Furniture

The first of a series of events to mark the tercentenary of Thomas Chippendale’s birth has opened at Leeds City Museum.

Designed by Bodil Kjaer, this 1960s oak, palisander and steel ‘executive desk’ offered at Chiswick Auctions (23% buyer’s premium) is a classic example of the huge influence of Scandinavian architects on Western post-war design.

Antique Church Furnishings, which describes itself as ‘God’s Furniture since 1985’, sells almost everything in the religious line – from chasubles to crucifixes and misericordes to missal stands.

Upholstered Victorian armchairs not being the most in-demand of auction lots at present, the £100-150 estimate of a pair offered at Greenslade Taylor Hunt (19.5% buyer’s premium) did not seem overly pessimistic.

Galloway Antiques Fairs returns for its second edition at the Midhurst stately home Cowdray House this year.

Antique pine furniture has many followers who buy it battered and cheap and simply ‘tart it up’ with an invariably low degree of skill and taste to sell on.

Christopher Howe has been dealing from the Pimlico Road area for the past 30 years but he likes to shake things up.

Our weekly selection from salerooms and dealerships.

Bargueño desks, designed to hold documents and money, originated in Renaissance Spain and remained popular through the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries.

The studio ceramics offered at the Mallams Oxford (20% buyer’s premium) Design, Modern British and Post-War Art sale were the major talking point (see ATG No 2324), but furniture by major late 19th century and early 20th century makers also made an impact.

As well as dealing in antique furniture, Christopher Howe creates his own designs and has furnished works for institutions such as The National Gallery and Sir John Soane’s Museum.

Jason Jacques’ eponymous Manhattan gallery specialises in art pottery, especially works from the 19th century and Art Nouveau period and work by modern studio potters. It is exhibiting for the first time this year at the 'Winter Antiques Show' in New York.

Peter Wells trades as Form & Function in Brighton. He stands at The London Art Antiques & Interiors Fair at ExCeL London (January 12-14).