Shapland &
Petter. Superb
hand crafted
copper and
metalwork
decorations. By
Daryl Bennett.
'During 2005,
the Arts and
Crafts furniture
of the
Barnstaple based
Shapland and
Petter company
was the subject
of two important
public
exhibitions in
the UK. The
Museum of
Barnstaple and
North Devon
hosted the first
ever Shapland
and Petter
exhibition in
May and June
2005, followed
by the Cannon
Hall Museum in
Barnsley which
held an
exhibition from
July to October
2005...'
Create an inspired shrine in your home, with
fabulously carved cabinets and elaborately
painted trunks bursting with symbolism.
'My first
encounter with
Tibetan
furniture came
in the early
1990s, on a
visit to Victor
Lamont's trade
warehouse,
Global Village
at the back of
Martock. While
my client
searched for
tables and
artefacts for
her Swiss
nightclub, I was
distracted by
half a dozen
fabulously
decorated chests
and trunks, that
were being
packed up to
send back to
Hong Kong from
where they had
come the
previous year.
Victor having
failed to find a
market for them
in the UK...'
Hunting for antiques in Honiton, Devon.
'Honiton nestles
in the
delightful Devon
countryside,
rich in farmland
and watered by
the river Otter,
whilst within
easy access of
the busy A303.
Visitors to the
area will find
the town an
accommodating
place to stay,
ideal as a base
from which to
explore the
surrounding
antiques shops
in the
neighbouring
towns and
cities. Honiton
itself has been
noted as Devon’s
‘Antiques town’
for many years;
in fact, it has
been said that
there were more
antiques shops
here a few years
ago, than any
other town in
the country. ...'
Innovation, egalitarianism and
a new optimism fired designers in the 1950s, who
created furnishings that stand as beacons in the
history of the domestic interior. By Constance
King.
'While the art
movements of the
previous
generations were
supported by the
expensive
purchases of the
avant garde, the
furniture
designers of the
50s and 60s
directed their
work towards a
much wider
social spectrum.
Design was
important and
was discussed in
newspapers and
magazines as
well as schools:
indeed, so
momentous was
the effect of
bad design that
students held
protest marches
against
buildings in
pseudo-Tudor
style...'
