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Letter from Moscow

Posted by David Harvey, Sunday 27 March 2011

It certainly has been a busy couple of weeks what with my return from the USA just in time to spend a few days getting back into the swing of things before my Gallery Manager James flew off to Moscow for the LAPADA trade mission. He returned this morning and was very excited about the new business opportunities presented by this week and it gave us the opportunity to show our wonderful William and Mary Period Kingwood Oyster-veneered Cabinet on Chest to Russian collectors and interior designers alike. They were very taken with the complex nature of this early example and compared it with other items on display at the British Ambassador's Residence.

The international Press Agency, Reuters were there and seemed to have captured the essence of it in their international reports:

"Europe's largest antiques association catered for the Russian elite on their home turf for the first time this week, banking on the growing sophistication of the country's super-rich to rapidly increase demand. The London-based LAPADA, which unites top British and several international antiques dealers, presented 12 pieces to Moscow's champagne-quaffing crowd in the British ambassador's lavish embankment residence.
"Russia has been an important market for antiques for the last 10 years. The main reason we came now is the strong market," said LAPADA chief executive Sarah Percy-Davis, as she surveyed the goods.".
Walking around the wood-panelled halls of the ambassador's historic house, LAPADA's Russia representative sighed in relief. "It took me five years of persuading them to come," she said.
"Now, with the trusted LAPADA brand in Russia, with direct communication among Russian buyers and international dealers, investment in antiques will be easier," she told Reuters."Given how much the Russian antiques market is undervalued, this number may double in the next three to five years," she added."

Although unsold at the event, there was certainly a great deal of interest in the Cabinet on Chest as well as the many fine Georgian pieces in Mahogany, Walnut, Satinwood, Rosewood and Oak illustrated in our current catalogue and available for visitors to view on our website The piece is now on the return journey from Moscow and we look forward to welcoming it back to Witney with a tin of wax polish to reward it for a job well done (and of course James as well!)
Over many years we have observed just how international our business has become and we look forward to exploring further new fields as they become available. It is certainly true however that whatever is going on in the World, there always seems to be a market somewhere for the finest quality! As the clocks here in the UK went forward one hour in the still of last night I shall now go and re-set all the clocks in the showrooms to the correct time - aren't the evenings light these days?

As ever,
David

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