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Michael Pick

Michael Pick of Stair & Co established 1911, and Partridge Fine Art PLC established c.1905

A conversation between Michael Pick and project volunteer Chris Coles. This is the nineth interview in the extension to our Oral History project, called BADA Voices, and generously supported by the British Antique Dealers' Association.

Michael Pick, joined the well-known antique dealers Stair & Company in 1978, before becoming a Director of W. Thomas Ltd Carvers & Gilders by Appointment (a subsidiary company of Partridge Fine Art PLC) in 2001, before leaving the company in 2006 and formally retiring from Partridge Fine Art PLC in 2008.

In this highly engaging interview Michael reflected on his beginnings in the antique trade - starting with an introduction to the world of antiques through the writer and collector Bevis Hillier, before joining Stair & Co., working with Mary Holder in 1978. With recollections on the importance of key antique trade locations in London and America in the period 1970s-2000, and the significance of dealer locations such as Mount Street, London, and importance of Claridges Hotel to the American collectors, Michael reflected on  the significance of the UK-USA transatlantic antique trade and the shifting taste for English Antiques during the 1970s and 1980s.

Photograph courtesy of Michael Pick.