Beautiful Rooms

While leafing through two of my favourite books, 'French Style at Home' by Sebastien Siraudeau and 'Elements of Style' by Michael S. Smith I came upon these four beautiful rooms, which I think have incorporated antique pieces in a most interesting and beautiful way. I particularly love the way a sophisticated French Louis XVI sofa has been teamed with a really contemporary fluorescent yellow cut velvet contrasting a very old and worn bench seat.

   

    

Don't Believe The Hype - High Quality Antiques Are Not a Dime a Dozen

In the event of severe chest pain, do you self diagnose the problem, or seek advice from a specialist?

There’s a lot of hype around the place suggesting that quality antiques are a dime a dozen. Much as we love the program, unless you know otherwise, the Antiques Roadshow of the world would have you believe there's a goldmine waiting around every antique corner. 

In reality, the opposite is the case. The world is full of mediocrity, and with every passing year, because of the limited supply, good quality antiques become scarcer, and this trend is likely to intensify as the world becomes wealthier.

Chinese buyers are now very much in evidence in Europe, buying back their own Asian antiques, however they also appear to be developing a taste for high quality European items as well. Which brings us to an interesting question.

In the event of having a serious legal problem, do you represent yourself in court? Do you manufacture your own air-conditioning system and do you service your own motorcar?
If the answer to these questions in general, is no, then we would ask, why is it that so many individuals take it upon themselves to decide that a piece of antique furniture is either one, authentic and two, of good quality or not. Having done so, why is it they then proceed to hand over large sums of money to purchase from little known websites and auction sources, which provide no written authentication or proof of expertise?

As dealers in antiques over four decades, we at Wallrocks find it is distressing to observe the problems that are foisted on an unsuspecting public. It’s now a regular weekly question from internet bargain 'experts', ‘How come your Louis XV chair is $3000 when we saw one on ebay for $700?
The answer to this question, quite simply is of course, that the chair for $700 is not the same as the chair for $3000. And… in the unlikely event that it is then buy it. The point being, unless you're trained in the area, how do you know? It takes some expertise and experience to tell the difference.

Wallrocks have been at considerable pains and expense on our website to provide a magnifying or zoom facility so that people really can look at detail. DETAIL IS EVERYTHING. Well-executed, beautiful detail is very expensive to produce and is rarely if ever seen in replica reproduction or fake furniture.

We hear every day that in this changing world of online buying, that the retailer is no longer necessary. The implication being that the Internet somehow makes everyone an expert in every field, and the need for qualified expert intermediaries is therefore no longer necessary.
One might only imagine what might happen if members of the public were to opt to start performing open heart surgery on themselves after reading a step by step guide online. The result is the same with self-diagnosis of antiques.

If anything, the advent of the Internet and Internet buying makes experienced and trustworthy individuals and businesses more important than ever. This applies across all specialties and is particularly relevant where significant sums of money change hands.
The Internet is convenient, quick and everyone’s doing it. So what do you do? We believe it can still be done, but there are a few rules of thumb you might want to take into consideration prior to purchase online, in auction rooms or in-store.

Read on for our safeguards to help when buying antiques.

What is Luxury...Really?

One of my favourite monthly reads is 'The World of Interiors' mag. The latest September edition had an article on various interior and design books, one of them called Paris: Life & Luxury in the 18th Century.

I'm going out to buy it today. There was a wonderful line that resonated with me and really made me think, in the 21st century, where everything is about immediacy, speed and instant gratification, do we really even know what the word luxury means? 

Both the book and article go on to say, that 'for today's consumer, 'luxury' is a marketing tag applied to loo roll and icecream than ormolu and silk moire. It demands nothing of us bar the willingness to pay more, and few of us pause to marvel at the dexterity of the loo-paper-maker.'

Never a truer word said in my opinion, and the article then laments, 'how different things were 300 years ago, then the central goal of cultivated sociability was to be aesthetically and socially gratifying to others.' And, never was there a more poignant demonstration of this that during the reign of Louis XV. 

