Furniture
Every piece of furniture has a practical purpose regardless of how simple or grand it is, even if some pieces were built more for display than function. Today, furniture remains one of the largest areas of the antiques market and items are categorised by type and period.
The term brown furniture refers to traditional pieces made from dark woods such as mahogany, while pieces made from native woods like oak and walnut are sometimes referred to as vernacular furniture.
Famous historical makers include Chippendale, Gillows, William Vile and John Cobb. More recent market trends have seen modern vintage pieces appearing in specialist design and ‘Interior’ auctions.
TEFAF Maastricht fair review: not the best timing but robust results nevertheless
02 April 2026Despite events that seemed to be conspiring to make life difficult, TEFAF Maastricht remains a must-visit
Up at 4.45am, home by 10.30pm: TEFAF Maastricht in a day
02 April 2026For some who are thinking of a visit to TEFAF Maastricht, the cost of staying over and paying for a hotel can be offputting and Maastricht appears too far away.
Plea to find Coalbrookdale benches and sundial stolen in Herefordshire
01 April 2026The owner of a group of four antique Coalbrookdale benches and a decorative armillary sundial has made a plea to the antiques trade to look out for her stolen garden items.
Somerset antiques dealer launches curated collection in London interiors shop
31 March 2026Rebecca Christie-Miller Antiques has extended links with interiors shop Pentreath & Hall and will promote a curated collection of antiques in its Rugby Street showroom in Bloomsbury.
The collection of dealer Paul Fitzsimmons: a life in oak told across 700 lots in a Salisbury saleroom
27 March 2026Specialist dealer sells items from his collection in two-day auction as he heads towards semi-retirement
Pick of the week: Bullock table boasts quite a tale
20 March 2026A Regency table that probably featured in George Bullock’s ‘Finished Stock’ dispersal of 1819 sold for £80,000 (plus 26.5% buyer’s premium) at Sloane Street Auctions just over two centuries later.
We are taking a break from TEFAF Maastricht for a year but will be back
20 March 2026Galerie Bel Etage of Vienna took a year off exhibiting at TEFAF Maastricht, opting to put out a catalogue, Masterpieces 2026.
Pimlico Road dealer Ossowski closes with on-the-premises insolvency auction
18 March 2026Longstanding Pimlico Road dealer Ossowski is thought to have closed with a liquidation auction held on the premises.
Former Christie’s specialist-turned antiques dealer sells Irish country house contents at auction
17 March 2026Serena Williams-Ellis, a former Christie’s specialist who became an antiques dealer then interior designer, owned and decorated Ardbraccan House in County Meath, Ireland for the past decade.
Designer and former model Jade Jagger auctions items from her Georgian home in Gloucestershire
16 March 2026British jewellery and interior designer Jade Jagger, the daughter of Rolling Stones lead singer Mick Jagger and his former wife Bianca, is selling works from her collection at Sworders.
Elizabethan Golden Age table shines at auction
13 March 2026This “incredibly rare elaborate, fantastical and exquisitely carved” oak draw-leaf table, dating from the Golden Age of the English Renaissance, stood out at the Paul Fitzsimmons – A Life in Oak sale.
Chippendale out, Ive in – Christie’s unveils new rostrum design
10 March 2026Christie’s has replaced its traditional Chippendale-style rostrums with a new version designed by Sir Jony Ive and made by furniture maker Benchmark.
Haughton annual art history seminar returns to London this summer
06 March 2026The annual two-day Haughton International seminar returns this summer with a theme on Courtly Magnificence - Gender, Dynasty & Politics.
Mouseman furniture finds fans in two auctions
06 March 2026A Mouseman single wardrobe with panelled adzed decoration sold for £7400 against a guide of £4000-6000 at Summersgills (18% buyer’s premium) in Easingwold, North Yorkshire.
A rare Vizagapatam visitor stars in German auction
06 March 2026It has been some years since a good piece of Vizagapatam furniture turned up at a German auction, so it was quite an event when Bieberle (21.42% buyer’s premium) in Magdeburg offered a writing cabinet.
Stanley Webb Davies furniture taken to new price territory in North Yorkshire
04 March 2026A chestnut bedroom suite by renowned Lake District furniture maker Stanley Webb Davies has sold for a total hammer price of £26,100 at Tennants in Leyburn.
Architectural salvage dealer plans retirement auction
03 March 2026Salvage dealer Wilson’s Yard in Dromore, County Down is closing and selling its remaining stock with Cavan auction house Victor Mee Auctions.
Dealer Paul Fitzsimmons' 'Life in Oak' told through 700 lots at Woolley & Wallis
27 February 2026Woolley & Wallis is conducting a single-owner sale of early furniture and sculpture over two days on March 10-11. The auction, titled Paul Fitzsimmons – A Life in Oak, offers 708 lots from the proprietor of specialist oak dealership Marhamchurch Antiques that opened in Devon in 1991.
Dealers and interior designers collaborating as a ‘single marketplace’ will make debut at Bath fair
27 February 2026A new design and antiques venture will debut at the Bath Decorative Antiques Fair with a Grand Tour– inspired selection that includes a pair of hand-carved marble obelisks with striking malachite detailing.
French 18th century female painter snapped up by Versailles ahead of auction
27 February 2026One of the highlights of a sale of Old Master works held by Tajan (26/21/14% buyer’s premium) was a pastel self-portrait by the 18th century French portrait painter Adélaïde Labille-Guiard (1749-1803).
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