So what will we be buying in 2024? Anyone who has visited last year\u2019s key antiques events, such as LAPADA or The Decorative Antiques and Textiles Fair in Battersea, will know that this decade looks poised to be very different. Instead of one distinct look, a cocktail of design influences is fuelling a refreshingly diverse antiques scene, from a resurgence in craft to the use of textiles as art. <\/p>
As the antiques dealer and interior designer Max Rollitt puts it: \u2018In our grandparents\u2019 day there was a rather formulaic and formal approach to antiques. They were a status symbol and their use complied with a perception of the correct way of living. We\u2019ve let this go and can look at antiques with a different eye \u2013 more of an artist\u2019s eye. Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant exemplified this style at their Charleston farmhouse.\u2019<\/p>
At Foster & Gane, known for its design-led pieces, Val Foster notes the use of craft in interiors percolating down to the antiques market, shaping collecting choices. This is reflected in a renewed appreciation for Arts and Crafts furniture and the movement\u2019s reaction against mass production. \u2018It was based on careful, honest hand making, with respect for the materials used,\u2019 Val explains. <\/p> That ethos, of course, feels very current. \u2018There\u2019s now such emphasis on sustainability and harmony with nature, using simple skills to make something beautiful and enduring, which won\u2019t be chucked out in the short term,\u2019 she adds.<\/p> At Fisher London, a twinkling antiques emporium on London\u2019s sombre Gray\u2019s Inn Road, frequented by designers such as Jonathan Anderson, owner Hilary Fisher keeps a weather eye on design trends. She notes that Japanese Imari plates have become popular with decorators, who use them to adorn clients\u2019 walls in dancing displays of lustrous oranges and deep blues. Georgian glass \u2013 particularly wine glasses and decanters \u2013 with its perfectly imperfect allure, is also in demand. <\/p> \u2018We\u2019ve had commissions for large runs of 18th-century glass: one from an established English dealer and designer who\u2019s just opened a new showroom in New York, another from a young decorator working on a large stately home in York. Antique glass is having a moment,\u2019 says Hilary. <\/p> This includes early 20th-century American glass by Tiffany, or its less expensive equivalent, Steuben, says specialist Mike Moir. \u2018Brexit has made it so much harder to buy in Europe, that buying from American salerooms, where they\u2019re familiar with the paperwork, feels relatively easy. And because it\u2019s over 100 years old, taxes are lower. But apart from that, it\u2019s just fabulous glass,\u2019 he says. <\/p> Tiffany\u2019s organic \u2018Lava\u2019 or \u2018Paperweight\u2019 vases in rare colours such as reds, yellows or blues are worth looking out for. So too more modestly priced Steuben pieces (produced from 1905) which are \u2018like Tiffany, but funkier\u2019, according to Mike.<\/p> Hilary Fisher also points to the enduring influence of the late dealer-decorator Robert Kime, whose collection sold for astral sums at Dreweatts last autumn. Like others of his ilk \u2013 Geoffrey Bennison and Christopher Gibbs \u2013 the scholarly Kime, says Hilary, was \u2018all about creating a comfortable, layered room with points of interest without sticking to a prescribed template.\u2019 <\/p> Kime\u2019s distinctive use of antique textiles \u2013 tactile weaves dashed across sofas or displayed on walls \u2013 has driven sales of fabrics like ikats or suzanis from Uzbekistan in recent years. Interior designer Kate Guinness, known for her colour-steeped, comfortable interiors, is a particular fan of West African Kente cloth \u2013 woven for ceremonial dress \u2013 which she displays as artworks at home and for clients. <\/p> Specialist dealer Ian Shaw, who has spent time exploring the regional variations of Kente, says that pre 20th-century weaves in muted, autumnal hues are particularly sought after. \u2018We hang them from rails using clips. Each is a one off. And you never tire of them; the dexterity of the weave, the intricate motifs \u2013 hands, chairs, animals. There\u2019s always something to look at,\u2019 he says, adding: \u2018you can make a big statement with one piece and nothing else at all.