Lady Lever Art Gallery Year of the Dealer trail
The trails highlight ten significant antique objects currently on display in the galleries at Lady Lever Art Gallery, telling the story of the antiques through the dealers who sold them to the collector William Hesketh Lever. You'll hear some fascinating stories about antique dealing and the characters involved in the history of the antiques trade in Britain.
Hear the tale of the antique dealer Edgar Gorer who sadly perished in the sinking of the Lusitania in 1915. Or the story of the antique dealer Frank Partridge who miraculously survived the same disaster.
Hear about the antique dealer Frederick Phillips who started his antique dealing business selling old prams in Hitchin market. Hear about the favourite antique chair of the dealer Moss Harris - a treasure he would never sell.
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 during the early 1900s.
The dealers include famous London antique dealers such as Frank Partridge & Sons, M. Harris & Sons, Charles Duveen, Edgar Gorer, Charles Davis and Frederick Rathbone, well-known regional antique dealers such as Samuel Richards and Phillips of Hitchin, as well as some important antique dealers from the 19th century such as Frederick Litchfield and Thomas Walesby.
Watch the films
Each of the ten antique object films focus on the story of the antique dealers who sold antiques to William Hesketh Lever and that later formed the collections at Lady Lever Art Gallery. You can also hear a curator's introduction to the films, presented by former Head of Lady Lever Art Gallery, Alyson Pollard.