If you could only save one possession from your home, what would it be? It’s a tricky question I have been asked a few times over the years and one that I have pondered over. Decisions, decisions…perhaps you can help us decide!
A strong contender would be this exquisitely painted grandfather clock. I love that it is not only beautiful with gold leaf accenting and a pleasing silhouette, but it also serves a purpose of telling the time.
At the top and centre of this image is one of my favourite paintings which has found its home in our different houses over the last thirty years. It is an atmospheric painting by Bernard Meninsky, of two figures frolicking in the landscape. The dark background is in contrast to the bold figures and I always imagine the conversation between the two free and mysterious characters.
If you look closely, my treasure to save sits proudly below this wonderful painting…
Zoom in and you will discover a wedding gift we received from Lynn and Ava Chadwick in 1983. The diminutive, yet beautifully formed bronze Maquette is of a pair of walking figures. I always think they look like mystical medieval cloaked characters.
The Duncan Grant painting I bought from Piano Nobile Gallery is definitely a beauty. I’m a great admirer of the Bloomsbury Group and find myself returning to them for inspiration in cycles of my work. I would love to design a hand painted Bloomsbury-inspired furniture collection for the present day. Over the years, I have acquired a comprehensive collection of paintings by the Bloomsbury Group, which hang in the Library and Drawing Room at the Charlotte Street Hotel.
It is powerful, arresting and romantic and something I will always treasure. The large sculpture lies in the landscape at Lypiatt Park in Gloucestershire, where the sculptor lived.
I once used some incredible sculptural candelabras by Lynn Chadwick in the showroom I designed at the Wool House Exhibition at Somerset House in 2013.
Lynn Chadwick is one of my favourite sculptors. An exhibition of his work has just opened for online viewing at the Willer Gallery in Kensington.
The last exhibition of his work I visited was his major retrospective at Tate Britain in late 2003. It was incredible and it is so fitting that his reputation continues to grow. Viewing the new exhibition at the Willer Gallery is definitely top of my list to stay inspired during lockdown.