down very well with readers), I thought I would continue the theme of Antique Shops in visual culture and focus on a few more images of antique shops, both exteriors and interiors, that are part of a growing archive of paintings we have as part of the research projects on the history of antique dealing. We can start with an example from quite a well-known series of images of antique shops by the artist John Cole (1903-1975). Cole was the son of the English landscape artist Rex Vicat Cole (1870-1940) and from a long line of well-known artists. Cole was particularly fascinated by the street scenery of London and produced a series of paintings of shops fronts especially in London, during the 1940s and 1950s. He seems to have a special fondness for antique shop fronts, and captured dozens of antique shops, most now long gone of course, in key locations such as Kensington Church Street, Avery Row and Christopher’s Place. We’re fortunate enough to have an example in our archive. A painting from the 1940s of 2 antique shops in New Bond Street, London.

John Cole (1903-1975) New Bond Street antique shops, c.1940. Oil on canvas. Private collection.

To the right is the shop of the antique silver dealers Arthur & Co., at 36 New Bond Street. Arthur & Co. were trading as antique dealers from at least 1900; by 1936 they had incorporated the business of the well-known antique silver dealer Reginald Davis. Arthur & Co. were right next door to Sotheby’s the auctioneers, when Cole captured their shop. To the left of Arthur & Co is the shop of Lewis & Lewis, one of the shops of the famous Lewis family of dealers, perhaps of James Lewis & Sons, the well-known antique dealer with shops in London and New York in the 1930s and 1950s. It’s interesting that Lewis & Lewis have a ‘sale’ ongoing in their shop in Cole’s painting – their shop window is full of a fascinating range of antiques.

Another painting of an antique shop, from about the same period, 1960s, in the archive collection is by a less illustrious painter than John Cole; Frederick James Timbrell (1905-1992).

Frederick James Timbrell (1905-1992), ‘The Corner Shop’, c.1960. Oil on panel. Private collection

Timbrell was born in Lambeth, London and his painting of an (as yet unknown) antique shop is a charming rendition and, according to the label on the back, it was offered for sale at 30 guineas, a fair sum of money back in the 1960s. If anyone recognises the shop, do let me know!

One final image of an antique shop (for this Blog post anyway) is, by contrast, a painting of an antique shop interior. This one, a beautifully atmospheric watercolour and gouache by the talented female artist Winifred Donne (1880-1922), titled ‘The Old Curiosity Shop’ was painted in about 1910.

Winifred Donne (1880-1922), ‘The Old Curiosity Shop’, c.1910. Watercolour and gouache. Private collection.

Donne was the wife of the artist Walter James Donne (1863-1948); Donne’s painting of the Old Curiosity Shop seems to be a representation of an interior of an actual shop, but it’s not known where the shop was located. Donne lived for a time in Yorkshire, so perhaps it was one of the many ‘curio’ shops in York, Scarborough and etc in the early 20th century?

Winifred Donne (1880-1922), ‘The Old Curiosity Shop’, c.1910. Watercolour & gouache. Private collection.

Winifred Donne maybe a relatively forgotten female artist today, but at the time of her death in 1922, (she died tragically young, aged only 42) she was famous enough for Walker’s Galleries, in New Bond Street, London, no less, to organise a Memorial Exhibition of her work in Nov-Dec 1924.

Exhibition Catalogue, Winifred Donne Memorial Exhibition, 1924. Private collection.

Donne was described in the exhibition catalogue as ‘an artist with remarkable talent’. The commentary continues: ‘Watercolour was Winifred Donne’s favourite medium, though she was equally familiar with pastels and pen-and-ink…she exhibited with conspicuous success at the International Society and in the watercolour room at the Royal Academy.’ The exhibition included Donne’s painting of the ‘Old Curiosity Shop’ then in the possession of ‘Mr Robert Frank’ (see below, ‘No.44’), perhaps the art dealer Robert Frank?

Exhibition catalogue, Winifred Donne Memorial Exhibition 1924. Private collection.

These representations of antique shops are a clear demonstration of the enduring significance of the ‘antique and curiosity shop’ in visual culture, and in British cultural life. I’ll post more on paintings of antique shops in future blog posts on the antique dealers blog.

Mark

Antique Shops in Visual Culture I

As readers of the antique dealers Blog will know, we’ve been acquiring antique dealer ephemera for many years now – dealer catalogues, photographs and archives, as part of the on-going research project into the history of the antique trade in Britain. Much of this material, including the extraordinary collection of antique dealer archives, is housed at the Brotherton Library Special Collections at the University of Leeds.

