United Kingdom - Building and Garden Elements

Copper Bathtub with scrolled surround all made in the traditional handmade manor, the finely shaped design is set on finally detailed gilded feet and embellished with this highly eff...

M. H. Baillie Scott, attributed An exceptional pair of Arts and Crafts exterior sliding doors, forming part of a larger architectural set by attribution to M. H. Baillie Scott. A s...

Rare Antique Balinese Carved Teak Door in Original Frame, circa 1900 A rare antique Balinese carved teak door with its complete original frame, dati...

This beautifully crafted fireplace fender brings a sophisticated presence to any hearth. Designed with two generously padded corner seats, it is upholstered in genuine leather, finis...

A Fine Victorian-Era Brass and Green Stained Glass Display Case This elegant, hexagonal glass enclosure is a wonderful example of Victorian craftsmanship, likely serving as either a ...

This is a very good Jasperware stoneware Jardiniere or Cache Pot, made by Wedgwood, England and dating to circa 1930s. The jardiniere has a lovely shape, very much like a brush pot...

George Trollope and Sons. Exhibited at the Paris Universal Exhibition in 1878 winning a Gold Medal for Excellence. The set forms the four sides of a complete panelled room that was exhibited as a boudoir room or petit salon at the Paris Exhibition 1878 . The main feature and centrepiece of this boudoir room is the Rosso Antico marble fireplace surmounted by an open display niche carved in cedar wood. Each side of the room is composed of various panels and are as follows: One side with a grand Rosso Antico marble fireplace flanked by two doorways. One side with French doors originally opening onto a balcony, flanked by two large bookshelves. One side with a window flanked by two mirrors. The opposite side with three large mirrors. The complete room measures: 21 ft / 6.4 m wide, 17 ft / 5.18 m deep, and 12 ft / 3.65 m high. It could also be used in a number of different combinations to suit various room layouts. The mirrors could be replaced with windows or further bookcases. Each side is decorated with various sizes of finely carved panels and holds ornate Corinthian style columns surmounted with cherubim's on the capitals. Three cherubs are formed at the top of each corner with three columns, at the column bases there are circular carved pedestals to display statues. Published & illustrated in the ‘Illustrated Catalogue of the Paris International Exhibition’. The main part of this room, the Rosso Antico marble fireplace is surmounted by a large open display niche carved in cedar wood are illustrated with a line drawing in the Paris Universal Exhibition catalogue on page 209. The whereabouts of the seminaked caryatids and the marble bust of Alexander Pope are unknown. The bust of Alexander Pope was copied from the original one in Westminster Abbey, London. The Corinthian columns now flanking the niche above the fireplace are also in cedar wood having the identical carved fluting to the rest of the room and were made to replace the caryatid figures. Those Corinthian columns are period to the room and can only have been made shortly after it arrived back to London and before it was reassembled and fitted into the house built by George Trollope and Sons in the 1880's, and where we removed it all from. George Trollope made clever use of Alexander Pope's early 18th-century poetical successes in Great Britain and France by using ‘The Rape of Lock’, a mock-heroic narrative poem Pope wrote in 1712 about Petre who cut off a lock of Arabella’s hair without her permission, as the theme of the boudoir room or petit salon at the 1878 Paris Exhibition. In the original exhibition display of the room set, tapestries depicting the Rape of Lock were hung where the mirrors are now positioned. Alexander Pope's The Rape of the Lock is a humorous indictment of the vanities and idleness of 18th-century high society. Basing his poem on an actual incident among two families of his acquaintance, Pope intended his verses to quench hot tempers and to encourage his friends to laugh at their own foolishness. The poem is an outstanding example in the English language of the genre of mock-epic. The 'epic' was considered one of the most serious of literary forms; it had been applied, in the classical period, to the trivialities of love and war. Pope’s mock-epic is not to mock the form itself, but to mock his society in its very failure to rise to epic standards, exposing its pettiness by casting it against the grandeur of the traditional epic subjects and the bravery and fortitude of epic heroes: Pope’s mock-heroic treatment in The Rape of the Lock underlines the ridiculousness of a society in which values have lost all proportion, and the trivial is handled with the gravity and solemnity that ought to be accorded to truly important issues. The 18th-century society in this poem fails to distinguish between things that are important and things that are not. The poem mocks the men it portrays