The Decorative Antiques & Textiles Fair 2017

Devas Designs was thrilled to see some regular exhibitors alongside newcomers at The Decorative Antiques & Textile Fair in Battersea Park last week. The fair included a very eclectic mix of stunning antiques and decorative items from France, Italy, Sweden, Spain, the UK and beyond. The fair originally started in 1985 and is now a major annual fixture on our calendar, a must-see event which covers everything from textiles, and furniture to ceramics and paintings.

We were glad to see some regulars are back again plus some new exhibitors. The Fair is always a very exciting show and as you will see from some of the items we have picked out, this one did not disappoint.

We were particularly attracted to some of the luminous glass wear from James Miles Ltd such as this blue glass vase and this stunning pink glass dish. We were also drawn to their collection of Poole Pottery.

We loved the elegant lines of this 1958 mid-century chair by Arne Hovmund-Olsen. The graphic impact of this piece is reminiscent of the Vienna Secessionist work of Josef Hoffman.

We were also drawn to this vase from Justin Evershed Martin, crafted by Carlo Moretti who owned an artisan factory in Murano, creating pieces in the traditional manner using glassblowing techniques but adding contemporary design.

Da Silva Antiques are based in London, her selection of decorative items and original vintage pieces is constantly updated. We were pleased to find this eclectic range of cushions using antique fabrics, with such a wide selection we will be keeping an eye open for suitable pieces.

3details is another company which surprised us with this work by British artist Peter Woodward, who is both a painter and print-maker. This arrangement of vessels depicted in neutral tones relies, primarily, on the arrangement of form and texture. He sources antique frames for his work, which he painstakingly prepares, so that the frame becomes almost part of the painting itself. These works would lend themselves to both a modern and a traditional interior.

Finally we were fascinated to learn that 3details hold a unique collection of 'rescued' artefacts from Jim Dine’s former London home. Jim Dine is considered to be a pioneer of pop art and part of the Neo Dada art movement, he currently lives in America. The ‘found’ works, include  memorabilia, and artworks and were only rediscovered recently. This is just a small selection from their extraordinary find. 

PAD London 2016

Last week we visited PAD London Art and Design fair in Berkeley Square. PAD specialises in 20th century art and design with a spectacular array of modern art, photography, design and decorative pieces on display. Their exhibitors come to London from across Europe, America and Asia which promised an eclectic selection for sale.

Here are our favourite displays from the this year’s PAD London ...

- ADRIAN SASSOON -

As always Adrian Sassoon had a fabulous display of ceramics and glass. Sassoon's background in the arts, having previously worked at J. Paul Getty Museum, makes him an expert in collecting creative and innovative pieces. Sassoon specialises in two categories; Sevres Porcelain and contemporary Decorative Arts.

There was a lovely piece by Felicity Aylieff (pictured below) who is known for her exploration of surface detail, in particular stylised flowers and plants. As Head of Ceramics and Glass at the Royal College of Art, she is also recognised for her research into large-scale ceramics.

The vessel by Danish glassblower Tobias Mohl (pictured below) was another beautiful piece, made from blown glass and canework - canework is a technique used to add intricate detail through blowing rod-like streams of colour through the glass. Mohl uses traditional Venetian techniques but incorporates a Scandinavian aesthetic to create a contemporary take.

- PETER PETROU -

Peter Petrou’s stand comprised unique and dynamic pieces including this truly striking piece of furniture, the console table by Irish designer Joseph Walsh made from olive ash and glass. The piece is beautifully hand crafted in his studio in Cork and comes from his famous 'Enignum' series. He is inspired by his wild coastal surroundings in Ireland, the landscape he grew up with. He manipulates and bends the wood as far as he can, allowing its natural curves to come through to create undulating and sinuous forms that flow through each other. A console table like this would be a spectacular centre piece in a sitting room, especially in a country or coastal home where it could reflect its natural surroundings.

- PINTO PARIS -

Pinto Paris create bespoke pieces of furniture, tableware and accessories. Every piece is designed and crafted by hand, often incorporating rare and luxurious materials. We were inspired by their devotion to French traditions; the company always collaborates with French craftsmen from cabinetmakers to lacquerers and upholsterers to bronzers, stonemasons, parchment makers, and lapidaries who all work using traditional French methods. The Logos Sleeper chair (pictured below left) and Heracles seat (pictured below right) were both reminiscent of Art Deco style with a contemporary elegance.

Decorex 2016

Take a look at our ‘top 5’ highlights and designers from the fair ...

1/ PINCH

Since 2004 the Clapham-based husband and wife duo behind PINCH have been creating beautiful designs which have simplicity and purity at the heart of their form. They believe design can be poetic and being surrounded by beautiful things can be inspirational. It’s no surprise to hear their work has been nominated and won numerous design awards. We were excited to see their new collection, which launched at Decorex this week. The drinks cabinet and dresser particularly stood out. 

