December's Item of the Month is a rare electroplated rose bowl by W. A. S. Benson, circa 1900, stamped ‘Benson’ to the underside of one foot. The bowl is design No. 776, which was designed by W. A. S. Benson and manufactured by W. A. S. Benson & Co and can be identified in illustrated [...]

November's item of the month is an Adam period neoclassical torchere, circa 1790, in the manner of Gillows, carved in pine with remains of gilt and later white paint surface. Robert Adam (1728 – 92) was one of the most important British architects working in the Neoclassical style – a movement in the decorative and [...]

September's Item of the Month is a rare and remarkable graduated set of four late Regency apple green papier-mâché trays, circa 1830, each tray stamped ‘Jennens & Bettridge, London’. Jennens and Bettridge were renowned for producing quality papier-mâché wares, circa 1815-1864. They were a partnership between Theodore Hyla Jennens, John Bettridge Snr., Aaron Jennens and [...]

July's Item of the Month is a rare specimen wood box by Gillows, circa 1810, containing 82 wood specimens each of octagonal form over the exterior and interior of the lid, and the front, back and sides of the exterior, mahogany lined interior. Only one other example of this box is known to exist, which [...]

June's Item of the Month is a rare Ashford black marble neoclassical campana urn, Derbyshire, England, circa 1840, attributed to Selim Bright. Ashford marble is actually not a marble, but a dark limestone, quarried near Ashford-in-the-Water in Derbyshire. The first recorded customer was Bess of Hardwick in 1580, but by the 18th century the market for [...]

April's Item of the Month is a rare, large and finely carved sandalwood table casket, made in Mysore, South India, circa 1860. An almost identical, albeit smaller casket, described as a 'jewel box' is in the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, (accession number 9672:1 to 9/(IS)), and was noted as acquired by the India Museum [...]

March's Item of the Month is an unusual cabinet maker’s wood sample board, circa 1950, in the manner of Gordon Russell. This unusual sample board must have been made and used in a cabinet maker’s workshop, based on the diversity and variants of woods included (rather than in a timber merchant, for instance). It may [...]

February's Item of the Month is a rare Regency padouk, ebony and rosewood hexagonal table lantern in the form of a Gothic tower or folly, possibly Anglo Indian, circa 1825. The fashion for Gothic Revival architecture first appeared in the mid 18th century and gained momentum alongside the Neoclassical styles popular at the time. The [...]

Throughout the year, we're going to shine a spotlight on one stock item per month and delve a little deeper into it's history. The first in this series is our wonderful Architectural Model Rotunda: a rare and fine architectural model rotunda, French, circa 1880, in rosewood, kingwood and boxwood, with ebony mounts, of good colour. Prompted [...]