Ceramics in the City

Today marks the start of the annual event Ceramics in the City which is held at the Geffrye Museum in Shoreditch. Now in its 14th year, the event will exhibit, promote and sell works from a diverse range of artists.

This year 54 potters will be showcasing their work along with demonstrations and craft activities. Ceramics in the City is also one of the events that makes up The London Design Festival which itself runs from 17th-25th September.

Ceramics in the City runs from Friday 23rd - Sunday 25th September with an open evening taking place on Thursday 22nd September 6pm-8.30.

With this in mind, we took a look around for all the little ceramic treasures hiding away in Alfies.

Ceramic vase, offered by Andy Powell

Ceramic vase, offered by Keith Spicer

Ceramic Vase, offered by Beth 

Ceramic vase, offered by Renato

Ceramic water set, offered by The Moderns

Ceramic vase, offered by Keith Spicer

Ceramic nut dish, offered by Beth

Ceramic vase, offered by Renato

#AlfiesTurns40: Antiques Young Guns Church Street Pop-Up

If you haven't already heard - we are celebrating our 40th anniversary this month in conjunction with the London Design Festival! We are very excited about the series of events we have lined up, kicking off on the 20th and running until 24th September. Not only will we have a residency from Peter Layton's London Glassblowing, and talks from antiques expert Mark Hill and established vintage fashion dealer Leslie Verrinder of Tin Tin Collectables, not to mention an upholstery demonstration from Thirteen Upholstery Workshop, we are also pleased to welcome the Antiques Young Guns collective, who will be taking over the magnificent space at 35-37 Church Street with their pop-up shop.

With several of the shops on Church Street having started from stalls within Alfies, the Alfies and Church Street area has a lot to offer to antique and design lovers and should be considered as a must visit destination!

Expect to find a myriad of covetable objects from the following AYG dealers:

• Lily Johnston of Bombe Antiques - www.bombeinteriors.co.uk

• Matthew Wise of Cubbit Antiques - www.cubbitantiques.com

• Edd Thomas of Eddintheclouds Antiques - www.eddintheclouds.com

• Jason Clarke of Jason Clarke Antiques - www.jasonclarkeantiques.co.uk

• Stephanie Connell of Stepannie Connell Art & Antiques  - www.stephanieconnell.com

• Eddy Toshi Ishikawa Wertheim of The Japanese Gallery - www.japanese-gallery.com

• Jon Irvine of Jon Irvine Antiques - www.antiquesyoungguns.co.uk/dealers/jon-irvine-antiques.html

To give you a little taster of what you might find in the Antiques Young Guns pop-up shop, here's some of our favourite objects from each dealer:

19th century marginal mirror from Bombe Interiors

David Klein (1918-2005): An original TWA London travel poster, 1960s, from Stephanie Connell

Pair of Stilnovo style pendant lights - Cubitt Antiques

Photo album produced c1900 with wooden covers coated with black lacquer, from The Japanese Gallery

Thomas Webb cut glass decanter set, from Jon Irvine Antiques

Thonet Bentwood rocking chair No.4, from Edd in the Clouds

Victorian aesthetic movement duet piano stool, from Jason Clarke Antiques

Alfies Celebrate 40 Years!

This year marks Alfies Antique Market’s 40th year in business... and we're celebrating!

When Bennie Gray bought the building, that was previously home to Jordan’s Department Store, in 1976, he had a clear vision of creating an unpretentious indoor antiques market. He quickly launched Alfies – named after his jazz musician father – and the centre went from strength to strength. Originally occupying just one floor of the building, Alfies Antique Centre today covers 35,000 square feet over four floors, complete with over 70 dealers and a charming roof-top café and terrace. Over the years, Alfies’ dealers have spread out on to the surrounding Church Street, opening shops and turning this corner of Marylebone into a destination for antiques, decorative items and high quality design.

Alfies in the 1970s

Alfies on opening day, 1976

To celebrate this impressive anniversary, Alfies and the Church Street antiques area are hosting a week of pop-up shops and activities in collaboration with this year’s London Design Festival, between 20 and 24 September 2016.

Alfies’ main attraction will be an occupancy from London Glassblowing, which was established by Peter Layton in 1976 and also shares its 40th anniversary with Alfies. Ahead of its time, London Glassblowing was among the first hot-glass studios in Europe and is now known as having a particular flair for the use of colour, form and texture.

Peter Layton in his glass blowing studio, 1979

Black Paradiso by Peter Layton

Peter Layton in his glass blowing studio

Alongside this, Church Street will be hosting an array of antique, art and design focused pop-up shops, with more details to be confirmed.

In-store, Alfies will also be holding talks and demonstrations from experts within and outside of the centre; Alfies is particularly proud to be welcoming Mark Hill for a talk on 20th century glass; co-founder of the Antiques Young Guns, Mark has also presented on both the BBC Antiques Roadshow and Collectaholics programmes.

Mark Hill

Find out more about our celebrations in September here

Robin Day - Chair Man To Modern Design

Robin Day is recognisably one of the most influential furniture designers of the 20th century. In 2015 he would have celebrated his 100th birthday, and with a remarkable career spanning almost seven decades it is almost impossible not to be aware of, or have sat on one of his designs. Most globally known is Day's 1963 polypropylene stacking chair, seen in almost every school or office worldwide.

Born 25 May 1915, Day grew up in High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, known for its furniture making. He attended the High Wycombe Technical Institute and had close links with the local furniture industry. Being gifted at drawing, Day progressed to High Wycombe School of Art in 1931 and won a scholarship to study design at the Royal College of Art in 1934.

