Having provided antique antlers and carvings for the tavern scenes in Disney\u2019s 2017 film, Beauty and the Beast, and all the glassware for Murder on the Orient Express, a props buyer visited their stand at Battersea Decorative Fair and proceeded to gather up assorted pieces of stock. <\/p>
The buyer turned out to be Ellen Freund, a big name in the world of set design \u2013 as the Property Master on Mad Men, she was responsible for creating the show\u2019s completely immersive and believable 1965 ambience, right down to the ice in the drinks, which was made using vintage mid-century metal ice cube trays. <\/p>
At the time of her visit to the Colliers\u2019 stand at Battersea, Freund had been all over Europe sourcing antiques for The Alienist series. \u2018Ellen explained there was a gap in the market,\u2019 says Salianne. <\/p>
\u2018There are big prop-hire companies in London, but the problem is the same things crop up in every production and it becomes very noticeable. Prop houses have \u2018Victorian vases\u2019 but they don\u2019t have the specialist knowledge to differentiate between years.\u2019 <\/p>
Ellen was looking for a dealer to work with regularly and advised Salianne and her husband to set up a website. <\/p>
They now run props supplier firm Rufus J. Maypole, selling and renting props to the TV and film industry, alongside Collier Antiques, their main business. <\/p>
It\u2019s impossible to photograph and list every antique in the Rufus J. Maypole hoard, says Salianne. \u2018Only five per cent is actually shown online,\u2019 she chuckles. \u2018We invite companies to visit us to see the full range of stuff we have. It\u2019s quite extensive!\u2019 <\/p>
Since launching the business, Salianne has carved out a niche, providing a \u2018one-stop props shop\u2019 to time-poor, money-rich buyers, who have almost impossible deadlines and difficult requests. <\/p>
\u2018It can get fraught,\u2019 she admits. \u2018If a buyer needs obscure items in just a few days, the pressure is on.\u2019 She loves the rush of it, she says, before adding, \u2018my husband doesn\u2019t!\u2019 <\/p>
Compared to the relatively sedate world of traditional antiques dealing, the realm of TV and film is fastmoving and exciting. <\/p>
\u2018The props buyers are given a list of props for each scene as they go along and they release scenes in blocks according to location,\u2019 explains Salianne. \u2018For example, the first block might be set in a kitchen in a stately home. <\/p>
The buyers know the story but they won\u2019t know exactly what they need for the second block of filming until maybe just two weeks before it\u2019s filmed, which is hard.\u2019 <\/p>
The buyers are often under stress from the director, who always has the final say. \u2018At the moment, we\u2019re looking for a particular knife for a French chef,\u2019 says Salianne. \u2018It\u2019s an important part of the scene, which has to be right \u2013 the props team need five examples so the director can make the final decision and choose the best one.\u2019 <\/p>
Salianne\u2019s team recently helped to find props for the Apple TV+ adaptation of Edith Wharton\u2019s novel The Buccaneers, due to be screened next year. Set in the 1870s, it tells the story of five American girls searching for English husbands. <\/p>
\u2018They needed 70 fans for huge debutante ball scenes. They also needed 100 matching Champagne glasses, which wasn\u2019t easy. It\u2019s the big numbers of things that they struggle to source.\u2019 <\/p>
Fortunately, Salianne likes a challenge, as she had to drive up to Scotland twice on the same day, she recalls. \u2018That\u2019s why they ask us \u2013 we never say \u201cno\u201d!\u2019 <\/p>
The enormous budgets that film and TV crews have was a shock to Salianne, she says. \u2018Props buyers from Disney bought two glasses dating from c1670\/1680 \u2013 they were used by Belle and the Beast to toast one another in the final scene of Beauty and the Beast. They cost \u00a3150\u2013\u00a3200 each, but they were only seen on screen for a split second!\u2019 <\/p>
They\u2019ve had men parked outside at 6am, fresh from an overnight ferry, ready to pick up props that will be driven straight back to European film sets. \u2018It\u2019s a crazy world, but it\u2019s given us a nice different angle to our business.\u2019 <\/p>
Lydia Marks, a set decorator and interior designer based in New York City, has worked on many TV and film sets, such as Fosse\/Verdon, and is regularly tasked with sourcing antique and vintage props at short notice. <\/p>
\u2018When I start sourcing props for a new project, it\u2019s always a surprise to learn what\u2019s tricky to locate and what\u2019s easy to find,\u2019 says Lydia. <\/p>
\u2018The hunt is a huge part of the fun. Obviously, with the internet, it\u2019s easier than ever to search all over the world, but sometimes you have to rethink how you are searching for something, or expand your ideas and look at things slightly differently in order to find exactly what you need.\u2019 <\/p>
Lydia\u2019s work typically starts about three months before a film or TV show starts shooting. \u2018I start with reading the script. The story is the most important thing. The initial tasks for me are to begin to establish a visual language with the production designer and the director for the look of the film. Once the language between the three of us is established, my team can start developing each individual set and getting material samples. After that, we begin talking about dressing actual locations that we are going to shoot in.\u2019 <\/p>
There is a difference between set design and props. Items that are in the background and not touched by actors are \u2018set\u2019, whereas things that are picked up, used or held are \u2018props\u2019. <\/p>
According to Lydia, authenticity is very important these days and there are some things that just can\u2019t be imitated. \u2018I love to find vintage and antique pieces. I use the real thing whenever I can,\u2019 she enthuses. <\/p>
