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Antique Dealers: Buying, Selling and Collecting

‘Antique Dealers: Buying, Selling and Collecting’ was a temporary exhibition staged at the Stanley & Audrey Burton Gallery at the University of Leeds from 4th March to 25th May 2019.

The exhibition was co-curated by Dr. Mark Westgarth and Dr. Katie Herrington. It focused on the history of three leading British antique dealer businesses; Phillips of Hitchin (1884-2015), Ronald A Lee (1949-2000) and Roger Warner (1936-1985). It displayed a wide range of objects, some of which were on loan from Temple Newsam, Leeds and some from the family of Roger Warner, bringing the objects back into dialogue with some key documents from the archives of these antique dealers from the Brotherton Library Special Collections at the University of Leeds.

The exhibition highlighted some key aspects of the practices and processes of antique dealing as it evolved in the 20th century.

Through the objects and the archives in the exhibition the individual character and rich history of each of the three businesses was demonstrated, illustrating how the systems and practices of buying and selling antiques changed over the course of the 20th century. The exhibition also revealed how antique dealing shaped and was shaped by changing fashions and tastes.

We are extremely grateful to our exhibition sponsors The Leeds Art Fund