2/ Kew Home by Ivo Prints

If you’ve been keeping up to date with our latest blog posts, you’ll notice that we’ve been very inspired by botanical designs recently, particularly the displays at Kew Gardens. We were delighted to see Ivo Designs showcasing their Kew Textile range. Every design and pattern is based on original references from the library and archives at the Botanical Gardens in Kew. Each design is hand silk screen printed using traditional processes - a labour intensive process they admit! Their emphasis on craft and process ties in perfectly with Decorex’s theme this year.

3/ Lumitrix

Our next addition is an unusual choice for Decorex; Lumitrix aren't designers but instead curators of photographic works. They represent a gallery of images from over 20 photographers from around the world. What we love about their ethos is their dedication to represent young talent alongside established names. Every photograph is available in four different sizing options and varying hand-painted frames, so your print can be tailored to your interior and space. We source works of art for clients and appreciate the attention given to each carefully selected image. Lumitrix is a great company to use if you’re looking to add some character and edge to your home but find the selection process challenging. A highlight for us is their range by Astrid Harrisson who photographed wild horses at dawn in the South of France (pictured above).

4/ William Holland

William Holland specialise in copper baths and basins - their dedication has paid off as they're considered the world's leading specialist manufacturer in their trade. A free standing baths would look wonderfully elegant in a country bathroom or add some warmth and luxury to a city space. The factory is based in a 17th-century Tithe barn in the Dorset countryside and we're sure this peaceful location is embedded within their product's experience. We also loved their display of miniatures to show examples of every finish. 

5/ Susie Watson Designs

Our favourite moments at Decorex are when we discover a new designer and Susie Watson's work really caught our eye. Her passion for colour and design shines through and we love her soft blends of colour. Her pastel pinks and blues would look lovely in a country cottage, particularly for a child's bedroom if you want a soft, subtle and calming atmosphere.

The London Art Fair 2016

As you know, the team here at Devas Designs love making sure we keep up with London’s latest arts and antiques fairs and exhibitions. We source a variety of items for clients from works of contemporary art to antique treasures, either as part of a project or as a one off. We are therefore always on the look out for exceptional pieces for our clients and make sure we keep track of the latest trends in the market.

This week we visited The London Art Fair held at the Business Design Centre in Islington. Split into various sections, the fair had a wide and electric selection on display including both young, emerging artists and established big names like Damien Hirst.

One of our favourite displays was the ‘Coast’ exhibition curated by the highly regarded Jerwood Gallery. They were displaying key works from their Jerwood Collection which included some of our favourite British artists such as Barbara Hepworth, John Piper and Ben Nicholson. Although we source international work and have a diverse knowledge of international art, we enjoy being able to collect British works for our clients. Often these works of art sit beautifully in British homes as they can reflect their landscape.

The works on display at ‘Coast’ all displayed how the British Coastline has influenced a selection of British artists - it reminded us of our past interior design project on the Irish West Coast, we took inspiration from the colours and atmosphere of its surrounding and focussed on a palette of pale greens, pale blues and greys. You can read more and see photographs of this project by clicking here.

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PAD London Art & Design Fair

Last week we visited PAD London Art and Design fair in London…

If you’re interested in buying modern art or design pieces for your home we always recommend visiting renowned fairs like PAD. If you’re unsure on what to chose, make sure you get talking to the exhibitors as they’re always on hand to answer questions and help you find pieces that work for your home. We also recommend taking photos of pieces that catch your eye and think about them when you return home.

We wanted to share some of the exhibitors and pieces that interested us, here's our favourites  …

Chahan Minassian brought some exquisite pieces over from his showroom in Paris. Chahan works as a designer, interior designer, antique dealer and gallery director so his eye for elegantly designed pieces is finely tuned. Inspired by luxury materials like bronze, lacquer and tortoiseshell, Chahan has designed his own line of furniture and lamps.

The simplicity of his designs combined with the luxury of materials gives his pieces an elegant timelessness that could work in both modern and classic interiors.

We were also taken by the pieces on sale from Magen H Gallery who were over from New York. They specialise in French post-war designers with an emphasis on craft mediums that merge art and design.

Their display included this dining table, below, by Sido and Francois Thevenin from 1970. The French husband and wife design team worked together labouring intensely over hand-forged pieces from wood and metal. 

Another exhibitor over from Paris was Jacques Hervouet who runs a gallery in Paris and custom designs furniture and accessories. For his custom pieces he enjoys mixing eras and blends both historic and contemporary designs, creating a style he calls ‘Radical Chic’. There is confidence and boldness that pervades both his collections and custom pieces which we love.


Christie's Interiors August 2015

Christie’s South Kensington is celebrating its 40th year with talks and events. This week we attended the Christie’s Interiors August auction and a talk on The Art of Interior Design with some great speakers including James McWhirter and Sarah Morris of McWhirter Morris.

