Features

In the antiques trade, the term escutcheon has two different meanings depending on which specialism you apply it to.

Silverware

The etymology of the word escutcheon derives from the Norman French word ‘escuchon’, which in turn is a derivation from the Latin word ‘scutum’, meaning shield. Consequently, the first usage of the term is in its traditional heraldic sense, in which an escutcheon is the term used to signify the shield which forms the basis of a coat of arms. 

A sailor’s fid, or marlinspike, was an essential item in a sailors’ everyday equipment, and was commonly used throughout the maritime era now known as the Age of Sail (circa 1550-1850). They came in a variety of sizes designed to suit all the requirements of a busy working vessel.

Together with his contemporaries, Thomas Chippendale and George Hepplewhite, Thomas Sheraton was the third pillar in a triumvirate of designers that elevated British furniture to global renown. Their designs not only defined the style and fashion of the late Georgian era but continue to influence contemporary makers and designers more than 200 years later.

At the height of the British Empire, the London firm of Negretti and Zambra led the world in the manufacture of precision mathematical, scientific, and surveying instruments. The quality and superiority of their products earned them Royal patronage and a peerless reputation for excellence that would last for more than 100 years.

Beloved by celebrities, sportsmen and the super-rich, Patek Philippe is one of the most iconic brands in luxury watch and clock making. Their beautiful and highly sought-after designs have been worn by such luminaries as Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, US President John F. Kennedy, and celebrated physicist Albert Einstein. 

BADA Friends Appoints New Northern Regional Ambassador

The Friends of the BADA (British Antique Dealers’ Association) Trust are delighted to announce that Nicholas Merchant is to become its new Northern Regional Ambassador. Living in Harrogate and running his own company Aspect Events, Nicholas is well-known for his work with the Arts Society for whom he is an accredited lecturer.

A prolific artist and printmaker, Thomas Rowlandson is best known for his brilliant and often savage satirical caricatures, which lampooned both the wealthy elite, and the working man with equal intensity. Nearly 200 years after his death, Rowlandson’s extensive body of work offers a remarkable and unrivalled insight into the characters and culture of contemporary Georgian Society.

Although porcelain manufacture began in Worcester in the mid-18th century, it was the partnership of Flight and Barr that really put the city on the map. The firm helped earn Worcester Porcelain a world-renowned reputation and establish the city as a centre for high quality ceramics and craftsmanship.

Marketing Manager
£35,000-£40,000 per annum plus pension contributions
Monday-Friday, 9:00-17:30
Availability required on evenings and weekends during events and key times for time-in-lieu
1-year contract with potential for renewal 
Annual review of salary based on performance
Must be London based 
 

A klismos or klismos chair is a style of lightweight, simple, yet elegant seating furniture that originated in Ancient Greece and found popularity once more during the Neoclassical era in Western Europe. 

Although no Ancient examples survive, klismos chairs can be seen in Greek painted pottery and ceramics from as early as the 5th century BC onwards. Such as this amphora from the Attic Peninsula, circa 460 BC, from the British Museum Collection.

The sons of a wholesale stationers’ clerk, the four Martin Brothers, Robert Wallace, Walter, Edwin and Charles are amongst the most important names in British art pottery, creating some of the weirdest and most wonderful studio pottery pieces of the late Victorian and early 20th century.

Parents Robert Thomas Martin and Margaret Fraser moved from Suffolk in the early 19th century, making a home for their nine children in London. Eldest son Robert Wallace Martin (1843-1923) showed early artistic promise and was apprenticed to the architectural sculptor J.B. Phillips.

Although originally from Switzerland, the Vulliamy family achieved renown as one of Britain’s finest makers of clocks and watches in the 18th and 19th century.

Family patriarch Francois-Justin Vulliamy (known as Justin) was born in 1712 in the Pays de Vaud region of Switzerland. The area is sandwiched between Lake Neuchâtel to the North and Lake Geneva to the South, and at the time was already synonymous with high quality watchmaking.