On graduating the Royal College of Art in 1938, there were no suitable openings in the furniture industry, so he made architectural models and took a teaching post at Beckenham School of Art, where he developed an innovative, groundbreaking course in 3D design, where he also met fellow design lecturer Clive Lamiter. Day's 'big break' came when he, together with Lamiter, won first prize in the 1948 International Competition for Low-Cost Furniture Design organised by the Museum of Modern Art in New York (MOMA). Their ingenious concept for a range of multi-purpose storage units, composed from a tube of preformed moulded plywood, received international acclaim. This led to the start of a world acclaimed career in furniture design and to his collaboration with the London furniture manufacture Hille.

1963 Polypropylene chair. Image from www.hille.co.uk

In 1951, Day was approached and commissioned by the Festival of Britain to design all the seating for London's Royal Festival Hall. His prolific work for Hille included 1950s ranges in moulded plywood and the incredible polypropylene chair created in 1963, which to date has sold in tens of millions. Designs for other clients included seating for the Barbican centre, televisions and radios for British company Pye, and the interiors for aircrafts for the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC).

To celebrate his centenary year, the Victoria and Albert Museum is showcasing a display dedicated to Robin Day during the London Design Festival 2015 with the Day In London exhibition, a series of events all across the capital.

Robin Day display at the Victoria & Albert Museum.

At Alfies we are hosting our own London Design Festival event throughout Thursday, 24 September, from 10am to 6pm, and we are fortunate enough to have an original Robin Day 'Leo Chair' offered by Matt Mitchell of Matt Mitchell London. The 'Leo Chair' was designed in 1965 and famously used by Sean Connery in the 1967 James Bond film 'You Only Live Twice'. The chair and matching footstool are in complete original condition with two sets of different feet and upholstered in quality black leather.

1965 'Leo Chair' by Robin Day, offered by Matt Mitchell London

During the London Design Festival, Alfies hosts talks, workshops and displays including Thirteen Interiors,  Tin Tin Collectables, Paola & Iaia - The Originals, and Matt Mitchell London. 

Clockwise from top left: Matt Mitchell London, Tin Tin Collectables, The Originals and Thirteen Interiors
  

The London Design Festival: Alfies and the Church Street Design Trail

We're excited that Alfies and the Church Street Design Trail will launch on Thursday 24 September, during the London Design Festival this year. This special day will consist of talks, exhibitions, demonstrations and workshops.

We have collaborated with the Church Street furniture shops to put Marylebone on the map, many of which stock covetable design pieces. A tour of these shops will be led by Leon Young of Young & Son, an established antiques furniture dealer and LAPADA member. Follow Leon as he gives a fascinating insight into the range of design pieces on the street and how many of these dealers launched their businesses.

Alfies dealers Emilia & Luis of Thirteen Upholstery Workshop will hold an upholstery demonstration; watch in awe as they work their magic touch on tired furniture, giving it a new lease of life. Leslie of Tin Tin Collectables will be hosting a talk about the influence of politics on fashion design through the ages, and Matt Mitchell London will have on display two iconic pieces by British furniture designer Robin Day, to coincide with his centenary this year.

1950s single Italian armchair reupholstered in yellow velvet, offered by Thirteen Interiors

1950s leather desk lamp by Jacques Adnet, offered by Matt Mitchell London

1950s style mobile by Manuel Marin, offered by Angry-Agent

Sam Gullam of Lacock Gullam will be discussing how he conceived the design for Church Street’s new market sign posts, which draws some inspiration from the modernist nature of pieces on offer at Alfies and Church Street.

Lacock Gullam Church Street sign post

Not only that we will also have complimentary bubbly on offer, plus tasty treats will be available at the Roof Top Kitchen, as usual. Do not miss out!

The London Design Festival runs from 19 – 27 September and is one of the world’s most important annual design events encompassing a wide range of design disciplines.

Fashion & Design Week

With both the London Design Festival and Fashion Week looming just around the corner, get ready for a huge blast of culture and shopping starting from the 19th September!

The Design Festival takes place around this time each year and calls upon all of London's designers, both up and coming and well-established as well as galleries, museums, and design shops to pull out all the stops and show off what they've got to the rest of the world.

This year is no exception and with many thanks Alfies has been included in a new annual design publication and guide by Max Fraser. This superb guide covers the whole of London and helps navigate through the vast and diverse amount of design London has to offer.

Alfies is unique in that it houses so many dealers in one place creating an eclectic mix of design, decoratives and lots of surprises! Here are a couple of views from the outstanding furniture, lighting and interiors shops at Alfies.

C R Design - The Quad, Ground Floor

Lorna Lee Leslie - The Quad, Ground Floor

Francesca Martire, 1st Floor Mezzanine

The next giant event to hit London at around the same time is of course Fashion Week, this time it's Spring/Summer 2010. Still celebrating its 25th year, this autumn is set to be a good one.

It's so strange looking at the Spring/Summer collection for next year when I have only just got my head around the fact that this year's summer has sadly disappeared.

Back to Autumn/Winter this year, what is exciting is the thought of woollen jumpers, warm boots and time to treat yourself to a new coat! Here are some statement autumnal pieces that are right on trend but are investments that will last you a lifetime:

French Art Deco Handbag - Tony Durante

1940s Faux Leopard Jacket, Reversable - The Girl Can't Help It

Vintage Floral Dress - Empire Vintage

So whether it's fashion or design that floats your boat, this week London (and Alfies) has got a lot to offer!