Redwell Wood Farm / Potters Bar / Hertfordshire, EN6 3NA, UK | USD $, Yen, Euro and all major currencies accepted. Change Site Language | Help | Your Cart (0)
Canonbury Antiques Canonbury Antiques
 
UK UK: +44 (1707) 644877
USA USA: + 1 (877) 650-7261
USA: + 1 (877) 650-7261UK: +44 (1707) 644877
  • Categories
  • Styles & Period
  • Room
  • SALE
  • Sell Items
  • Find Me an Item
  • Film & TV Hire
  • Contact
  • Visit Showroom
  • About
 
Subscribe to our newsletterand get 10% OFF!
search

Shop by Type
  • Dining Tables
  • Dining Sets
  • Art Deco
  • Tables
  • Dining Chairs
  • Seating and Chairs
  • Objet d Art
  • Bookcases
  • Bronzes
  • Desks
  • Buddha Statues
  • Lamps and Lighting
  • Steamer Trunk Luggage Cases
  • French Boulle Furniture
  • Architectural Salvage
  • Curios
  • Silver Plate
  • Oil Paintings
  • Cabinets and Chests
  • Chairs
  • Architectural
  • Fountains and Garden
  • Mirrors
  • Chinese Porcelain
  • Porcelain
  • Dressers and Sideboards
  • Tea Caddies
  • Glassware
  • Mirrored Furniture
  • Clocks

Shop by Style
  • 1920s Furniture
  • 1930s Furniture
  • Adams Antiques and Furniture
  • Aesthetic Movement
  • Antique Gilding and Gilt
  • Antique Painted Furniture
  • Apprentice Pieces
  • Art Deco
  • Art Nouveau
  • Arts and Craft
  • Belle Epoque Antiques
  • Biedermeier
  • Black Lacquer
  • Boulle Furniture
  • British Antiques
  • Burmese Furniture
  • Campaign and Military Furniture
  • Champleve
  • Chinese Antiques
  • Chinoiserie
  • Chippendale
  • Classical Garden
  • Cloisonne
  • Colonial / Campaign
  • Continental Antiques
  • Craquelure
  • Danish Antiques and Mid Century Designs
  • Dutch Marquetry Antiques
  • Ebonized Antique Furniture
  • Edwardian Antiques
  • Edwards and Roberts Antiques
  • Elkington Silver Plate
  • English Antiques
  • Epstein Furniture
  • Farmhouse Dining Furniture
  • Farmhouse Furniture
  • Flemish Antiques
  • Francois Linke
  • French Antiques
  • French Empire
  • French Regence
  • George Bullock Antiques
  • George II
  • George III Antiques
  • Georgian Antiques
  • Gillows and Co Antiques
  • Gothic Antiques
  • Grand Tour Antiques
  • Hepplewhite
  • Hobbs and Company Antiques
  • Indian Antiques
  • Irish Antiques
  • Italian Antiques
  • Jacobean Antiques
  • Japanese Antiques
  • Lacquer and Ebonized Furniture
  • Lambs of Manchester
  • Louis XVI
  • Malachite Antiques
  • Maple and Co Antiques
  • Marquetry Inlay
  • Mid Century Modern Furniture
  • Napoleon III
  • Neo-Classical
  • Parquetry Inlay
  • Queen Anne
  • Regency Antiques
  • Roaring Twenties Interiors
  • Rocaille
  • Rococo
  • Sheffield Silver Plate
  • Sheraton
  • Sheraton Revival
  • Swedish Antiques
  • Syrian Moorish and Islamic Furniture
  • The Garden
  • Vernis Martin Lacquer
  • Victorian Antiques
  • William and Mary Antiques
  • William IV Antiques

Shop by Room
  • Castle Chic
  • Art Deco Apartment
  • Aviator Furniture
  • Classical Garden
  • Farmhouse Kitchen
  • Gentlemans Club
  • Georgian Drawing Room
  • Grand Tour Garden
  • Medieval Banquet
  • Parisian Apartment
  • Regency Dining Room
  • Roman Villa
  • The Dining Room
  • The Garden
  • The Hallway
  • The Kitchen
  • The Library
  • The Living Room
  • The Lounge
  • The Study
  • Urban Loft
  • Victorian Dining Room
  • William IV Dining Room
WITH VIDEOS
Global Shipping
Global Shipping
Secured Site
Amex
Master Card
Visa
Discover

Returns Policy 7

Antique Memories - Westbourne Grove, W11. Plus Special Relationship II

GO BACK
all
SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER And get 10% OFF!
Date
Apr
21
2020

Canonbury Antiques, 174 Westbourne Grove - circa 1995

(Above photo - Canonbury Antiques, 174 Westbourne Grove - circa 1995 )
 

After starting out on London's Blackstock Road in the 1960s the US export side of the business grew exponentially as we supplied goods to US customers and suppliers all over the States. At the height in the 1970s we were sending twelve 40 Foot containers a month to US locations. At this time it was decided we also needed some flagship London stores to reach new customers so we opened two stores, one on Notting Hill Gate's Westbourne Grove and another in Islington's Camden Passage.  At the time Islington was fast becoming a very chic and fashionable area to both live and work in and our Camden Passage outlet was more suited to smaller goods and objets d'art. I will be writing more about Camden Passage in a future post as it's such an interesting place and area as this posts focus will be on Westbourne Grove.

