A William and Mary oak escritoire on its original barley twist leg stand.

Andrew Singleton, who opened the business in 1990, has a passion for early furniture and is constantly on the hunt for pieces to replenish his fast moving stock. “It is becoming increasingly difficult to find really interesting early furniture, but that is what drives the business and me – I recently sold seven dresser bases in a fortnight and that takes some replacing!”

Andrew cites colour as probably the most important factor when buying oak and walnut . “Sadly a lot of early furniture has been overcleaned or repolished in the past and that ruins a piece for me – I would much rather see some damage such as a break or a scratch than something which has lost its patination.”

Suffolk House always have a good selection of the staple items such as dressers, refectory tables, chests and so on, but can also be relied on to have some more unusual items. Typical purchases include a stunning early 17th century oak fire surround which is has as its centrepiece a marquetry panel depicting one of Aesop’s Fables. Also found recently are several very good pieces of walnut including a nine feet long Queen Anne dresser base, a William and Mary card table that was in the famous Percival Griffiths Collection and magnificent Charles II cabinet on stand.

A very rare late Elizabethan oak chest, the front panels decorated with images of a Green Man, Robin Goodfellow and Puck

Although basically an old fashioned shop dealer, Andrew has exhibited at the BADA Fair in London every year since the mid nineties and has a website which shows over 80 pieces of stock, giving the dimensions and, unusually, the prices. He is always happy to send images and condition reports via email and arrange carriage.