We visit as many art, antiques and designs fairs as we can and are always on the lookout for unique pieces. Here are some of our favourite pieces from Christie’s Interiors August auction – the auction is on August 18th so do pop along to take a look at what’s on sale.

Alongside items of furniture are a stunning selection of 20th and 21st Century paintings. The work of Polish painter Zdzislaw Ruszkowski (1907-1991) particularly caught our eye. During the 1930s Ruszowski moved to France where he discovered the work of Cezanne and was hugely inspired by his colouring and Post-Impressionistic approach. There is a beautiful and sensitive lyricism in Ruszowski’s work, aided by his playful yet harmonious colour schemes.

We were also intrigued by these coloured chalk drawings by John Golding. The colour scheme, with subtle hints and richer tones could provide the perfect inspiration for an interior’s colour scheme. This is a great example of how one piece, like a work of art, can really influence and dictate your interior design choices.

 

Masterpiece London 2015 // Part II

Masterpiece is one of our favourite fairs. In our last blog post we showcased the pieces of jewellery and furniture that caught our eye at Masterpiece Fair 2015 in London. This time, we wanted to show you the beautiful works of art that shone our for us at the fair.

We always keep an eye out for artworks that could really help compliment an interior. We source artworks and furniture not only as part of a project but also as a one-off for clients so we're always keen to seek out new pieces on the market. If an artwork really captures your attention you can even use it's colouring as a starting point for your colour scheme, or use it to suit an existing palette to really help tie in your interior's colour scheme.

We are frequently drawn to paintings by Ivon Hitchens, so were drawn to Christopher Kingzett's stand who had several on display. Their tonality and semi-abstract nature can so perfectly compliment either a new or existing colour scheme, adding character and charm without dominating the space.

Philip Mould & Company also had a selection of works of art, as usual. They focus on British art and the Old Masters. They had several works by Welsh painter Augustus John. As well as being a painter, John was a draughtsman and etcher and is known for his portraiture work. For a brief period he worked in a post-impressionist style, which remained influential to his style although returning to a more classical approach. It is his beautiful and elegant sense of light and colour that appeals to us. He often sticks to a relatively close hued colour palette which means, if chosen well, his paintings can provide a harmony with an interior's existing colour scheme.

Masterpiece London 2015 // Part I

Masterpiece is one of London's stand-out Art & Antiques fairs. There were over 150 exhibitors with items on display that span 4,000 years of art and design history at this year's fair.

Did you visit Masterpiece this year? Let us know what items caught your eye.

Alongside antique furniture and works of art there were some pieces of jewellery on display. One exhibitor that really caught our attention was Veronique Bamps. Veronique has devoted herself to collecting European and American jewellery dating from the 19th Century to the 1950s. She had on display some classic pieces from renowned designers… take a look at the brooch below from 1966, platinum set with brilliant cut and baguette diamonds.

88-Gallery had some fantastic pieces of furniture and lighting on display. They are based between London, Belgium, Paris and Hong Kong so are able to source top pieces from across Europe and outside, particularly from France, Belgium and Italy. They had a selection of cabinets stunningly decorated with vibrant turquoise.

Another striking piece of furniture to catch our eye was this console table by Irish designer Joseph Walsh made from Olive Ash and glass on display from Peter Petrou. The piece is beautifully hand crafted in his studio in Cork and comes from his famous 'Enignum' series. He is inspired by his wild coastal surroundings in Ireland, the landscape he grew up with. He manipulates and bends the wood as far as he can, allowing its natural curves to come through creating undulating and sinuous forms that flow through each other. A console table like this would be a spectacular centre piece in a sitting room, especially in a country or coastal home where it could reflect its natural surroundings.

Art Antiques London 2015 Fair

We visited Art Antiques London 2015. On display were some amazing pieces from artworks, ceramics and jewellery to rare books, textiles and furniture. We loved the variety of the exhibits as well as the insightful lecture programme with experts travelling to share their knowledge.

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As always though, we were drawn to some very specific pieces – here’s a selection of our favourite pieces from the fair.

We were really struck by this unique piece on display at Christopher Buck Antiques. This French walnut shell-shaped stool (c.1860) most likely served as a stool for a harp of cello. The piece features a carved shell shaped seat on a triple leg cariole stand.

We are always looking out for artworks that can be incorporated into our clients interiors. The Canon Gallery had a display of modern paintings and we loved this red chalk and pencil drawing by Sir Edward Burne-Jones. The drawing stood out for us as it is a study for Andromeda, a popular female subject for Burne-Jones.