 

Camden Passage, Islington - decorative pieces and objets d art

(Above photo - Camden Passage, Islington - decorative pieces and objets d'art )
 

It's crazy to think but in the 1970s Notting Hill Gate, W11 - the area of West London in which Westbourne Grove sits - was largely run down and not the insanely expensive place to live and shop it is now. Notting Hill Gate always had a bohemian edge helped by the weekly Portobello Road market that dissects Westbourne Grove at one end. A lot of good bands and music - The Clash, Hawkwind and of course the annual Carribean inspired Notting Hill Carnival - came from this lively enclave. Now Westbourne Grove has to be one of the most chic roads in London with high end boutiques and fancy restaurants lining the street - or 'The Grove' as the locals call it. However throughout the 1970s, 1980s and a big part of the 1990s The Grove was wall to wall antique shops - how times change. You wouldn't know it now if you walked down the beautiful tree lined streets, a good reminder of how the fabric and identity of city's like London are constantly in flux.

 

Brave the crowds on Portobello Road

(Above photo - Brave the crowds on Portobello Road )
 

As Canonbury Antiques founder Martin Worster Snr explains:  "Many famous celebrities purchased goods in this area and we had many of them as clients; Crown Prince of Thailand (now King), Lionel Ritchie, Richard E Grant, George Harrison,  Shirley Bassey, Princess Margaret, George Hamilton - to name but a few. The area was a mecca for interior decorators and designers from whom we gained a lot of knowledge and experience. Lots of our customers became lifelong friends"

 

Hello? Is it a sideboard you are looking for? (Lionel Richie)

(Above photo - Hello? Is it a sideboard you are looking for? (Lionel Richie) )


Martin continues: "One Saturday a gentleman called Jay Bradley and his partner came in at 4 PM. They were from Nashville, Tennessee. We walked around the store and he made a long list of merchandise which was around 40 % of the total current stock . After one hour selecting goods he said that he would think over the weekend and come back on Monday to finalise. I asked him would he like a lift to his hotel in Piccadilly. I learnt that this was his first buying trip to London. I asked him if he would like a trip around London to see all the sights . He promptly and eagerly said 'yes'. For the next two hours I drove Jay and his partner around London pointing out and explaining the history attached to the different locations. His business was called Temptation Galleries - a name that always amused me."

 

Temptation Galleries, Nashville Tennessee

(Above photo - Temptation Galleries, Nashville Tennessee )

 

"On the following Monday, Jay returned as promised and purchased all but a few of the items selected on the Saturday. I felt that I had made a good impression on him. Along with my wife we visited him in Nashville where he returned the hospitality given in London. Jay had an amazing showroom with pictures of his more famous clients in his large lobby. They were mostly Country Music stars such as Dolly Parton, Glenn Campbell, Kenny Rogers, Johnny Cash, etc etc not forgetting the one and only Liberace."

 

Liberace: How much is that piano?

(Above photo - Liberace: How much is that mirrored piano? )

 

Episode of Lovejoy, shot in the Canonbury Antiques Westbourne Grove gallery:

 

 

Westbourne Grove in the 1970s

(Above photo - Westbourne Grove in the 1970s )

Recently Viewed Items

More from News

Hertfordshire Film Industry - Top Five Productions at Elstree Sky Studios JUN.05.2025

Hertfordshire Film Industry - Top Five Productions at Elstree Sky Studios

MORE
all

Avoiding Incorrect US Tariffs on Art and Antiques - Best Practices for Smooth Shipping JUN.05.2025

Avoiding Incorrect US Tariffs on Art and Antiques: Best Practices for Smooth Shipping

MORE
all

Lights, Camera, County Hall: Hertfordshire’s Historic Gem Stars on Screen JUN.04.2025

Lights, Camera, County Hall: Hertfordshire’s Historic Gem Stars on Screen

MORE
all

 

TOP OF THE PAGE
Top of the Page
  • SHOPPING
  • Shopping Cart
    Shopping Cart (0)
  • Buying Online
  • Get a Gift Voucher
  • Sold Items
  • CANONBURY INFO
  • Knowledge Base
  • About Us
  • Customer Testimonials
  • News
  • Newsletter
  • Sell your Antiques
  • Contact Us
  • Site Map
  • CUSTOMER SERVICE
  • FAQs
  • Shopping
  • US Customer Service
  • Return Policy
  • SITE LANGUAGES
  • Our site can be translated into most languages using the Google Translate tool below:

  • SHIPPING
  • Shipping to United States
  • Shipping to Europe
  • Shipping to Rest of World
    FOLLOW US ON
  • You Tube
  • Facebook
  • Wordpress
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Flickr
  • SHIPPING
  • Shipping to United States
  • Shipping to Europe
  • Shipping to Rest of World
    FOLLOW US ON
  • You Tube
  • Facebook
  • Wordpress
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Flickr
+ 44 01707 644877
+ 44 01707 644717
  • CONTACT US

  • Confirm that you are human:
    2 + 1 =


  • SHOPPING
    Shopping
  • Shopping Cart
    Shopping Cart (0)
  • How to Buy
  • Get a Gift Voucher
  • Sold Items
  • CANONBURY INFO
    Shopping
  • Knowledge Base
  • About Us
  • Customer Testimonials
  • News
  • Newsletter
  • Sell your Antiques
  • Contact Us
  • Site Map
  • CUSTOMER SERVICE
    Shopping
  • FAQs
  • Shopping
  • US Customer Service
  • Return Policy
  • SHIPPING
    Shopping
  • Shipping to United States
  • Shipping to Europe
  • Shipping to Rest of World
  • CONTACT US
    Shopping

  • Confirm that you are human:
    2 + 1 =


© - Canonbury Antiques - Redwell Wood Farm / Potters Bar / Herfordshine, EN6 3NA, UK

Website Developed by Nulence

© - Canonbury Antiques

Redwell Wood Farm / Potters Bar / Herfordshine, EN6 3NA, UK

Website Developed by Nulence