{"id":10880,"date":"2022-05-21T10:00:54","date_gmt":"2022-05-21T08:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.homesandantiques.com\/?p=29998"},"modified":"2022-05-21T10:31:13","modified_gmt":"2022-05-21T08:31:13","slug":"who-is-john-blye","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/homesantiques\/rss_feed\/who-is-john-blye\/","title":{"rendered":"Who is John Blye?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Rosanna Morris\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Saturday, 21 May 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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John Bly has a special place in the world of antiques<\/a>. He\u2019s been deeply charmed by fine furniture and decorative arts since he was a boy in the 1940s, and at 82 has endless stories to tell about his life in this curious, fascinating industry. Born in 1939, months before the outbreak of the Second World War, John\u2019s earliest memories are of his wartime childhood; growing up in his family\u2019s antiques shop in Tring, Hertfordshire, where his grandfather started the business in 1891.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018My father took over the business and, when he went off to fight in the war, my mother and grandmother ran the shop. They would buy and sell pieces people would bring to them from London during the Blitz. Every night they would move stock into the cellar. While they wrapped and unwrapped paperweights, tea caddies<\/a>, porcelain and china<\/a>, they would talk about each item. I would sit and listen to them chatting. That was my education \u2013 listening to them while I sat on my grandmother\u2019s knee.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

John left school at 17 and his father found him a job in the basements of Sotheby\u2019s on New Bond Street. \u2018I was absolutely captivated by Sotheby\u2019s,\u2019 he says. \u2018I was a numberer in the silver department. I ended up working on all sales \u2013 jewellery<\/a>, silver, enamels<\/a>, ephemera, musical instruments, ceramics<\/a>, Japanese works of art. It was 1957 and I earned \u00a34.10 a week. You could buy a box of netsukes for a fiver then. The amount of goods was amazing. I didn\u2019t have to study anything; it all just floated into you.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

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Sotheby\u2019s, where John Bly started his career<\/span><\/figcaption> Getty Images<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

As well as cataloguing, John would take items to locations around London. \u2018I would take pieces to Avery Row to be photographed. I would go to Hampstead to pick up a case of jewels and silver waiting for me in a porch. I would travel on the bus to Hatton Garden with a bag of diamonds. It was huge fun.\u2019\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After four years at Sotheby\u2019s, in 1961 John returned to Tring and joined the family business, travelling round the country buying, selling and working with restorers. \u2018One of my first buys was a dining table and a set of chairs I bought at a farm for \u00a31,700 \u2013 the farmer asked me if I wanted to buy his farm for the same money. While the furniture might have doubled in price, goodness knows what that farm is worth now,\u2019 he says. \u2018My father sold a lot of pieces to museums, including a Robert Adam cabinet from Kimbolton Castle to the V&A. I remember it arriving on the back of a van with tarpaulin over it. It is one of the most famous pieces of English furniture in the world.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

As well as dealing in antiques, John began passing on his considerable knowledge to others, through lectures, books (he published his first book in 1968), and eventually television. \u2018In 1970 I was approached by Thames Television to work on a show looking at antiques. I then ended up on Anglia Television doing a five-minute spot on antiques on a show called Heirloom<\/i>.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

The Antiques Roadshow<\/i><\/a> began in 1979, presented by antiques expert Arthur Negus. In the second year of the show, the crew was filming in Ely and needed a miscellaneous expert \u2013 they called in John, who was working close by in Norwich at the time. \u2018Arthur was a great coach,\u2019 says John. \u2018We ended up doing the Arthur Negus Enjoys <\/i>series together. I always think of the Antiques Roadshow<\/i><\/a> as being the greatest travelling encyclopaedia. The combined knowledge is incredible. It was a great privilege to be part of that.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

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John appraises a piece at a filming of the Antiques Roadshow in Belfast in 2008<\/span><\/figcaption> Stephen Barnes\/Entertainment \/ Alamy Stock Photo<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

John can reel off some major achievements from his career in antiques \u2013 as well as appearing on television for 40 years, he has written 14 books, lectured around the world, become a Liveryman of The Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths, a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts, and is a past chairman of the British Antique Dealers\u2019 Association (BADA). He has been involved in numerous charity events, and can also claim to be Honorary Citizen of the City of New Orleans as well as a Tennessee Squire with a small piece of land.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Bly family business is still going strong, too, having just marked its 130th anniversary. John\u2019s son, James, joined him 25 years ago and the business has an international following today. Last year they founded the Studio Bly International<\/a> arm, producing bespoke pieces of furniture by top artisans.<\/span><\/p>\n

But, for John, it always comes back to the story. \u2018There is so much to learn and I\u2019m still learning,\u2019 he says. \u2018When we find a piece of furniture for the shop, I love the research we do; the joy of finding out more about it. Everything you look at has a story.\u2019 It comes as little surprise that his favourite places are the British section of the Victoria & Albert Museum, and The Museum of the Home: \u2018It\u2019s so wonderful to walk from room to room and see each period, see the furniture changing shape.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

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A room styled as a parlour in 1745 at the Museum of the Home in London, one of John\u2019s favourite places to visit.<\/span><\/figcaption> Em-Fitzgerald<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

Indeed, one of John\u2019s greatest loves is social history. \u2018Artefacts reflect the way we live,\u2019 he says. \u2018When I look at a chair and it has a certain shape, I know it is of a particular period. Chairs had wide seats in the 1740s due to the big skirts and frock coats people wore. In the 1780s we get more dainty chairs, due to climate change \u2013 women were able to wear fashionable Empire dresses because it was so hot.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

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A fine George II-period mahogany and beech framed wing chair with cabriole legs front and back, for sale at John Bly Antiques<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

He adds: \u2018I love dumb waiters. In the 1740s, people used to get so drunk they would be indiscreet in front of their staff, so they adopted service \u00e0 la russe, where food and drink would be plonked on the table by staff, and diners would serve themselves. From that time, there came wine coasters and labels, decanters, cheese coasters, gravy boats and argyles (named after the 5th Duke of Argyll, who was fed up one day that his gravy was cold by the time it reached the table). Three-tiered serving tables were brought in with napery and cutlery on \u2013 they came to be known as dumb waiters. Everything we do is linked to a need of our time.\u2019 <\/span><\/p><\/body><\/html>\n

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By Rosanna Morris Published: Saturday, 21 May 2022 at 12:00 am John Bly has a special place in the world of antiques. He\u2019s been deeply charmed by fine furniture and decorative arts since he was a boy in the 1940s, and at 82 has endless stories to tell about his life in this curious, fascinating […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":10881,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"6"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2022\/05\/who-is-john-blye.jpg",1422,1600,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2022\/05\/who-is-john-blye-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2022\/05\/who-is-john-blye-267x300.jpg",267,300,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2022\/05\/who-is-john-blye-768x864.jpg",768,864,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2022\/05\/who-is-john-blye-910x1024.jpg",800,900,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2022\/05\/who-is-john-blye-1365x1536.jpg",1365,1536,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2022\/05\/who-is-john-blye.jpg",1422,1600,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/homesantiques\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Rosanna Morris Published: Saturday, 21 May 2022 at 12:00 am John Bly has a special place in the world of antiques. He\u2019s been deeply charmed by fine furniture and decorative arts since he was a boy in the 1940s, and at 82 has endless stories to tell about his life in this curious, fascinating…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/homesantiques\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/10880"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/homesantiques\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/homesantiques\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/homesantiques\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/homesantiques\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10881"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/homesantiques\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10880"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/homesantiques\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10880"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}