About Us

My passion for antiques and the business of buying, selling and collecting them began when I was a teenager. Coming from a modest background and seeking my fortune I spent many of my younger years trawling the numerous antique and “bric a brac” shops in and around Bournemouth on the south coast of England. It was great fun learning the business from the absolute “grass roots”, dealing in anything and everything that took my fancy.

I was lucky enough to meet Mike, a well-known and respected member of that trade who had a special interest in Japanese antiques. I subsequently spent the next 20 odd years working for Mike, handling all manner of high-quality Oriental Art on a daily basis. I was slowly building up my knowledge and experience particularly in the field of Japanese works of art which appealed to me on so many levels. Mike was generous with his time and his extensive knowledge and we became not only firm lifelong friends, but also rival collectors. I was now able to buy things for myself, all the while striving for better and better quality.

It was during one of the tougher periods for the trade I decided to branch out on my own, an inevitable event now that I think back. In parallel with my continued trading and collecting of antiques, I successfully built up and subsequently sold a car dealership and garage business, whilst also becoming heavily involved with AFC Bournemouth, my local football club, ending up as co-owner and vice chairman during their tumultuous journey from league two to the Premier league.

Moving on from these various adventures enabled me to fulfil a lifelong ambition, and in 2011 I opened our family owned and run Antique shop in the beautiful New Forest. At this time I began exhibiting at the prestigious Olympia Fine Art and Antiques Fairs in London and at the hugely popular Antiques For Everyone Fairs held at the NEC in Birmingham. 

Throughout this period I have continually focused on high quality Japanese works of art, travelling all over the UK and indeed the world in search of undiscovered treasures. I have been fortunate enough to purchase several high-quality private collections because of contacts made at the exhibitions, this continued exposure has resulted in me placing many fine pieces into some of the world’s leading collections, and indeed museums.

Finally reaching the pinnacle of my career so far with my inaugural participation in the prestigious Masterpiece show in June 2022, an accolade I could only have dreamt about some 40 plus years ago whilst trawling those antique shops in my hometown.

It is not only a great privilege but also a highly pleasurable experience to be able to source and pass on these wonderful items to the new generation of Japanese art lovers, and so I invite you to share in my passion for some of the finest works of art ever produced by man during those magical 45 years of the Meiji Period 1868-1912. 

Thank you for visiting my online gallery.