More recently, we’ve been seeking out paintings depicting antique shops – we recently acquired, for example, a naïve painting (oil on canvas, c.1880, signed ‘M. Davis’) of the shop of Mr Deadman at an auction in The Netherlands of all places – ‘Ye Old Beckenham Curio Shoppe’ (see below). The shop depicted in the painting was in High Street, Beckenham in Kent (the building, which appears to be 16th century, was demolished by the 1930s). Frederick William Deadman (either the same dealer or perhaps a relative) was still trading as an antique dealer in the late 1930s – from a shop in Station Road, Freshwater on the Isle of Wight.

M. Davis ‘Ye Old Beckenham Curio Shoppe’, oil on canvas 24 in x 17 in; c.1880. Private Collection.

This painting has been added to our growing collection of paintings of antique shops, all of which demonstrate how important the idea of the antique shop has been in British cultural life. An earlier acquisition, of an equally naïve painting, illustrates this point. The painting, a watercolour, (10.5 in x 15 in, by H. Middleton-Holding, c.1910) of an antique shop in York Street, London, was acquired at auction in Shaftesbury, Dorset in 2019. It’s also a rather naïve work, but is charmingly rendered (see below):

H. Middleton-Holding, ‘York Street, Westminster, London’ watercolour, (10.5 in x 15 in), c.1910. Private Collection.

The artist has copied an engraving of the same scene, much more competently rendered and published in The Daily Chronicle on Tuesday September 27th in either 1904 or 1911, a copy of which is pasted to the backboard of the painting (see below) – (unfortunately, the actual year of the publication is obscured by some brown paper tape). The newspaper article outlines the history of the buildings in York Street, London and their occupiers, including the political philosopher Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) and the highwayman Dick Turpin (1705-1739).

Backboard of the watercolour by H. Middleton-Holding. Private Collection.

The main shop in the scene, No. 32 York Street, was the location of a well-known female antique dealer, Mrs Amelia Jane Hardingham, who owned several antique shops in York Street (nos. 28-32), and began trading as an antique dealer in about 1900, in Waterloo Road, London. According to the article in The Daily Chronicle no.32 York Street was famous as the home of the artist George Morland (1763-1804) – perhaps that is why H. Middleton-Holding painted the scene again?

Amelia Hardingham’s shop was also captured in a photograph in c.1910 (see below).

A. Hardingham, Dealer in Works of Art, 32 York Street, London, c.1910. Photograph, The Victoria & Albert Museum, copyright V&A Museum.

Amelia Hardingham’s antique shop was swept away when the buildings on York Street were demolished in 1923 to create ‘Petty France’, but the shop front of her shop was saved. It was gifted to the Victoria & Albert Museum by the Army Council (which owned the buildings) as a fine example of a late 18th century shop front. In fact, as those who visited the exhibition, ‘SOLD! The Great British Antiques Story‘ at The Bowes Museum in 2019, may remember we used an image of Amelia Hardingham’s shop front as part of the introductory interpretation at the exhibition. Indeed, when the 18th century shop front was put on display at the V&A in 1924, it was set up as a display reproducing Amelia Hardingham’s antique shop (see below).

18th century shop front on display at the V&A Museum, 1924 – W.88-1923. Photograph, The Victoria & Albert Museum. Copyright V&A Museum.

The antique shop display at the V&A Museum caused some consternation in the Press at the time, with some commentators questioning if it was appropriate that an antique shop display should be in a museum!

18th century shop front, displayed as an antique shop, at the V&A Museum in 1924. Photograph, The Victoria & Albert Museum. Copyright V&A Museum.

Readers of the Blog may also be interested to hear that women antique dealers (including Amelia Hardingham) are also the focus of some of our ‘Year of the Dealer‘ digital trails – we have ‘women antique dealer’ themes in our Trails at The Victoria & Albert Museum, The Bowes Museum and at Preston Park Museum as part of this project – so do keep your eyes open for our Year of the Dealer Trails public launch in September. As for paintings of representations of antique shops, we have acquired several other paintings over the last few years and will create another Blog post illustrating those in the next few months, so keep you eye on the Blog!

Mark

Early 19th Century Antique & Curiosity Dealers

The history of antique dealing (in it’s modern form at least) can be traced to the opening decades of the 19th century, and as part of the research project on the history of antique dealing we occasionally come across material dating from this very early period. There are examples of very rare sales catalogues produced by some of these early dealers – those that made it to the SOLD! exhibition at The Bowes Museum back in 2019 may remember we had on display some key examples of this rare material – a catalogue produced by the curiosity dealer and bookseller Horatio Rodd, who traded from Great Newport Street in London in the 1830s and 1840s, on loan from the collections at The National Art Library at the Victoria & Albert Museum.