by representing them as unworthy of a heroic culture. Therefore the mock-epic follows the epic in that its main concerns are serious and moral. The point that the theme must now be satirical rather than earnest is symptomatic of how far the culture has fallen. Retaining the original exhibition label The back of the panelling still retains two original labels printed with the 'Union Jack' and printed adjacent to it, 'The Secretary Royal British Commission for the Universal Exhibition 1878 Champ de Mars Paris'. Adjacent to that and below, printed and written in ink vertically: Exhibitor: (and signed in ink) George Trollope & Sons. Address: (written in ink) Halkin Street West. London. Allotment in Block: (written in ink) a2. In the printed floor plan 'a2 square' is in the very first line to the right of the floor plan and handwritten in ink with a 'diamond shape' also written with '101' within it. This pin points where George Trollope's stand was located. With thousands of items being displayed at the Exhibition, this label would have been the floor plan for the craftsmen, so they knew the correct place to install the boudoir room or petit salon. The firm continued expanding house building and interior decoration side of the business and by 1849 was also trading as an estate agency, letting and controlling property for the Grosvenor Estates. A separate branch of cabinet-makers, bearing the family name, was opened at West Halkin Street, London. becoming known as 'The Museum of Decorative Arts' (looked after by George Robinson). Here Trollope and Sons also sold high-class antique furniture made by other makers. In 1851, the firm became formally known as George Trollope and Sons. West Halkin Street, London. The address was recorded in the listing for the firm in The Furniture Gazette Directory, 1876 & 1877. Period Press Coverage & Art Critic Review. everal newspapers also thoroughly describe George Trollope and Son's stand including the different tapestries that were hung where the mirrors are now, illustrating the poem 'The Rape of Lock', by Alexander Pope. Marius Vachon, a French Art Critic and journalist, who wrote for the journal ‘La France’ published an extensive review of the Trollope and Sons stand in a book called Les Merveilles de l'Exposition de 1878 (The Wonders of the 1878 Exhibition). Note: In the World Fairs translation it states door frame, Marius Vachon had originally written ‘chambranle’ in French, 'chambranle' loosely translates to a frame around something, and should read in its correct context: ‘fireplace in rosso antico’. We have taken the extract below written by Marius Vachon in its translated form from: Les Merveilles de l'Exposition de 1878, (The Wonders of the 1878 Exhibition). This puts into perspective the importance of this fine quality room interior when he viewed it at the exhibition in 1878: Marius Vachon: English furniture is very curious to observe; irreproachable from the point of view of execution, the furniture of our neighbours always reaches the last degree of respectability and comfort. One thing to be noticed is that for large pieces of furniture, the English upholsterer is transformed into a sort of architect; everything he makes takes on a monumental aspect. The first object that catches the eye when one enters the furniture class is the beautiful boudoir-salon exhibited by Mr. Trollope. The boudoir (or petit salon), of carved cedar wood, is an attempt to reproduce the style which prevailed in England during the first decade of Queen Anne's reign, and all the details have been studied, but not copied, from examples of decorative work of the time. The fireplace is in "rosso antico" movement, and the ceiling is in portable plaster. The panels painted on canvas represent scenes from the heroic-comic poem "The Abduction of the Hairpin," (The Rape of Lock) written by Alexander Pope in 1712, the eighth year of Queen Anne's reign, in which the customs and mores of the time are satirized in a pleasing manner. The apotheosis of the Loop and its sidereal transformations will form the decoration of the ceiling. In these illustrations of Pope's charming poem, the costumes and accessories have been taken from models of the time; and the bust of the poet, copied from his tomb in Westminster Abbey, occupies the niche in the centre of the mantelpiece. M. Marius Vachon, the period writer of the above continues with: Now we shall mention at random the magnificent dining table of Messrs. Johnston and Co., their oak mantelpiece, their boudoir table; Mr. Watt's drawing-room mantelpiece stepped in the old style and imitating the Japanese; Mr. James Shoolbred's great The Decorative Arts Society on Trollope and Sons The boudoir or petit salon is mentioned again in the Decorative Arts Society: Trollope did not exhibit such highly rated objects at the 1878 Paris Exhibition as at previous exhibitions; items included a large mirror frame carved in limewood in Renaissance style and a satinwood cabinet in Adam revival style, with a similar armchair (illus. Meyer (2006), p. 242) and probably two rooms; one was a boudoir in cedar wood in Queen Anne style and the other was a boudoir decorated by the firm in the theme of Pope’s The Rape of Lock. In the above extract, it is quite clear that the two rooms mentioned are in fact the very same room, because the fireplace and niche are illustrated in The Paris Universal Exhibition catalogue on page 209 and Marius Vachon describes the rest of the room set in the above… Trollope and Sons exhibition pieces listed and described by Meyer in an article he wrote for: The Decorative Arts Society 1850 to present, Journal 25 in 2001., where he points out the importance of George Trollope and Sons and mentions a table by Trollope exhibited at the 1867 exhibition that sold for £40,000 in 1996. He also mentions a cabinet exhibited by Trollope at the International Exhibition of 1862 that sold at Sotheby's in 1997 for £150,000. Interest was not as strong in the 1990's as it is today for rare exhibition pieces, high quality items were abundant back then, it was a golden era when the most beautiful works of art just kept coming onto the market. But there are exceptions as in this instance, when a unique, gold medal-winning exhibition work of art comes onto the market for the very first time. Meyer continued researching and writing about the great exhibitions and released his book in 2006, 'The Great Exhibitions, London, New York, Paris and Philadelphia 1851- 1900, where he mentions only in passing, The Boudoir Room or Petite Salon exhibited by Trollope, he even states that an image was not reproduced and that Trollope's exhibits in 1878 were not up to the quality and class of the items Trollope exhibited in London in 1862 and Paris in 1868. This is probably because Meyer didn't know of the line drawing illustrating the Roso Antico Fireplace, Niche and Panelling reproduced in The Illustrated Catalogue of the Paris International Exhibition 1878 shown in the above which Geering recently uncovered. John Meyer continues in the DAS journal: Undoubtedly they (Trollope) are a firm worthy of further research as they were right at the forefront of the furniture business in London from 1860 to 1880. Our research shows that the Petite Boudoir was awarded the gold medal for excellence in 1878 (see Journal La Liberté 23-10-1878 with the list of all medals attributed), something George Trollope and Sons did not achieve at the London 1862 and the Paris 1867 exhibitions. Jonathan Meyer joined Bonham's in 1977. He was Director at Sotheby's in charge of 19th Century Furniture from 1994 to June 2007. He was also chairman of the Fine Arts Faculty for The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors. In the original description from the article in Les Merveilles de l’exposition de 1878, M. Marius Vachon states: The first object that catches the eye when one enters the (English) furniture class is the beautiful boudoir-salon exhibited by Mr. Trollope. Suggesting, it was in his opinion the very best on display in the English section, and being awarded the gold medal for excellence can only add weight to this. Adjacent to the original label that was printed by The Secretary - Royal British Commission for the Universal Exhibition 1878 in stencil ‘TO BE KEPT’, i.e. ‘to be returned’. This confirms why it came back to London. We removed the Boudoir Room or Petite Salon from a Trollope house, part of a grand high-class housing estate in London which around the time of the exhibition Trollope and Sons were in the process of building, and where the room set was installed directly after it returned from the exhibition in 1878 until now. Worthy of note is the machines that did the carving for the Boudoir Room or Petite Salon and also did all of the decorative carving (most of which was linenfold carving) for the Houses of Parliament, London. This machine, the engraving and description of which we copy from Engineering, was specially designed by its inventor, Mr. Jordan, for assisting in the production of the vast amount of carved decorations required for the walls and ceilings of the Houses of Parliament, London, and it was so employed during the entire progress of the work. The late Sir Charles Barry was so well satisfied with it, that he frequently declared it would have been impossible to have accomplished the work without it. The Department of Woods and Forests employed five of the machines at the Government Works, Thames Bank, for several years; and the machines have now passed into the hands of Messrs. George Trollope and Son, and are still used in the same building. They also exhibited the new technique of xylatechnography and sgraffito, methods of impressing coloured design into soft wood and engraving veneer to reveal the base wood. The newspaper, La Liberte October, 23rd 1878 listing the medal winners of the Paris 1878 exhibition. Third column, ''GROUPE III MOBILIER ET ACCESSOIRES'', (GROUP III FURNITURE AND ACCESSORIES). Medailles d'or. (Gold Medals) where G Trollope et fils (G Trollope and Sons...

