It was a dismal morning, not yet light. The parking areas of the Parc des Expositions were full of muddy ruts. Vans were all over the place, backing up, wheels spinning. There were shouts and waving torches. No one could see much through rainy windows. Having reversed out of the scrum I found a spot […]
Oval serving platters, round and rectangular dishes, oyster plates, cheese strainers, soupieres and bowls from various French factories Limoges, Creil et Montereau, Luneville. Condition varies – some are perfect and some are just to look lovely on a shelf despite a chip or crack. Prices from £9 up to £70. Please visit Station Mill to […]
I am posting a new photo of this lovely painted chest of drawers to better show the amber-pink colour (painted in the 1950’s) with a creamy white trim. The handles were replaced mid century. It is a solid and charming piece, with ample storage. Price £795.
Come November I made a swift and functional circuit to Chartres and Le Mans for the two dealer’s markets. I stayed in budget hotels near the exhibition parks, where the parking spaces filled overnight with white vans. It was a straight forward drive down from Le Havre to Chartres. As I walked across a narrow […]
Thank you to everyone who came to the Decorative Living Fair at Chelsea Town Hall this month – it was a very good day. And to Jo Leevers (BLOG: “Decorative Love”) for her lovely review, a deep curtsey!
A mean Mistral was blowing as we started our drive north. Despite tall lines of trees planted as wind breaks, vines were waving in leafy frenzy. We were taking our time, travelling through the Cotes du Rhone. We stopped in Vacqueyras for lunch and to buy wine. Café tables were covered in shreds of planr […]
Signed oil on board of cottages in the dunes – northern France or Belgium. Silver gilt frame. 96 cm w x 71 cm H. Price: £345.
Buffet from the mountains of Le Massif Central. Very solid and rustic. New internal shelf and new plinth added. Original green and black paint on doors, and matched paint on rest of body. 98 cm H x 114 cm W x 44 cm D. Price £465.
The Avignon market offered even more to tempt the avid buyer. In the large open-air spaces chandeliers sparkled in the sun, piled white porcelaine glinted and metal garden chairs curved elegantly. A stunning gilt wood bed side table on such delicate cabriole legs glowed. I had to buy it. “Have a cherry liqueur chocolate,” offered […]
UPDATE – If you are in London on October 2nd do come and say hello at the Decorative Living Fair in Chelsea Old Town Hall.
A serious young French girl, framed. 33cm x 41cm. Price: £95
The deballage at Montpellier was vast. This was my first time here. A milling crowd of dealers had already filed past the ticket collector into a glass atrium. At 8h precisely the doors to one side opened and we poured out into a large open space where lorries were being unpacked at speed. Cavernous halls […]
Another afternoon, when driving back from les Saintes Maries de la Mer – a village all bright and dazzling by a windy sea, with narrow fisherman’s lanes, a pretty restaurant beneath a mulberry tree, women in gypsy dress offering lavender, and such views of the Camargue from up on the church roof – I saw […]
Sturdy French 18th century chestnut table, fully treated and later painted in chalk paint – blue grey base and darker grey top – with wax finish. Decorative apron on all sides. 72.5cm high x 71cm deep x 120cm wide. Price: £495.
The Camargue is a particular place. Black bulls, the Guardien cowboys, white horses and flamingos are its usp. As well as mosquitoes and the violent Mistral blowing down the Rhone valley. Our gite was in Montcalm, a hamlet with an 18th century chateau surrounded by vineyards. In the 19th century, with phylloxera devastating vines across […]
This over-mantel has been restored, and new mirror plate/beading fitted. Decorative columns and carved panels. Deep shelf above. It is a heavy piece and could be supported by a wall-fixed batten. Original grey paint with a little new paint touched in. Price now £195.
Under low cloud we climbed high over the Massif Central, a smooth and exhilarating drive along the autoroute with views of pine forests and ruined chateaux perched above craggy valleys, and over the fabulously daring Millau viaduct. Much easier than a thousand hairpin bends through the gorges. I wanted to visit two dealers in Vic […]
Glazed pine tabernacle with raised upstand. One pane of original glass remaining. 74 cm high x 43 cm wide x 43 cm deep. Price: £320.
A bright September morning in Le Havre with Graham, emerging from the cavernous ferry garage, heading for the Mediterranean. Once over the Tancarville Bridge that sails over the Seine we traveled on National roads, past villages with steep slate roofs and needle-sharp church spires, past large tan and white cows, half timbered barns and stacked […]
I had bought well the year before from an elderly couple in prime position at the start of the four kilometer forest road. They lifted boxes on to the trestle tables and let me rummage by torchlight and do the unpacking for them. “We don’t know what is in the boxes,” they told us, “it […]
Next morning we drove down the Cotentin peninsula to visit another dealer. Graham began muttering about lack of coffee, so at the next small town we parked by the church and sat outside a modest restaurant as it was preparing for its lunchtime trade. Small square tables set with paper place mats, stainless steel cutlery […]
As much as the springtime palette of Provence the month before had filled my eyes with vivid colours and light, it was still a gentle pleasure to return to Normandy in May. A brief visit this time to collect an oak buffet I’d bought nearly two years previously, to visit a few dealers and attend […]
All of my purchases had been collected and loaded by late lunchtime as a long line of vans trailed its way inside the perimeter fence to begin picking up. The transporter’s lorry set off northwards but my flight wasn’t until the following morning. With the afternoon free I drove south of Avignon and chanced upon […]
I stood in the growing crowd by the gates at the Avignon dealer’s fair the next morning. The tanned, worldly, elegant with hair swept suavely back, and the portly, gruff and voluble waited in palpable anticipation. At 8am the gates opened and the surge carried us all in. Stall holders in one large exhibition hall […]