\u2019<\/p> Octavia Dickinson is another designer using antiques with a light touch. She is currently drawn to pieces from the Aesthetic Movement which, as expert Martin Levy, of H. Blairman & Sons, explains, grew out of the Gothic Revival. \u2018It had its heyday in the 1870s when it was driven by an elite group of designers and artists like Godwin or Whistler,\u2019 he says. <\/p> The Japanese-influenced style, epitomised by ebonised wood with gilded details, continues Martin, \u2018trickled down to manufacturers. Pieces by Lamb or Robert Gillow were highly attractive and appealing to live with.\u2019 Octavia agrees, singling out a \u2018playful\u2019 ribbed-leg walnut table in her online shop as epitomising the movement\u2019s \u2018art for art\u2019s sake\u2019 ethos. \u2018The romantic design associated with the British movement is joyful,\u2019 she says.<\/p> In kitchens, the move from glossy cabinetry to a more unfitted look has put the spotlight on functional antiques, such as armoires, sideboards and refectory tables, all of them made more desirable if they bear the patina of time. Octavia also notes an increase in requests for dressers. \u2018The design is so clever and practical, with display shelves at the top, hooks for hanging mugs and jugs, and a worktop below,\u2019 she says. <\/p> Another designer, Kate Cox of H\u00c1M Interiors, a family-run practice known for its expressive schemes, uses an antique, tiled dairy table as a chopping and entertaining surface in her Bristol kitchen. Antiques, she says, \u2018bring the slight sense of disorder that I find pleasing\u2019.<\/p> The general move towards a quieter aesthetic has put decorative lighting in the spotlight. While these elaborate designs might have looked fussy in a maximalist scheme, in more subdued settings, glowing antique sconces or lamps can really draw the eye, like a beguiling pendant on a black dress. Leading designer Rose Uniacke favours setting pieces from the Viennese Secessionist movement against her hallmark airy backdrops. <\/p> And at Foster & Gane, a sinuous pendant by Ren\u00e9 Lalique sold as soon as their stand at The Decorative Fair opened in October. \u2018We\u2019ve noticed a change, from clients using our lights in period homes to more modern settings,\u2019 observes Martin Ashby of early 20th-century specialist Ashby Interiors. <\/p> He singles out pieces by WAS Benson. An architect turned designer, Benson capitalised on the introduction of electricity in the early 1900s to design experimental lighting; Arts and Crafts pieces (often with the firm\u2019s stamp) becoming increasingly avant-garde \u2013 brass forms fashioned into lily pads embraced by floral decoration. Artworks in their own right, they should, says Martin, \u2018never go out of fashion\u2019.<\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n Fashions in interior design often ripple through to the world of antiques, and The Decorative Antiques & Textiles Fair at Battersea, is the place to spot emerging trends. Serena Fokschaner asks dealers and designers what we\u2019ll be coveting in the coming year\u2026 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":31305,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"6"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2024\/03\/antique-trends-for-2024.png",764,1024,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2024\/03\/antique-trends-for-2024-150x150.png",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2024\/03\/antique-trends-for-2024-224x300.png",224,300,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2024\/03\/antique-trends-for-2024.png",764,1024,false],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2024\/03\/antique-trends-for-2024.png",764,1024,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2024\/03\/antique-trends-for-2024.png",764,1024,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/49\/2024\/03\/antique-trends-for-2024.png",764,1024,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":"Fashions in interior design often ripple through to the world of antiques, and The Decorative Antiques & Textiles Fair at Battersea, is the place to spot emerging trends. Serena Fokschaner asks dealers and designers what we\u2019ll be coveting in the coming year\u2026","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/homesantiques\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/31304"}],"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\/31305"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/homesantiques\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31304"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/homesantiques\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31304"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Antique](\"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2024\/03\/Antique-painted-armoire-917x1024.png?fit=800%2C893\")
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