News» New Arrivals of Stock from Europe and UK. Dec 2013 and Jan/Feb 2014.
Following on the recent Dealer's Diary we can report on a fresh arrival of stock from the continent at the end of December.
A trip abroad added some new finds to several weeks and months worth of purchases including chests of drawers, benches, a few big tables, textiles in abundance as well as some chairs, architectural elements including a fantastic ranch gate with geometric carving to the door surround and a roof in terracotta tiles, decorative coat hooks and hangars, some cupboards, and so on. Of the benches there was one which was most unusual being a cupboard as well as a bench, from Central Europe, but rather like the British bacon settle so-called. It is rather deep and we may well cut the depth back to make it more practical. A beautiful blue and yellow painted wagon could not get on this lorry so it will come next time, hopefully.
Just after the New Year seemed like a good time to gather in as much stock in outlying regions as possible so a wonderful Cornish glazed dresser arrived in original paint and with blue to the interior and very bold glazing bars, so too an impressive dark painted curving high back settle from the same toe end of the Celtic lands. A rare Carousel horse in later paint arrived and went straight to the workshop to be stripped back to traces of its first colours therefore making it an extremely costly item for us to have in stock but it will look beautiful. Along the same lines the same journey south gathered in a carved zebra of uncertain origin from a private collection and we put this aside to re-appear later in the year at the Bath Fair as it seems like one of those decorative items to die for.
A friend wanted to move a house belongings from Co. Clare to Warwick so we shared the cost of a lorry from Ireland and i was able to bring in the smattering of choice items that I had found there in recent times without too much extra expense: a gorgeous cute buttoned leather William IV chair with scrolled arms and a William IV settee with elaborate carving of cornucopias to the back in richly coloured padouk or mahogany wood giving the piece an altogether colonial feel; a pine press cupboard with original grain painting and bags of potential; a pine Gothic bookcase in original condition with astragal glazing and rope twist decoration to the cornice and a Georgian food safe, for hanging game in a big house kitchens, in pretty tatty condition but easily recoverable and in old blue green paint.
Adding to this international flavour we also found amongst other items and from other importers some Norweigan carved mangles of 18th century origin, some old zinc shop sign letters, a striking primitive oil of an Italian countess, a whirligig from Vermont, and a collection of very old polychrome wood carvings from Bohemia, all freshly arrived in the UK and new to the market. There was in truth a lot more too but this seems enough to note right now and if you would like any further info on anything mentioned (as many of the items we don't have time to post online) then please enquire to: johncornall@aol.com or via the other contact details on the website.