Eat, Drink Be Merry
Eat Drink & Be Merry: History and Hospitality Combine in a New Selling Exhibition
Three of London's art and antiques specialists will join forces in November to create a new selling exhibition of period furniture, antiquarian prints and fine silver. Eat, Drink & Be Merry will showcase exquisite objects from Reindeer Antiques, Isaac and Ede and Jason Sandeberg, who between them are members of the BADA, LAPADA and CINOA organisations, representing the world's leading art dealers.
Taking place at 81 Kensington Church Street from 25th November, the exhibition will showcase a curated selection of magnificent pieces highlighting hospitality in Georgian England. Key works include an unusual pair of rosewood and amboyna card tables with baize playing surface and original lion paw casters along with an exquisite pair of George II Rococo flying scroll dolphin handle sauce boats by Thomas Gilpin, an accomplished exponent of the rococo style whose work can be seen in the Spencer family's collection at Althorp, Northamptonshire.
After dinner gambling and card playing was rife amongst the gentry of Regency England and was acceptable for both ladies and gentlemen. Popular games included Loo (as featured in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice), Speculation, Whist and Piquet. It is pastimes such as these that caught the imagination of artists and printmakers alike, leaving us with fascinating insight into the social behaviour of Georgian society. Among the caricatures to be shown in the exhibition are works by Rowlandson, Cruikshank and Hogarth. These works paint a colourful picture of the period but also highlight some of the more serious political and social issues of the time; most famously William Hogarth's Gin Lane which depicts the dire consequences of excessive drinking amongst London's poor.
Reindeer Antiques was established over 35 years ago and is one of London's leading Georgian furniture specialists with works by the great cabinet makers - Chippensdale, Hepplewhite and Sheraton. St. James's based print dealer David Isaac of Isaac and Ede advises collectors on the acquistion and preservation of important prints, whilst Jason Sandeberg established Sandeberg 20 years ago, supplying 18th to 20th century silver to some of hte trade's biggest names whilst acquiring a number of discerning collectors as private clients.
Eat Drink & Be Merry will open on 25th November with an evening preview reception, and will run until 17th December. For further information or to request a preview invitation, please do contact us on 020 7937 3754 or london@reindeerantiques.co.uk