A Late 19th Century Victorian cast iron fireplace insert with its original tile set. A generous outer frame, with a raised cast border, two sets of hand painted tiles showing spring...

19th Century Enamelled Cast Iron Wood Burning Stove Le Scarabee Paris No 1 Beautifully made enamel cast iron wood burning stove, dating from 1860 / 1880, in the form of a scarab beet...

A cast bronze push-pull door handle with raised abstract design. Mid to late 20th century, found in Germany. A nice heavy piece with a dark applied patina. There are signs of wear, ...

This is an antique turned doorstop. A Scottish, oak country house door keeper, dating to the Victorian period, circa 1860. A substantial and beautifully figured example, offering dep...

This is a pair of antique Border Collie doorstops. An English, cast iron door keeper or large volume bookend, dating to the late Victorian period, circa 1900. Of excellent farmhouse ...

A Magnificent Bronze Elephant Sculpture in Verdi Green which also Serves as a Water Fountain if Required Please view Image 5 This Sculpture is over 2 meters in length Suitable for o...

An unusual square push-pull door handle made of patinated bronze featuring a raised modernist design of overlapping loosely geometric shapes. 20th century design, found in Germany. ...

A well balanced and pleasing 19th Century English cast iron fireplace insert with colourful tiles each side. A generous outer frame with a raised cast decorative border, a central ch...

Now I know we all wish to have that barn find, but this truly is a great barn find!!! 45 years it has been dry stored, and you can see from the condition that this original Gypsy Ca...

A square push-pull door handle with raised abstract design made of cast bronze. Mid to late 20th century, found in Germany. A nice heavy piece with a dark applied patina. There are ...

PAIR OF ANTIQUE PLANT STANDS Naturalistic wrought iron and wirework bases in the faux bois taste to emulate branches and twigs. Decorative wirework basket upper sections to hold po...

21st Century Lilac Viola Marble Fireplace Surround A spectacular Lilac Viola Breche marble fireplace surround, showcasing one of the most visually dramatic and sought-after marbles i...

A Scottish Edwardian Scots Pine Bolection Fireplace Surround. A deep moulded bolection front frame, with generous return sections to wall, all resting on splayed foot blocks. The Sc...

Margit Wittig has used her sculptural skills to create beautifully-crafted, well-proportioned door handles, which are compositions of her unique signature pearl-shaped designs. Eac...

A large and highly variegated Breche de Saint Maximin marble fireplace from the very late 18th century. Rich in colours of purple, creams, white, gold and deep reds. The console jamb...

A well proportioned Bolection fireplace surround in Italian Arabescato Corchia marble. The warm variegated colours of the veining showing nicely from the pale creamy background colou...

An Arts and Crafts Cast Iron Fender with delicate seed pods on stems and flower heads cast in relief across the front and sides. The botanical motifs are repeated in a rhythmic seque...

A classic 19th Century Victorian Scottish carrera marble fireplace surround. A generous square edged top shelf rests above an unadorn...

A 19th Century Victorian cast iron fireplace insert. A generous outer plate, with a raised mould arched border, and a central cartouche, a set of carved three barred fire bars, with ...

A charming and fully restored Period Limestone Art Deco fireplace surround of great quality, available with its original hearth plate, attr...

Mid century galvanised tin bath circa 1940. Good quality scandinavian tin bath which would also function well as a garden planter or installation.  Made from galvanised tin to preve...

A Gothic Oak Barley Twist Bergere Club Fender This is a very rare piece of country House Furniture, the fender has a high flat cane seat at either side and the and the seats are j...

Fine pair of mid century carved stone lions circa 1970. Made from re-constituted stone and have been outside our shop ever since. Lions with slight differing stances, fixed to pede...

More brutalist in shape, these andirons have no front legs but feature a triangular base that elongates to the tip, which is crowned with a rounded shape. The andirons are in good ...

A very large and superior quality Louis XV style Rococo surround in rare Breche Violette marble. The deeply carved jambs and frieze in typical Rococo manner with stiff acanthus and s...

A large and unusually tall 19th Century Regency pierced polished brass serpentine firegrate, with elaborate etched urn finials, all supported on tapered legs. To the centre, a pierce...

Circular push-pull door handle in bronze (or brass), mid-20th century, France. A very simple elegant handle, made up of two separate pieces - each side with a slightly concave dish ...

Margit Wittig has used her sculptural skills to create beautifully-crafted, well-proportioned door handles, which are compositions of her unique signature pearl-shaped designs. Each door pull begins as hand-sculpted spheres which are used to create moulds. Margit refers to these finished spheres as pearls. These highly original, eye-catching fixture comes in bespoke length, depending on the number of pearls. The door handles are cast in bronze. Margit Wittig is inspired by modern artists and sculptors such as Giacometti and Ivon Hitchens. Her work is constantly evolving using different textures as the driving force - intertwined with her work with color. Her functional art spreads the gamit from modern simplicity to rich and complex designs and color. Her pieces are placed with collectors around the globe. Working from her studio in London, as well as door handles, Margit creates artistic lighting...

