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Dine in style

Ronald Phillips were delighted to join forces with world famous chef Michel Roux Jr, at one of London’s top restaurants, Roux at the Landau.
The exclusive dinner, which was held in aid of London charity the Dispossessed Fund to help London’s poor and needy, saw guests transported back to another era. The Postillion, the restaurant’s private dining room, was transformed with an array of Ronald Phillips’ dining room furniture.
Michel Roux devised a four course menu especially for the evening, using dishes sourced from Langham’s archives, which appeared on the hotel menus in the 1800s; evoking the decadent dinners of the 19th century.
Simon Phillips remarked, “It was wonderful to see these beautiful pieces of furniture displayed in all their glory- in fitting surroundings- and enjoyed by people hundreds of years after they were made.”pasting

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Time passes - but the market remains buoyant

Antique clocks have been one of the strongest classic collectibles in the antiques market since mechanical timepieces were invented.

A good antique clock is considered a serious and safe investment, and most are proud display pieces due to their aesthetic beauty.
The market for smaller 18th century clocks has never been more buoyant, their size and expediency alluring beyond the horology continuum.

A recent source stimulating appeal is from mainland China. The Chinese admire and appreciate English clocks.

Whether it is an immensely rare example of a white marble porcelain and ormolu mantelpiece, numbered 758 by the royal clockmaker Vulliamy or a Georgian bracket clock with a signed ornate engraved backplate by one of the last ‘Golden Age’ names Daniel Delander; Ronald Phillips holds a large collection of interesting and rare antique clocks for sale at our Bruton Street gallery.
Barometers are also a specialisation of the business, the range encompassing some of the most unusual and rare examples of their type. Makers who include Watkins and Smith of London, Batty Storr of York, A.J Adie and Bruner and Co are all of particular note.
Each scientific time piece and instrument typifies the best that the English 18th century furniture designers and manufacturers had to offer and each is carefully selected to best represent the style or example in the best condition.

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National Antiques Week 2013 - APRIL 20-28


To celebrate National Antiques Week this year, Simon Phillips highlights the importance of supreme quality design, condition, patination and authenticity that prevails the success of the antiques market today.

“Some of our historical pieces have never left English soil before. They were made by the very best
English craftsmen of their generation, from the finest English materials for the grandest families in England. They are the very best examples of their kind.

There’s no doubt that in today’s market serious buyers continue to seek the best....with provenance....and high quality.

This Georgian secrétaire bookcase is one of my all-time favourite pieces.  I am enchanted not only by its strong Sutton Hall provenance but also the way in which it encompasses some of the most important aspects of 18th century furniture design and manufacture.

 It undoubtedly came from one of the leading workshops in 18th century England. It has features in common with pieces by Chippendale (in particular the superior quality of the carving and style of the paterae, relating to paterae on a linen press at Harewood House in Yorkshire), while the execution of the pediment, the use of husk swags and the shape of the bracket feet relate to drawings by Mayhew and Ince. The Yorkshire cabinet-makers Wright and Elwick were also capable of producing a piece of this quality, leaving a firm attribution open.”

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Vanity Fair

He’s one of the masterminds behind the London art fair Masterpiece and owner of antique-furniture specialist Ronald Phillips. All-round art aficionado Simon Phillips lets Vanity Fair in on a few trade secrets.

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RARE GLADSTONE MIRROR

A rare mirror which hung in a North Wales castle for generations is now on display in the Ronald Phillips gallery. This exquisite and possibly unique George II giltwood mirror was hung in Hawarden Castle, Flintshire which was the estate of the Victorian statesman, four-time Prime Minister Sir William Gladstone- where it had been since new.            

Having been in the same family since it's commission in 1750 this beautiful and utterly unique artefact survives in an unbelievable state of preservation. Retaining the original oil gilding and wonderful original plate.

Today reputedly Ronald Phillips hold the largest and most comprehensive collection of mirrors, which date between 1660 and 1820 including, some of the finest Chinese reverse mirror paintings made for the English market.

Simon Phillips remarks:
"The Gladstone mirror was an exciting purchase because it is in such great condition. There is very little that has been added to it, which- when considering it was made in the middle of the 18th century- is quite amazing.

Mirrors are something that I've always particularly liked, and like paintings you can always find room for them. I feel they can add sophistication and glamour to both traditional and modern interiors.

Through The Looking Glass With Simon Phillips:

1. Choose original glass
Original glass has to come top of the list if you are looking to buy an antique mirror. In the 17th and 18th centuries glass was the most valuable part of a mirror, and it continues to be important when dealing in antique mirrors today. If an original mirror plate has been lost, so much of the history has gone with it, since much of the appeal of antique mirrors is the fact that they have been used as looking glasses for hundreds of years.

2. Find mirrors with original gilding
Original gilding is another quality to look out for. As fashions have changed over the years, many mirrors were regilded or painted, but it is best for investment purposes to have mirrors restored to their original state. In essence, always look for a mirror that has had as little repair done to it as possible.

3. Choose a mirror with a provenance
It is always great if you can find a mirror with a bit of history or a story attached to it; proof of previous owners, maker's labels or sale receipts give a piece that extra appeal.

4. Choose quality
Buy the very best!

5. Choose the best designs
Quality of design is also important. Look out for intricate carvings on the frame and beautiful bevelling in the glass.

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THE V&A OPEN A NEW FURNITURE GALLERY

The Victoria and Albert Museum have recently opened a new furniture gallery, providing a permanent home for an internationally notorious collection.

The V&A has always displayed furniture across its galleries, but this will be the first dedicated exclusively to furniture and, they say, the only gallery internationally devoted to a wide-ranging display of furniture, telling the story of its production across six centuries. Some of the objects, more than 200 pieces of British and European furniture, from the Middle Ages to the present day, as well as pieces from the Americas and Asia, have not been on display for 30 years. Comparable pieces from Ronald Phillips are often drawn to the V&A collection.

This pair of Irish George III sycamore satinwood and marquetry side tables attributed to William Moore of Dublin have a frieze design that corresponds in great detail to the frieze of a commode also attributed to Moore, which is now in The Victoria and Albert Museum.

This extraordinary chimneypiece that was at one time housed in Stedcombe House Devon, corresponds in almost every detail to a design by Matthias Lock, published in 1752 and which is now in the Victoria and Albert Museum, and is to date the only known realisation of the drawing.

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