Our autumn selling exhibition is featuring William [Bill] Wilson, who joined Whitefriars as an errand boy and rose to chief designer and then managing director!

Wilson of Whitefriars

Saturday 25 November to Saturday 9 December [inclusive]
10am - 6pm every day
Free entry and plenty parking
colour illustrated catalogue available

Also on view and for sale will be an extraordinary cut full lead crystal glass
MOSQUE
one of only two made for a special commission, the other was sold and this one remained in the family of Whitefriars' owners after the factory and its museum closed in 1980.

For all enquiries email info@thecountryseat.com or call 01491 641349

We have always taken the greatest pleasure in putting on our own exhibitions here at Country Seat! If you've visited us here you will know that our mighty tithe barn lends itself to drama .. brilliantly .. and between us we have the inspiration to put on displays that have become a 'must be seen' to our clients!

The first was 'Signed & Designed' back in 1989 with accompanying catalogue where we brought the best of 19th century furniture by known designers and makers and had people crawling under the tables and chairs to see if Holland and Sons, Marsh and Jones, A. Blain or T & G Seddon had left their labels or stamps there. It was after the success of this exhibition that we were invited to exhibit at The Grosvenor House Antiques Fair which we did for the next few years.

The following 'home' fixtures were 'Romantic Interiors' again accompanied by our full colour catalogue and then 'Rival Revivals' [catalogue available at £10], 'The Aesthetic Eye', 'Signed & Designed II, the Origins of Ornament' [catalogue available] and 'Potted Colour' a brilliantly colourful exhibition of Art Pottery including pieces from Ault, Brannam, Bretby, Burmantofts, Elton, Linthorpe, Pilkington [Royal Lancastrian], Upchurch and Watcombe; this exhibition was requested to be shown in Milan [catalogue available] where we took it in March 1998.

In 2000 we made the brave, some would say foolish, decision to produce the catalogues 'in house' and in May 'The Neglected Mr Benson' was our first attempt!

The lighting and metalwork of W.A.S.Benson was perhaps the largest collection of wall lights, ceiling lights, chandeliers, desk and table lamps seen at once and was an astonishing success!

Harvey displayed and presented them all in our largest 'aubergine' room, Willie compiled the catalogue and the rest was down to our clients who came from all over the world, appreciated, enjoyed and purchased!

'glass act'
our Whitefriars Glass exhibition was so well received that we have decided continue to have a large selection of pieces on permenant show and for sale with examples from the 1880's through to the 1970's.

'Better be Bretby' Henry Tooth and Bretby Art Pottery from the 1880s to the 1950s.
Our thanks to all of you who came from near and far and we're particularly thrilled to have sold Bretby as far away as Canada and the USA. Copies of the 'Better be Bretby' catalogue are still available [£8].

'glass act 11', held in 2002 focused on the dynamic period of glassmaking between the wars - the 1920s and 30s. Exhibition catalogues are still available, please email for details and don't miss our sister site www.whitefriarsglass.com - you can go straight from here, just click on the 'friar' logo above left on this page!

'Mixed Media in the Decorative Arts 1840 - 1980' in the autumn of 2002 featured the pictures by The Rowley Gallery, London, the metalwork of Hugh Wallace and gave us the opportunity to celebrate 30 years in business!

'Signed & Designed III - the Architect's taste 1680 - 1980' held in the spring of 2003 saw us return to our furniture roots with architect designed furniture of the very best quality; in spite of the uncertain climate of the world, the exhibition was supported brilliantly by old and new clients. Colour illustrated catalogues are still available.

Glass Act III was held in the autumn of 2003 and concentrated on the colourful post-war Geoffrey Baxter era and catalogues are still available at £10 each plus p&p.

The Cabinet & other notables May / June 2004 featured the Lewis Cabinet by Jackson & Graham and included work by Talbert, Godwin, Waterhouse, Jeckyll, Pugin, Cottingham, Eastlake, Walton, Heal, Punnett, Taylor, Spencer, Cooper, Wallis & Dresser - catalogue available.

What people say about our exhibitions...

"The Country Seat are one of the few dealers to have the premises to display high Victorian furniture to its full advantage. Their tithe barn near Henley on Thames lends itself to room-sets of immense grandeur…"
Elspeth Moncrieff, The Art Newspaper, May 1997

"Apart from dealing in very good pieces by such designers as Pugin and Christopher Dresser, Country Seat … holds regular exhibitions of antiques…"
House & Garden, April 1998

"The dynamic duo putting neglected Mr Benson in the spotlight … Harvey Ferry and Willie Clegg of The Country Seat in Oxfordshire … have always come up with originally researched, innovative lines."
David Moss, Antiques Trade Gazette, May 2000

"The exhibition ['glass act' dates] is a 'must see' for anyone interested in the history of glass production."
Catherine Hockley, Apollo, March 2001

"This is a marvellous opportunity to see two major private collections as well as some outstanding examples which are for sale."
Elspeth Moncrieff, The Art Newspaper, March 2001

"British glass making is being celebrated in a fantastic new exhibition taking place at The Country Seat..."
Period House magazine, April 2001

"...... they are supremely well qualified to stage Contrasts: Mixed Media in the Decorative Arts 1840 - 1980."
David Moss, Antiques Trade Gazette, November 2002

"......this is a cracking show. Where else could one find a pair of painted ladder-back chairs by Burges, or the swan-supported table which was the centrepiece of George Morant's stand at the Great Exhibition?"
Huon Mallalieu, Country Life, April 2003