How did I get here. .

Ancien et Jolie started in 2018, six months after saying farewell to Retrouvius, the Architectural Salvage and Interiors specialists.  I messaged a friend (Max Keys) about buying trips in France and later that week we were hitting the Northern France fairs, armed with a few Euros and even fewer French phrases.

One of my preoccupations was that I was buying pieces of good age and quality. Deciding what was aesthetically pleasing was down to me. I wanted to understand why certain pieces of furniture and objects had such evocative power. I was told to begin slowly, just look and see. However I rarely ignore a gut feeling, I began buying things.

Finding antiques and design was a watershed moment. There was no careers adviser telling me I’d make a good antique dealer or that it was even an option. Due to a personality difference with the DT teacher and with no conventional artistic talent to speak of. These two subjects left my timetable and consequently my life until my mid twenties. In my spare time all I wanted to do was go to old National Trust Houses, art galleries and walk through endless ancient streets of Europe and the World just observing things, making mental notes. Always loving old painted doors and handmade wooden stools. 

Looking Ahead..

My appreciation for good interiors and good objects is broad. But almost without fail the place or the thing will evoke a strong emotion or de ja vu like feeling and leave me asking ‘How did they do this?’.

For a music producer it’s upon hearing an unknown sample or beat for me it’s the colour scheme and fabric combination that makes my heartbeat that much faster and sends me into a spiral of research and cross-reference.

I’ve long thought the scenes we create and spaces we live in, are vehicles to ultimate relaxation and transportation into ‘another’ state of mind. Being on a journey of discovery throughout my career is what keeps me hungry to want to know more. I plan on seeing it all first hand. I want to understand the influences my predecessors had and one day add my interpretation to the ever changing aesthetic landscape.