Thirlestaine House: A History Full of Art

Thirlestaine House in Cheltenham once housed one of the greatest picture collections in the nineteenth century.  It was originally built by an amateur architect named J.R. Scott in 1820.  British Listed Buildings describes the house as follows: 'Thirlestaine House represents the apogee of the Cheltenham villa and is the only surviving example of the grand villa …

The ABCs of Decorative Arts: Escutcheons

We are continuing our alphabetic tour of the decorative arts with an often overlooked element on almost every piece of Georgian case furniture: the escutcheon.  Simply put, the escutcheon is a metal plate that fits around a keyhole.  The term escutcheon comes from an old French word derived from the Latin word scutum, meaning a shield. …

Spotting the Shells: Georgian Furniture with a Shell Motif

At first glance, the following selection of furniture may appear to have little in common, besides the shared country of origin and eighteenth century creation date. However, upon closer inspection, you will see each piece incorporates a carved shell.  Today we will look at why the shell appears so frequently on eighteenth century English antiques …

An Unusual Material: Chinese Cinnabar Lacquer

We have covered lacquer in previous blog posts (here, here, and here), but today we are going to focus on a very specific form of lacquer that has been highly prized since its first appearance many centuries ago. The art of carving lacquer is unique to China, although lacquer itself has been made all across …

Portraiture in Focus: George Romney’s Depiction of Francis Lind

As dealers in Georgian antique furniture, it is a misconception to think that our collection is restricted to just furniture.  To create an interior that befits the antique furniture you need the decorative arts, including porcelain, glass, and other objects of virtue, as well as paintings.  We are particularly fond of British portraiture from the …

Bringing French Taste to England: Pierre Langlois

Pierre Langlois was a cabinet-maker of Huguenot origins who found favour in both the Royal Court and within the aristocracy. His name is now synonymous with the greatest English furniture, made in the French taste, during the second half of the 18th century. Langlois was born in France and trained as a cabinetmaker, possibly with …

Designer Spotlight: Garrow Kedigian of Garrow Kedigian Designs

It is impossible to walk in a room designed by Garrow Kedigian and not be blown away immediately by his clear enthusiasm and passion for what he does.  Born in Montreal, Garrow attended the McGill School of Architecture and trained with renowned designer William Hodgins in Boston before moving to New York to start his …