Another art dealer that we are always keen to follow is Anthony Hepworth Fine Art, so we headed straight for their display. This piece by Colin Bishop (below left) for example could play into an interior with blue, grey and green hues. This work by renowned British artist Graham Sutherland (below right) takes a more figurative approach and could beautifully contribute to both a subdued interior and modern collection. They also had some works by Ivon Hitchens, a personal favourite of ours for his subtle tonality and colours.

 

20|21 International Art Fair 2015

We attended the 20|21 International Art Fair at London’s Royal College of Art. There was a really exciting mix of both galleries exhibiting artists from Picasso to Henry Moore alongside younger, more emerging artists. With over 60 galleries presenting their collections there was an incredible selection of works of art, we’ve chosen a few of our favourite pieces from the fair to share with you.

Rebecca Hossack Gallery had works by printmaker Phil Shaw on display. His Bookshelf series capitalises on the new possibilities of digital printmaking. Shaw photographs each book separately, before digitally re-shelving them as a collection in a beautiful monochromatic or colour graded order. The titles are all thematically grouped and one work that caught our eye was based around London tube stops, the title of each book containing a tube location.

Long & Ryle Gallery were exhibiting several artists that caught our eye. John Monks’ paintings of interiors and landscapes have almost abstract elements with their blurred lines and colours.

Long & Ryle Gallery were also showcasing Katherine Morling’s intriguing sculptural pieces. These intricately cast pieces are all taken from her personal narrative and personal objects, placed in these cabinets they become precious and memorialize.

Sue Campion's pastel landscapes at The Russell Gallery's display also caught our attention. Some of more colourful works are reminiscent of David Hockney's colour blocked landscapes.

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Clerkenwell Design Week 2015

Clerkenwell Design Week was a truly inspirational festival, a real celebration of craft and design. CDW2015 showcased both established and emerging designers and companies. There was a really refreshing variety of work, but what we were most struck by was the shared sense of nostalgia. There seemed to be a focus on looking back to historic design movements for inspiration as well as keeping craft alive.

This Robin Day chair (below left) caught our eye as soon as we walked in. Day undoubtedly transformed British design and high street furniture, his 'Polyprop' stacking chairs has become one of the best selling chairs of all time. It was his postwar modernist furniture though that has been so influential to contemporary design as he developed low-cost but sensitively designed items.

His influence was evident in Stellar Works 'Utility' range (below right) which centres on this idea of function and efficiency. Their return to industrial design is counterbalanced by their use of soft leather and smooth woods.

Stellar Works Laval desk (below left) is a collaboration between French furniture maker Laval and Danish design studio OeO. The collection aims to merge a sense of French elegance and simplicity with a more modern need for comfort and utility.

Tomas Alonso’s Offset Table (below right) designed for Maxdesign responds to the need for flexibility in modern working home offices. The table can be broken down and customized for varying lighting, cable and size requirements. Alonso describes it as ‘a place to eat, a place to work and a place to meet all at the same table’.

It was great to meet the team at James UK as we really value their emphasis on British craft. All of their furniture is made in the UK by a team of skilled carpenters and upholsterers. The Norton Cove sofa (below left) is a larger take on the typical armchair.

Furniture brand H were inspired by a belt-making loom found in Oaxaca, Mexico for their Loom chair (below right). They've been collaborating with a textile designer whose colour choices perfectly balance with the hardwood frame.

Thonet's iconic range has been updated to suit contemporary interiors. Their display focussed on their design history showing the evolution of Thonet’s curved wooden designs to Marcel Breuer’s curved tubular steel designs.

The Decorative Antiques and Textiles Fair 2015

As well as incorporating existing collections to your interior, Devas Designs also specialises in sourcing and buying new items for clients. We source works of art, furniture and paintings that work for your space and tie in with your existing pieces helping you to create timeless and unique interiors.

We're lucky enough to have access to events and special previews of art exhibitions and auctions. The longstanding relationships we have with dealers who notify us of recent acquisitions means that we are able to view items items before most and respond quickly to dealer recommendations.

Last week we attended The Decorative Antiques and Textiles Fair in Battersea Park. On display were some real statement pieces from the 17th Century to 20th Century including furniture, lighting, mirrors and silver. Take a look at some of our favourite pieces from the fair.

This light (below left) from The Trading Room really was a standout centrepiece and caught our attention as soon as we arrived. Hilary Batstone's display featured elegant and chic pieces including both furniture and decorative items. The French Verdigris wall sconces (below right) had a timeless elegance that would suit both a modern and traditional interior.

Magus Antiques had an interesting display with pieces sourced from across Europe. We particularly liked the white painted French cabinet (below left) which comes as a pair, their purity and elegance gives them versatility. Another French pair caught our eye - these painted fauteuil chairs (below right) from Brownrigg. They have been recently upholstered in neutral fabric and together with their traditional style have a sense of classic gracefulness

Again French glamour captured our attention! This French mid 20th Century side Table (below left) on display from James Worrall looks elegant as a standalone piece.