So, I thought what better way to exemplify this than show a few photos of some of the more exceptional pieces that we have, antiques with a quality that simply does not come along every day. And if you don't buy the book, at the very least read the article. Simply wonderful!

If There Was No Tomorrow

No doubt many of you have already seen this, but for those that have not I felt compelled to share it. Life changes forever in a moment and when this landed on my desk this morning, it gave me goosebumps. If everyday we thought it was the last day we were going to see someone, oh how different everything would be...

'Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything -- all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure -- these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.' 

(Steve Jobs, 1955 -- 2011)

On a different note, here's a few of my favourites for the week. Have a wonderful weekend!

New Shipment Just Arrived

Another exhausting, (and distressing) day of house hunting has finally ended with a cuppa tea and a bickie, and a mosy through our beautiful new arrivals in an attempt to calm my nerves to be perfectly honest. Whoever said retail therapy was not a cure for all things, quite frankly had no idea what they were talking about!

So while I'm pretty sure that I have missed out on my dream home, BY A MARGIN OF A WEEK, at least tonight I can console myself with designing my 'one day to be' home and cramming it with everything that I love. So I hope you enjoy the following, while I go and drown my housing sorrows with what I hope will be a very nice glass of wine!

Enquire: Rare and oh so beautiful 19th century Italian hand painted bombe chest.

 Enquire: Beautiful 19th century French Louis XVI Queen Bed

 Enquire: 19th century coffee table anyone?

19th Century Louis XV Parcel Gilt Armchair w/ Original Tapestry.

The tapestry on this piece is so fine, it could be an oil painting.

Suitcase Full of Goodies

So every time I go overseas to buy, I find myself staring longingly at two particular pieces that much to my distress, I have never been able to buy. So this last time, in full anticipation of the usual astronomical price tag, I asked the price, in the full knowledge I was wasting my time.

Well, to say that I was in raptures and struggling to contain myself when I was able to buy it would be an understatement! But yes,  I was able to pack these two long lost little lovelies in my suitcase...finally.

This first piece is a beautiful 19th century Japanese cloisonne charger.

Cloisonne is the ancient art of decorating metalwork. The design is created by adhering strips of silver, gold wire to the base metal, which works to separate and compartmentalise the enamel or inlay colours. 

Japanese cloisonne originated during the Edo period in the 17th century, (1603 - 1867), a period in which Japan was closed to the rest of the world and avoided invasion and as such experienced a period of marked development and culture.

Ahhhh and look at the result!

See more like this!

 

And last but not least, this super quality 19th century tall hand painted glass vase.

19th Century Sevres!

We found the most astonishingly beautiful pair of 19th century French Sevres vases that I've ever seen. Absolute stunners!

To enquire simply click here on Sevres Porcelain and enquire.

Everything Comes From Something

So I just heard this story, and geek as I may be, I found it quite fascinating. Enjoy!

Just as the economic and military situations influence and to a large extent dictate the way of life in most countries today, so they did in past centuries. The French Napoleonic era, (best known as the French Empire), and the English Regency period both spanned the first quarter of the 19th century. The approaches to the English channel, have always been strategically important to France, England and Spain, as they that control the channel, control the ports. The blockade during this time, resulted in a complete in the style and fashions of the furniture.

During the 18th century, fine quality timbers were imported into Europe from South America and the British, Spanish and French West Indies for the use in high quality, elaborate furniture, typical of the Louis XV and XVI periods. Access to these materials was forced to a grinding halt during the Napoleonic period, specifically the first 20-25 years of the 19th century, as the English channel was blockaded and the once profligate luxury timbers were now in short supply.

The cabinet makers sought and found a readily accessible alternative for inlays in brass, available in England and Europe and is a typical feature of Empire furniture. At the same time, income tax was rising and as a result, much of the embellishment and carving disappeared from furniture and was replaced by the straighter lines and austerity, typical of Empire and Regency furniture.

Why I love buying in summer!

...and how a garden looks without possums.

This particular day I bought antiques amongst the flowers, and two of the prettiest pieces were this original 19th century drum and...

This equally beautiful 19th century chest with its original paint.

If you'd like to be notified when the new shipment arrives in, just click here on antiques!