Temple Newsam Year of the Dealer trail
The Year of the Dealer trail at Temple Newsam, Leeds, concentrates on the antique dealers who helped to assemble to collections in the 20th century at Temple Newsam.
The trails highlight ten significant antique objects currently on display in the galleries at Temple Newsam, telling the story of the antiques through the dealers who sold them to Temple Newsam.
Through ten short films, you'll hear some fascinating stories about antique dealing and the characters involved in the history of the antiques trade in Britain; such as the tale of Mr Greenwood at W.F. Greenwood & Sons in the 1930s who had to be dragged from his home (whilst playing croquet) when Queen Mary arrived at his shop in York; or the antique dealer Ronald Lee who ran his antique dealing business from some very grand historic houses in the 1950s and 1960s, including one designed by Sir Christopher Wren.
You will also hear about Walter Waddingham, the Harrogate antique dealer, known as the 'King of the North'; and how H. Blairman & Sons managed to buy the Harewood Library Desk at auction at Christie's with their very last bid.
You can also learn more about the changing market and desire for antiques through the prices that the dealers charged for these very special objects from the 1940s to the 1990s.
The dealers include famous London antique dealers such as Frank Partridge & Sons, H. Blairman & Sons, Hotspur, and Mallett & Sons, well-known regional antique dealers such as Roger Warner and Phillips of Hitchin, as well as some antique dealers local to Yorkshire, such as W.F. Greenwood & Sons, Charles Lumb & Sons, and Walter Waddingham.
Watch the films
Each of the ten antique object films focus on the story of the antique dealers who sold the antique to Temple Newsam. You can also hear a curator's introduction to the films at Temple News by curator Adam Toole.