Jonathan Harris

Jonathan Harris of Phillips & Harris, London, established 1967.

A conversation between Jonathan Harris and project lead Mark Westgarth.

Jonathan started as a dealer in antiques in the mid 1960s, before forming a partnership with Henry Phillips, in a shop in Kensington Church Street in 1967.

In this thoughtful and reflective interview Jonathan tells us about his life as a dealer, and his passion for collecting. Jonathan talks about what the antique trade was like in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, as well as his views on the trade today and it's future.

Phillips & Harris were well known for buying spectacular objects from a very wide range of periods and places, in a form of antique dealing that harked back to older, romantic antiquarian traditions.  Phillips & Harris supplied major museums all over the world - as Jonathan said, he liked to buy the very best of anything that was available.

Photograph, Antique Dealer project, University of Leeds, 2016.