This month we invited Phillip Thomas, founder and principal designer of New York based firm Phillip Thomas Inc., to select a handful of his favourite items from the Guinevere collection and take a light grilling at the same time, finding out about his design style, career highlights, best kept secret—and more… Phillip brings influence of […]
Category: Diary
Paul Daxhelet
When Marc and Heather finally managed to visit an old friend last year (between lockdowns!) – a retired Art and Antiques dealer in Paris – they did not expect to come across a collection of Belgian artworks they had never seen before in their years of travelling around Europe. They certainly did not expect to […]
Guineveres Guests; Chats with Olivia Outred
Named as House & Garden’s ‘Rising Star’ 20/21, Olivia Outred is known for her fresh and playful design style with a career that has progressed from strength to strength. In her early years she worked with iconic designers Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler and Soane Britain, before opening her own studio in 2014. We are […]
Gilding – A Not So Practical Guide
Lockdown created more than its fair share of problems, as I’m sure we can all agree. One issue I hadn’t considered however was the amount of restoration classes I would miss, and subsequently have to catch up on in a relatively short space of time. The course (which I mentioned in my last entry), has […]
A Message From The Desk of Dean
Working from home is a little like spending a length of time with loved ones; although the idea initially seemed appealing, after a couple of days one does begin to become somewhat aware of the inadequacies of the situation. My “desk” at the moment is not the elegant Louis XV bureau plat I have at […]
Restoration: Bringing Antiques Back to Life: Part 1
I won’t bore you with a lengthy rant on the distinction between restoration and conservation, suffice to say there is one. So if you were to approach anyone involved in the conservation of items and suggest that what they do is’restoration’, well…you have been warned! To restore an object is to add back a bit […]
The Line of Beauty
Jean, Pablo, Amedeo & Keith. Few things are more expressive than the simple line. A sweep or curve, an outline, a bold shape, these are the elements of visual language we all understand. In his Analysis of Beauty (1753) William Hogarth proposed a theory of aesthetics in which the term Line of Beauty was used […]
Marvellous Maison Jansen
The name “Jansen” identifies a century-long, global offering of decorating services that focused on both historical revivals and contemporary trends. Founded in 1880 by Jean Henri Jansen, the Paris based design and decorating firm Maison Jansen quickly established itself as one of the first truly International design firms. The decorating firm offered services that focused […]
Our Three Kings of Colour
Every year in June the Chelsea design quarter holds open its doors for a late night spectacular, the drinks flow and the conversations are merry. This year we decided to invite three designers to take over our windows, putting their own personal style within the space, with carefully curated items from Guinevere, of course. The […]
Dhurries; What, Where, How?
“The charm of the dhurrie lies in its simple treatment of the decorative details, and the principles of symmetry repetition” Dhurries are functional, decorative and extremely durable. These cotton rugs are made by weaving horizontal and vertical threads. In the C19th Dhurrie manufacturing entered a new phase, which led to several exhibitions of dhurries in […]