Following the last blog entry on images of dealer shops I found some more photographs of R.W. Partridge’s shop in St. James’s Street, London. They really do give a flavour of the ways in which antiques were displayed (in the top market London trade at least) in the opening decades of the 20th century. Here’s the ‘Interior of the shop’: 
Still quite a crowded space….and here’s the ‘Second Floor Gallery’: 
Which illustrates the range of art and antiques offered for sale. And the ‘Top Red Gallery’: 
I assume it was the ‘red’ gallery because the wallpaper was red?….As part of the project we are assembling an image database of dealer’s shops, interiors and exteriors, they provide such a fascinating picture of the changing fashioning in displaying, selling and marketing antiques over the course of the 20th century.
Mark