\u2018I think the quality of using pieces with real age and real patina is felt by the viewer. The higher resolution of our TV screens now means that all the qualities inherent to the finish of these pieces are very visible, too,\u2019 she points out. <\/p>
When the details haven\u2019t been carefully considered, and antiques from the wrong era have been used, or \u2013 even worse \u2013 poor reproductions, it infuriates those in the know. <\/p>
\u2018It niggles me terribly if things are wrong,\u2019 says Louise Phillips, owner of Elaine Phillips Antiques and Chairman of BADA, who supplied some props for the BBC\u2019s recent adaptation of Great Expectations. <\/p>
\u2018Even if they are not in the antiques industry, people notice if things aren\u2019t quite right,\u2019 she says. \u2018If you put reproduction furniture into a period drama, it just jars.\u2019 <\/p>
Mark J West, specialist dealer in antique glass, who loaned antique glasses to the props team for the BBC\u2019s series Gentleman Jack, agrees. <\/p>\n \u2018It\u2019s reassuring when they get the glasses right because the BBC spends thousands of pounds on the costumes and the set, but they often seem to get the glasses wrong,\u2019 he says. <\/p> \u2018The props team for Game of Thrones had copies of antique glasses made especially. There\u2019s a company in Oxfordshire that does this \u2013 but the BBC generally can\u2019t be bothered. They just go to Peter Jones,\u2019 he jokes. <\/p> Salianne Collier admits to \u2018nitpicking\u2019 and \u2018screaming at the screen\u2019 when watching Bridgerton, much to her daughter\u2019s chagrin. \u2018Supplying props has changed how I watch TV and films,\u2019 she admits. <\/p> \u2018It\u2019s spoilt it, in a way, because I find it difficult to watch as entertainment now, without looking too closely at the details. I watch period productions and cringe when I see something that\u2019s 50 years out, or from the 1960s instead of the 1860s!\u2019 <\/p> For Salianne, sourcing antiques from the correct era for TV and film has \u2018scratched an itch\u2019, but it\u2019s not always plain sailing, as sometimes authenticity is overruled. <\/p> \u2018If we get asked for an item that hasn\u2019t been invented yet in the era the show is set \u2013 but the director wants it to go in \u2013 then it will go in anyway,\u2019 she explains. <\/p> \u2018Paramount is very particular when it comes to authenticity. Disney is, too. But some companies have a more relaxed approach. It\u2019s not a documentary after all, it\u2019s fiction \u2013 so sometimes there is some leeway.\u2019 <\/p> For set decorator and interior designer Lydia Marks, sourcing the right lighting from the correct era is crucial. \u2018Vintage lighting is something I cannot live without,\u2019 she says. <\/p> \u2018The sculptural component of a beautiful lamp base along with the way light filters through the fabric of an original lampshade can elevate an entire set.\u2019 <\/p> All too often, the lighting is wrong. \u2018Lighting is one of my bugbears,\u2019 says Louise Phillips. \u2018If items are used from the wrong period, it does stand out. The correct antique lighting is essential, and that\u2019s something we can help people with,\u2019 she says, adding that she sold a pair of wall sconces and some small brass lanterns to the BBC for Great Expectations. <\/p>\n When care is taken to get things right, it\u2019s noticed and appreciated by those in the know. \u2018In Peaky Blinders, there was a scene set in a servants\u2019 kitchen \u2013 the chairs were right, the pewter was right \u2013 it created a complete picture of those times,\u2019 says Louise. <\/p> \u2018The glasses for Poldark are generally right,\u2019 concedes Mark West, who prefers to loan rather than sell antiques to the TV and film trade. \u2018It\u2019s money for old rope really,\u2019 he jokes. <\/p> \u2018They pay a percentage of the price per month and, if they hold the things for three months, I get 30 per cent of the price and I get the goods back afterwards.\u2019 <\/p> Salianne mostly sells their antique props but there are some items that are not for sale. \u2018Telephones are hire only,\u2019 she explains. <\/p> \u2018It\u2019s really difficult to find good period telephones. We sold a few in the early days, then really struggled to get any more. Big suites of matching glassware and big dinner services are worth holding on to, too.\u2019 <\/p> The Gentleman Jack team bought one set of glasses from Mark \u2013 the family drinking glasses \u2013 in case they needed them for another series. <\/p>\n In these days of long-running period drama TV series, with multiple \u2018seasons\u2019 and hundreds of episodes \u2013 such as Downton Abbey and Mad Men \u2013 it\u2019s become more important for props teams to keep hold of important items for possible future use, just in case. <\/p> Sometimes, once the props have been used, Salianne Collier does a \u2018buy back\u2019 deal, but if there is even the faintest possibility of another series, the props will be stored \u2013 potentially for years. <\/p> \u2018It\u2019s crazy really,\u2019 she says. \u2018After filming, props could be shipped in a container from Budapest or wherever back to California, where they will sit in a hangar. They don\u2019t seem to reuse things much for other shows. You\u2019d think that if there was another 1890s production, they\u2019d dip into the same props, but it doesn\u2019t work like that.\u2019 <\/p> For Salianne, it\u2019s always exciting to see pieces her team has provided on the big screen. \u2018I took my grandchildren to see Beauty and the Beast at the cinema, and I kept shouting out whenever a prop appeared that we\u2019d supplied,\u2019 she laughs. \u2018I think I spoilt the experience for them!\u2019<\/p>\n![\"Antiques](\"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2023\/08\/2JCH1B5_preview-1024x683.jpg?fit=800%2C534\")
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