Catalogue produced by Horatio Rodd, London 1842. National Art Library, V&A Museum; NAL:II.RC.L.32 Copyright The V&A Museum.

We have not managed to discover any early 19th century dealer catalogues (we are looking though!), but what did appear last week was an early 19th century copper trade token (26mm diameter) produced in 1839 by the well-known ‘curiosity dealer’ William Till (d.1844). Such tokens were produced from the late 18th century as a result of the coin shortages in Britain, but many traders continued to produce tokens as a form of advertising, as well as continuing to be used for payment for goods etc throughout the 19th century.

Trade Token, William Till, 1839. Photograph, Antique Dealers Research Project, University of Leeds.

I’m guessing that Till produced this token to advertise his business, and for collectors of modern coins, but perhaps it could also have been used to buy things from Till’s shop. Till was perhaps one of the most famous dealers in ‘ancient & modern coins’ in the period; he is recorded as ‘curiosity dealer’ at 17 Great Russell Street, London by 1832, and wrote an important work on ancient coins, An Essay on the Roman Denarius published in 1838. He was also one of the first members of the Numismatic Society, founded in 1836. Below is the verso of Till’s token, indicating his business as a ‘Dealer in ancient & modern coins, medals and antiques etc’.

Trade Token, William Till, 1839. Photograph, Antique Dealers Research Project, University of Leeds.

Till produced several versions of his token during the 1830s – in the above example he has included an emblem which seems to mirror the Arms of the Medici family, the enormously wealthy family based in Florence in the 15th and 16th centuries, founders of the Medici bank; the 6 balls in the cartouche in Till’s medal mimic the 6 balls in the Medici crest – Till seems to use it as a visual pun.

Curiously, a few years ago we also found another copper trade token produced by a ‘curiosity dealer’. This one produced by the dealer Robert Heslop, who traded from 62 Whitecross Street, London during the 1820s and 1830s. Heslop’s token, (also 26mm diameter), is said to very rare and to date from c.1795; it shows the famous 17th century contortionist Joseph Clarke, said to be the most extraordinary ‘posture master’, beneath the words ‘CAN YOU DO SO’.

Trade Token, Robert Heslop, c.1795 Photograph, Antique Dealers Research Project, University of Leeds.

The verso of Heslop’s token gives his address at 86 Chiswell Street, London and, like that of William Till, highlights Heslop’s trade – this time as a dealer in ‘Natural Curiosities, Paintings, Coins..’ and supplying ‘colours for artists’. It was very common for ‘curiosity dealers’ in the period to be involved overlapping markets and practices.

Trade Token, Robert Heslop, c.1795. Photograph, Antique Dealers Research Project, University of Leeds

Heslop’s token was also on display at the SOLD! exhibition at The Bowes Museum. And if you are interested in 19th century antique & curiosity dealers, you can find out more about them in my Biographical Dictionary of 19th Century Antique & Curiosity Dealers – it’s available FREE online at White Rose Depository.

Mark

More on Samuel Richards: a Nottingham antique dealer 1890s-1920s

Readers of the Antique Dealers’ blog will be aware that we have previously posted a couple blog entries on the antique dealer Samuel Richards (1859-1927) (see blog posts November 2018 & June 2014). Richards is well-known for producing charming and detailed lithographed catalogues of his stock of antiques, which he issued monthly (with a few exceptions) from the early 1890s until the period around the First World War. Richards’ catalogues are quite rare – there are a few copies at the Victoria & Albert Museum Art Library in London, bound together in a couple of volumes. We also have a small number of bound copies in the John Evan Bedford Library of Furniture History at the Brotherton Library Special Collections at the University of Leeds, thanks to the very generous bequest of the late John Bedford (1941-2019). The Brotherton Special Collections also has a couple more bound copies of Richards catalogues, very generously bought at auction (in Nottingham no less) in 2018 and donated by our friend and keen supporter of the antique dealer research project, Simon Myers, of the antique dealer R.N. Myers & Sons of Gargrave in North Yorkshire (thank you again Simon).

Samuel Richards, Nottingham, Catalogue of Stock, May 20th, 1896. Photograph, Antique Dealers’ Research Project, University of Leeds.

Richards drew the illustrations in the catalogues himself, producing them monthly and sending them out to collectors all over the UK – although Richards quite often felt the need to apologise for missing a month (due to sheer volume of work, he says) in some of the monthly catalogues.

Samuel Richards, Nottingham, catalogue of stock of antiques, April 1912. Photograph, Antique Dealers Research Project, University of Leeds.

