Saturday 5 November 2011

'Any colour..., as long as it's black'

Prophetic words Mr Ford. Black-finished furniture was a popular aesthetic throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, and remains a stylish choice today.

 
These ebonised hardwood bookends were perhaps brought back from Africa as souvenirs in the 1950's. Beautifully carved, and accented with resin tusks, they look like they've arrived straight from the bookshelf of an Art Deco Manhattan apartment.



This set of collector's drawers would have been a must for your discerning Victorian naturalist, and his collection of rocks, fossils, or butterflies. With eight gradated depth drawers, this is a very elegant and practical item of furniture. Would make a very chic filing cabinet...


Dating from the 1950's, this large Herbert Terry anglepoise lamp is an essential component to the 'vintage office' look. Although originally produced in other colours, black always looks best as it contrasts so well with the chrome fittings.


This turned oak table has been repainted to give it a new lease of life. We think that the change of colour has given it a more turn-of-the-century 'Aesthetic' look, even though the table itself dates from the 1930's.


The 1920s was the era for a resurgence of the 'chinoiserie' style in interiors and furniture. This traditional-lacquered hardwood screen dates from around this period.


As timelessly stylish and functional now as it was then, the seven narrow leaves of this Art Deco screen neatly fold up for efficient and neat storage when not in use.

See more of our monochrome-inspired stock of delightful objects.

Monday 5 September 2011

Beautiful bugs

Some of our steady sellers over the past few years have been our boxed collections of butterflies. We've now got our hands on some of these beautiful specimen boxes of beetles and other insects.

 

 

 

 

Tapping into the Victorian craze for collecting and classifying, these look great displayed en masse in a cabinet or display case.

 



We've painted this one black with a lighter blue/grey interior to provide a great 'showcase' for whatever delightful objects it contains.

For those less enamoured with having the actual bugs, we have a stylish range of Victorian illustrations of butterflies and moths. All are from late nineteenth century book publications and are framed and strung ready for hanging.




 

Thursday 11 August 2011

Please be seated

We like furniture that combines style with practicality. We've got a great range of stacking kids' chairs currently in stock.

A nostalgic trip back to the 1950s/60s schoolroom with these classic kids' chairs, with tubular steel frames and formed plywood seats. We love the remnants of original red paintwork on the frame, chipped and worn by 50 years of use.


These sturdy vintage stacking school chairs have beechwood frames with plywood seats. They have stood the test of time thanks to the ingenious steel brackets that tie the frame together. Built to last, they have served years of impatient bottoms!

We couldn't resist these gorgeous, painted Ercol stacking chairs. These are the smallest size of all our stacking chairs. Made of elm and beech, these chairs were designed by Lucien R Ercolani in 1957. Perhaps they were painted for a nursery; lemon for girls, green for boys? They are so cute, and look great in our showroom stacked in alternate colours.


Have a look at all the other chairs we currently have in stock, for bottoms big and small...

Beware: the bugs are coming....

Sunday 17 July 2011

New website

Our new website is up and running!


We wanted to create an online 'portfolio' to feature an edited selection of our stock, past and present. We've categorised our stock into four main categories: furniture, lighting, natural history and delightful objects. Each category features an edited selection of items representing the sorts of things we like to sell.



Whilst you can't buy items directly from the website, we've included links from most pages that will allow you to check on the availability of current stock, and will show you how you can see the items or ask questions about them.

Coming soon: The Beauty of Bugs...

Saturday 11 June 2011

Not just for kitchens

Multifunctional furniture has always been in demand. The early 20th century kitchen presented new challenges for furniture designers; people wanted efficient ways to store both food and an expanding array of culinary contraptions.

With more and more people now having less and less domestic living space to play with, multifunctional furniture is as important as ever.

This vintage oak kitchen cabinet/larder would make a neat addition to a living room or home office. Dating from the 1930s, it's in excellent condition and still has the original enamelled work surface. It has a very useful, and compact, combination of drawers and storage cupboards, especially for the amount of floor space it occupies.



We've also added more kitchenware to our stocklist - we've got plenty of stripes on the go at the moment...


This retro two-tone painted plywood kitchen cabinet has an array of useful storage cupboards and drawers. Dating from the 1950s it has a handy fold-down Formica work surface. A potential mini home-office?


This formica-topped beech kitchen table has aluminium trimmed edges making it extra-classy. These tables continue to be very popular, especially for small ('bijou') London flats where space is at a premium. The drop-leaf sides allow it to be stowed into the corner of a room when not in use.

Monday 30 May 2011

London Calling

Calling all London Lovers! We've got a limited number of these hand-made cushion covers for sale.


Featuring a range of London landmarks, these would make great presents for any London-lover.






Contact us if you'd to nab one!


London Lovers cushion
Cotton/linen mix.
Slip case for cushion removal.
Measurements: 46cm (18") square
Washing instructions: Cold machine wash/hand wash.

Price: £45 (*inclusive of postage)
Please note cushion pad not supplied

* To UK addresses only. For quotes on shipping abroad, please contact us.

Sunday 1 May 2011

African adventures

We haven't quite ventured as far as Africa, but we have been getting some of our Belgian buys and other African-inspired delightful objects ready for sale.


We picked up these great African wood-carved masks during our trip to Brussels at the end of last year. These modern masks make striking sculptural pieces. We've mounted a few of them on steel stands to emphasise these qualities.






This quirky lamp dating from the 1930s, has an extra-useful bendy metal 'holder' alongside a carved elephant on a marble base. We've had our postcards filed in it for the past couple of weeks. It's a handy combination of letter rack/lamp!


Finally, this African animal hide drum is a surefire way to out-bongo all those park-dwelling bongo players this summer!