We recently had the pleasure of visiting Arundel in West Sussex to visit Spencer Swaffer Antiques. This store is less of a hidden gem and more of an industry staple. Spencer has been dealing in Arundel for over 40 years and has developed the most wonderful eye for unique and decorative antiques – hard to find anywhere else. The shop has seven rooms filled with inspiring pieces sourced from all over the UK and Europe. What is so brilliant about this shop is that the pieces change regularly and there is new stock each week. We have endless excuses to pop back to Arundel for a browse! Join us as we go ‘Out and About’ at Spencer Swaffer Antiques.

Don’t be fooled by the immaculate showroom and the divine pieces. Spencer’s prices are exceptionally reasonable making it a store loved by all in the trade and beyond. For many years Spencer made a weekly journey to Paris each Thursday, arriving at the flea market at 5am. Spencer would fly home Friday lunchtime and be back in the shop by Friday afternoon. He was known in Paris as ‘Le Fleaman’ and is respected for the quality and quantity of his stock. We’d like to share some of our favourite pieces that we discovered during our recent visit.

Rows of beautiful painted ceramic pots…

Left/Top: This Georgian mahogany bureau bookcase was recently decorated with chinoiserie. It dates to circa 1810. We love it! Right/Bottom: This watch stand was made in circa 1820. It is made of mahogany with an original enamel watch face. The windows are all delicately hand painted…

This is a large Sgraffito dish. It is a slipware marriage charger made in circa 1755. Traditionally, these marriage plates had symbols of hearts or keys on them to signify unlocking the heart of love. This style of plate in particular was only made for around seven years. The smiley heart faces are exceptionally rare to see on a plate this old…

Here is an Orkney Crofters chair made in 1860 in Scotland. It features a deep drawer underneath the chair. Orkney Crofters chairs were originally made using driftwood collected from the Orkney shoreline. The chair back is made with local straw that’s individually prepared and woven into a continuous rope…

A 19th century original glass dome and 20th century enamel clock faces…

We even came across some bundles of 19th century documents…

Here are three large planters which are faux jardinière bois, circa 1920…

Check out this large model of Noah’s Ark, circa 1910. This would certainly add charm to a children’s bedroom scheme…

As you can see, our blog could go on and on. There are so many magical pieces to share! Why not check out Spencer Swaffer Antiques for yourself. You can find them on Instagram too @spencer_swaffer. Thank you for going ‘Out and About’ with us.