The History

I first started buying antiques in Czech in 1978, helping a Dutch clock dealer fill his quota with occasional loads of furniture. In 1990, I began to rekindle contacts that had dwindled in the eighties and established, with the help of my new Czech colleagues, a whole new network, base and workshop to the east of Prague. From here I have expanded my buying to Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, Moldova, France, Germany, the Ukraine and Russia. More recently I have travelled to Beijing and we now have a new showroom of antique Chinese furniture.

I have always specialised in the best and most unusual pieces, as well as the basics - with an eye to original, restored or completely resurrected finishes. Eight years ago we opened our large trade only warehouse and workshops near Bungay in Suffolk where most of our specialist finishing is carried out.

The European Goods

From sophisticated urbane pieces to painted country furniture, our widely sourced range combines graceful line and form with rustic and primitive charm. Created by skilled craftsmen over a century ago from the strong, dense, slow-growing pine found on the banks of the river Danube and the forests of middle Europe; this furniture reveals its history well.

The Chinese Goods:

We have for sometime been looking for a good contact in this part of the world that would allow us to buy from various regions and then have them consolidate and restore pieces properly - without pouring bucketfuls of new shiny lacquer over them! At last we have found the right person and after a fascinating first buying trip we have been able to establish our new range of Chinese antique furniture.

We believe that the previous life of each piece, from the simplest Chinese tea table to the most lavishly hand painted Hungarian marriage cupboard, is integral to its beauty and charm and accounts for the enduring, international appeal of our furniture.

Our restoration is designed to preserve this sense of the passage of time, from beautifully rich, worn, or faded patinas; to dramatically cracked, scuffed, or blistered layers of paint. We are able to restore and recreate these qualities with our own specially developed range of traditionally antiqued paint and wax finishes, which have proved very popular and profitable with our customers worldwide.