Whilst such lithographed catalogues produced by antique dealers were not unique to Richards (see blog post of the catalogues produced by A. W. & F. Little, of Bristol, in the same period – Blog Post February 2022), Richards seems to have been particularly prolific.

As a result of these fascinating catalogues, we have been doing more research on Samuel Richards over the past few months and have discovered new information about his activities an antique dealer in the period 1890s to 1920s. Richards was born in Nottingham in 1859, and died in Loughborough in 1927. He appears to have run his antique dealing business in Nottingham, but lived most of his life in Loughborough. The Census (1901) records Richards aged 42, a ‘dealer in antiquities’ (as antiques were often called at the time), living at 1 Park Street, Loughborough, with his wife Maud (aged 38), his son Arthur (aged 9), and daughters Winifred (aged 5) and Nora (aged 4), together with a servant, Fanny (aged 16). Richards appears to have owned or rented another property in Herrick Road in Loughborough at the same time. Richards antique shops were located in Nottingham, at 77 Houndgate and at The Old Friary, Friary Lane – he seems to have operated from both premises from the 1890s until his retirement from business in c.1919 – his son Arthur (1891-1976) appears to have worked with his father in the antique shops from about 1908, perhaps until his father’s retirement in c.1919. Richards shop at 77 Houndgate was crammed full of antiques (see photograph from 1892, below) typical of the material he illustrated in his monthly catalogues.

Samuel Richards antique shop, 77 Houndgate, Nottingham, 1892. Photograph, Antique Dealers Research Project, University of Leeds.

You can just make out the exterior appearance of Richards’ Houndgate antique shop in the title page of some of his catalogues – see below).

Samuel Richards, catalogue of stock of antiques, 1891. Photograph, Antique Dealer Research Project, University of Leeds.

And as mentioned in the previous blog post in June 2014, the building that housed Richards’ Houndgate antique shop still exists (see below).

Building that housed Samuel Richards antique shop, photographed in 2014. Photograph, Antique Dealers Research Project, University of Leeds.

Richards’ other shop, The Old Friary in Friary Lane, Nottingham, was a much more famous building. He appears to have rented The Old Friary from the early 1890s until c.1919.  The Old Friary was a 17^th century building, rebuilt as part of a much earlier series of buildings that were part of Whitefriars Priory (built c.1276). 

The Old Friary, Nottingham, c.1927, just shortly prior to its demolition. Image courtesy of Getty Images as part of the Year of the Dealer project 2023.

The Old Friary was also partly rebuilt in the 16^th century and more famous for its associations with Dorothy Vernon (1544-1584) of Haddon Hall fame; Vernon is supposed to have lived at the Old Friary with her husband John Manners (1534-1611).  In 1902 Charles Major published his famous romance novel ‘Dorothy Vernon of Haddon Hall’ which may have increased traffic to Richards’ shop. Certainly, such historic associations would have been of interest to an antiquary such as Richards and to his customers.  The Old Friary was demolished in 1927. You can also just make out a photograph of The Old Friary in the title page of some of his catalogues of stock of antiques (see below).

Samuel Richards, catalogue of stock of antiques, February 1894. Photograph, Antique Dealer Research Project, University of Leeds.

We also have some exciting news about Samuel Richards – he is the focus of one of our Year of the Dealer Project digital trails (see Year of the Dealer Project) – at the Lady Lever Art Gallery at Port Sunlight, near Liverpool. Richards sold a large amount of ‘antique straw-work’ objects to Sir William Lever in 1915, one specimen of which we have included in the Year of the Dealer trail at the Lady Lever (see below). So, keep your eye out for the official launch of the Year of the Dealer trails this summer.

Mark

Early 19th century Straw-work box. French. Sold by Samuel Richards to William Lever in 1915. Lady Lever Art Gallery, Port Sunlight. Photograph, Antique Dealer Research Project, University of Leeds.

F.G. & C. Collins Antiques 1907-2006

This month’s blog post is one of our occasional series of invited contributors to the Antique Dealer Research Blog. We have a really fascinating blog on the history of the well-known antique dealers F.G. & C. Collins, of Wheathampstead, Hertfordshire, composed by Anne Atton, the grand-daughter of one of the founders of the business. We are very grateful to Anne for sharing her memories and research with the antique dealer research project – Thank You Anne!

Mark

Hi, my name is Anne Atton and I live in Wheathampstead, a rural village in Hertfordshire where my family ran a provincial antiques business. I retired as a Chartered Surveyor in 2020, having worked in both private and public sectors for 35 years. I have a keen interest in social history and my retirement has given me the opportunity to get involved in projects for the Wheathampstead History Society. I’m proud to share the story of my family’s antique business and I hope you enjoy learning about them as much as I did.

