Founder BADA members and exhibitors at Grosvenor House Fine Art and Antiques Fair until its demise in 2009, Delomosne remained in London until 1991, the company having withstood the perils of two world wars and a Great Depression to remain at the top of the international field of glass and porcelain dealers.

Delomosne are also members of WEADA, and continue to exhibit at major London fairs including Art Antiques London and Winter Olympia Antiques and Fine Art Fair each year.

Tim Osborne tells Antiquesnews and Fairs something of the interesting history of the company...,

Delomosne was founded by Mrs Kate Perret in 1905 with a small shop in Lincoln’s Inn Fields. The name was adopted at the suggestion of her husband who was averse to his own being used in association with ‘trade’. Delomosne was his mother’s maiden name but Mrs Perret was known everywhere as Madame Delomosne.

From leather bound volumes of ledgers it can be seen that the first transaction was ‘An old Spode bowl ... £2.14.0. In the early days lace and needlework were a favourite but soon glass began to appear with some increasing regularity, as did the names of now famous collectors. In 1908 a move was made to 7 King Street, Kensington, later renamed Derry Street. Here the business continued to prosper until a further move was made necessary by the acquisition of the premises by the department store, Derry and Toms.

In 1919 a twenty-one year lease was taken at 4 Campden Hill Road, a much larger shop on two floors and here the firm remained until 1991. In August of that year her elder son Bernard was demobilised after four years’ army service mainly in the Middle East. He had been with Allenby’s army when Jerusalem was taken in 1917. Less than a year later he joined his mother in the business.

In the following year, 1921, the firm’s interest in glass lighting, for which it later became famous, was created. An opportunity arose to purchase a magnificent pair of chandeliers from a house in Stratford Hall where they had hung since its construction in 1789. They were subsequently sold to Viscount Lascelles who had recently become engaged to the Princess Royal and were hung in the ballroom of the old Chesterfield House. Later they were acquired by H.M. Queen Mary and were installed at Marlborough House where they remain to this day.

In 1929 Delomosne became a limited company and the following year Kate Perret went into partial retirement. In 1932 Bernard joined the Council of the British Antique Dealers’ Association and in 1938 was elected President. In the same year the firm undertook the restoration of the large suite of chandeliers at the Assembly Rooms in Bath, where they had hung since 1771. In the course of this work the name William Parker was discovered engraved on one of the chandeliers. Subsequent research revealed Parker to have been the foremost maker of light fittings of the period.

The Wall Street crash of 1929 and the resulting slump in business during the early years of the 1930s gave rise to the birth of The Antique Dealers’ Fair at The Grosvenor House Hotel in 1934, at which Delomosne had a large stand, created to invigorate the trade. This fair continued with only two short breaks until 2009 when tragically it was discontinued.

A further great depression in business occurred during World War II but the doors of 4 Campden Hill Road were kept open throughout, despite the windows being shattered on no less than six occasions by nearby bombs. Having been in the country during the war Mrs Perret returned to London in 1946 but died the following year aged 88.

In 1947 Martin Mortimer joined the business then aged nineteen. Within six months he discovered an exceedingly rare 16th century English glass, which is now in the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge; a remarkable start to a sixty year career in antique glass which culminated in being awarded an MBE. During these years Delomosne became leading dealers in English glass and porcelain with customers all over the world. In 1989 following the devastating fire at Hampton Court the firm was asked to restore the early rock crystal chandelier which had hung in the King’s Privy Chamber. This was an enormous undertaking as the delicate 17th century openwork fitting had been flattened when it fell to the floor and then entombed in wet ash which had solidified.

In 1973 Tim Osborne joined the business as a junior apprentice. Eight years later he was made a director of the company and now in 2009 runs the business with his wife Victoria. Bernard Perret died in 1988 having been at the helm for nearly seventy years.

In 1989 a decision was taken to move the business out of London and a suitable premises for the business was found in Wiltshire in the delightful village of North Wraxall. A disused barn was converted into a showroom and the transition was made in the spring of 1991. Eighteen years later Delomosne continues to deal in glass, glass lighting and porcelain. The firm advises museums both here and in America and is consulted by many organisations such as the National Trust. Martin Mortimer retired in 2006 but plays a part in the business with occasional lectures and writings. The advent of computers and other modern technology makes the location of a business less important and with steeply rising overheads of maintaining an urban business Delomosne is well placed to continue into the future.

Images:

1 - Line drawing of Delomosne showrooms, North Wraxall, Wiltshire

2 - A pair of candelabra for single lights, with wrythen moulding and barley sugar twist arms, with cut drops and spires and star finials. Ht. 45.6 cm., 18", W. 21.5 cm., 8½", D. 20.2 cm., 8". English c.1780. £5,000

3 - A fine Chelsea-Derby teapot, gilt borders and painted with sprays of flowers. Height 17.3 cm. 6¾". English c. 1775 £1,100 (Very small chip under tip of spout)

4 - Chelsea-Derby vase, panels of flowers with gilt borders on a turquoise ground. Height 18 cm. 7¼". English c. 1775 £480 (one handle repaired).

5 - Bucket bowl rummer engraved with a trotting carriage horse named SHALES. The reverse with hop and barley ear and initials JMC. Height 17.2 cm., 6¾". English c. 1820 £600

6 - Pear shaped rummer engraved with a ship under sail passing a harbour wall with a tall monument. The reverse with initials JFF, on square lemon squeezer foot. Height 13.3 cm, 5¼". English c. 1800 £400

7 - A pair of pale amethyst finger bowls with everted rims. Height 9.2 cm., 3⁵⁄₈". English c. 1820-30 £300

8 - A pair of full size spirit decanters with gilded labels for BRANDY and RUM. Height 28.7 cm., 11¼". English c.1830-40 £1,250 (There is a slight height difference)