A medium sized 19th century Victorian cast iron fireplace insert, showing good quality casting, probably cast in Falkirk, Scotland, circa 1860.

A 19th century Georgian style statuary marble fireplace surround of good proportions and color, a profiled top shelf rests above a central tablet displaying a large urn, flanked by f...

A monumental Moorish mid-Victorian wrought iron Pergola or Decorative Garden Structure, a unique masterpiece in High Victorian Ironwork design. Ou...

A medium sized mid-19th century Victorian Scottish Carron of Falkirk Hob Grate cast iron fireplace insert. A square front plate with corner embellishments- a slow arch opening and th...

Large carved wood and polychrome decorated stags head, carved with glass eyes and taxidermy antlers. Mounted on carved backplate. Dimensions Height 48.5 Inches Width 24.5 Inches Dept...

A Brutalist aluminium door panel with integrated handle and bronzed patina. Second half 20th century, found in Belgium. A sculptural piece, unsigned, reminiscent of the style of Bil...

This is an antique Arts and Crafts fire kerb. An English, copper fireside surround with Ruskin-esque cabochon, dating to the late Victorian period...

A matching pair of 19th Century Victorian manner cast iron fireplace inserts. A generous outer plate set with an arched high relief border, the three bared arched fire front with ash...

A large French 19th Century Cast Iron fireplace insert. An outer flange border, with concave returns with high relief cast embellishments showing wonderful examples of foliage and fr...

A charming mid 19th Century Victorian cast iron fireplace insert. A generous outer plate with high relief corner embellishments, a three barred shaped fire front...

A wonderful pair of midcentury French cast concrete garden fountains with medieval heads to the basins. These could have decorative fountain statues pla...

Ready for the garden or the living room, the Emerson dining chair set is part of our first outdoor rattan collection. Handcrafted by artisans, Louise's ...

A hardwood 19th century Victorian manner fireplace surround. A moulded top shelf sits above a well carved frieze of repeating Rossetti, further carved jambs with fluting, an egg and ...

Set of four stackable planters by Mathieu Matégot (1910-2001) Metal and perforated lacquered sheet metal (rigitulle) Model created circa 1950 (priced for the set of 4) Bibliogr...

William Arthur Smith Benson and Heywood Sumner. A rare and probably unique Arts & Crafts brass and copper fireplace fender surmounted with six finials and six leaf-shaped feet. The main body with alternating brass and copper discs, each with embossed floral decoration. The floral decoration to the discs is probably the design of Heywood Sumner who collaborated with Benson on some of his lighting designs particularly a three branch brass and copper wall candle sconce, also with embossed floral decoration. This particular model with floral embossed details to the discs is probably the rarest and hardest one to find. Even after extensive research, I cannot find another one that has ever come onto the market before. I have found two almost identical Benson fenders...

A large and ornate statuary marble fireplace, in the manor of Louis XVI, good quality carving to this piece throughout, fully cleaned and restored and ready to fit. Fire Opening Size...

A large and impressive Louis XVI style fireplace mantel in Italian Carrara marble. The scrolled console legs, with decorative carved ribbon twist, carved acanthus to top, carved scro...

A well proportioned and finely carved Louis XV style fireplace in Italian Carrara marble. The carved panelled jambs with stiff acanthus at the bottom, descending flowers and foliage surmounted by C-scrolls and shells. The panelled side returns retaining their original brass vents...

1880s Width for the pair 107cm Width per door 53,5cm

Four Arts and Crafts cast iron radiator covers or console tables were made by The Liverpool and Macclesfield Cast Iron Co in the 1860s. Pleas...

A medium sized 19th century Regency style hand carved statuary marble fireplace surround, a reeded top shelf sits directly above a ste...

A versatile and pretty 19th century Victorian Scottish lightly veined Carrara marble fireplace surround. A square shelf with rounded corners-sits above a plain frieze, flanked by tal...

Bronze pull handles are suitable for drawers, cupboards and any type of cabinet furniture,. The design is inspired by vintage leather handles on suitcases with a textured surface bu...

Dr C Dresser attributed for Colebrookdale Iron Works. A rare set of 18 Anglo-Japanese cast iron stair and/or balcony balustrades including the origi...

Vintage Hand Decorated Reconstituted Stone Plant Pot A thick heavy planter in the form of a trough with remnants of original paint and applied clam sh...