In this blog post, I reflect on 99 years of Collins Antiques, a successful antique dealership based in Wheathampstead, Hertfordshire. Starting in 1907, the business traded for 99 years, employing three generations, closing in 2006. The business evolved from selling second-hand furniture in a pub yard to the successful operation of two established retails stores selling 18th and 19th century antique furniture, together with an extensive restoration workshop.

F.G. Collins, pub yard, Railway Hotel, Wheathampstead, c.1910. Photograph courtesy of Anne Atton.

F. G. & C. Collins was founded by my great uncle Fred Collins and grandfather Charlie Collins, who were brothers from rural Wheathampstead in Hertfordshire. Frederick Collins was a talented cabinetmaker having completed his apprenticeship with the celebrated furniture business established by Sir Blundell Maple.

Charlie Collins, date unknown. Photograph courtesy of Anne Atton.

Charlie entered into partnership with his brother Fred in 1911, repairing and selling furniture from a small yard behind the Railway Hotel in Wheathampstead, before moving the business to 12 High Street, Wheathampstead (see photograph BELOW) . When money was tight, the brothers acted as cabbies, hiring horses from Tattershalls, the well-known auctioneers of horses. During the First World War their sisters looked after the business. After the War the brothers returned safely home to Wheathampstead from Europe and the Middle East, taking up the running of the business again.

F.G. & C. Collins, 12 High Street, Wheathampstead, c.1912. Photograph courtesy of Anne Atton.

In 1926, Fred Collins bought 54 High Street, Wheathampstead, which consisted of a cottage and a small site next door; after which, Fred paid £12 for a Winter Garden from a demolished local country house, which was re-erected on the High Street site in 1931, creating the F.G. & C. Collins antique shop (see photograph BELOW).

54 High Street, Wheathampstead, in c.1926 (above) and in c.1931 (below) following the creation of F.G. & C. Collins’ antique shop. Photographs courtesy of Anne Atton.

Business invoices from the 1920s show show the diversity of the business – they acted as carpet-fitters, upholsterers and furniture removers. Collins had some illustrious customers at the time, including the playwright and critic George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950). In 1926 Charlie employed a cabinet-maker, who later retired aged 80. Work on each item of furniture was recorded in a scribbling diary bought from Boots (the Chemist), a practice that continued right up to the close of the business in 2006.

In 1930, Fred Collins rented outbuildings from the Town Farm, opposite the shop. These were later used for the storage of furniture of wealthy customers protecting their valuables during the London Blitz during the Second World War.

F.G. Collins, Town Farm, Wheathampstead, storage area (date unknown). Photograph courtesy of Anne Atton.

Fred Collins sadly died in 1936, leaving the shop at 54 High Street to his brother, Charlie and the other shop at 12 High Street to his widow, Olive Collins. In 1937 Charlie had the shop decorated for the Royal Coronation of King George VI, and with an array of furniture presented for sale on the pavement outside the shop (see photograph BELOW).

Collins Antiques, decorated for the Coronation of King George VI, 1937. Photograph courtesy of Anne Atton.

In 1939 Charlie rented a Georgian building, Barton House in Wheathampstead that had been subject to a ‘Clearance Order’ in 1938, and spent the next 17 years challenging the local council to save the building from demolition. Charlie eventually bought the building in 1955, repairing it and converting it to a new antiques showroom in the 1960s. It remained as a showroom until the firm closed in 2006.

Collins Antiques, Barton House, Wheathamsptead, 1960s. Photograph courtesy of Anne Atton.

Collins Antiques, Barton House, Wheathampstead, interior of showroom, 1960s. Photograph courtesy of Anne Atton.

In 1950, Charlie’s son, my father Sam Collins, joined the business, followed by my brother Michael in 1975. In the 1960s Charlie and Sam would often undertake buying trips to Ireland, sometimes staying their for over 1 month. The business also continued to diversify in the period, becoming a local agents for ‘Sunway Blinds’ and the ‘Sunresta’ bedding company. There were some exciting antiques acquired during the 1960s, including, in 1962, a pair of French 16th century walnut stalls, which Collins sold to York Minster – (BELOW is a photo of the stalls; the young girl sitting on the seat is Anne Atton (nee Collins)!

Anne Atton (nee Collins) in the 16th century stalls in 1962. Photograph courtesy of Anne Atton.

By 2001, as the interest in antiques started to wain, the main showroom of Collins Antiques was leased out. Sam Collins sadly passed away in 2004, and the business of Collins Antiques finally closed in 2006 – although my sister, Sarah Collins, continues the family tradition of buying and selling gifts and modern furniture and furnishings.

Anne Atton.