Five Days in France: How We Source Antiques

A French buying trip begins long before we arrive.

Back in Yorkshire, we consider what is currently missing from the TallBoy collection. There may be a need for practical tables, unusual seating or smaller objects that can introduce character without dominating a room.

Measurements are recorded, routes considered and existing stock reviewed. This preparation provides direction, but the most memorable discoveries are rarely the pieces we set out expecting to find.

What we look for

Age alone is never enough.

We look first at form, proportion and material. Does the piece have a strong outline? Is it useful within a contemporary home? Does its surface carry the evidence of age in a way that feels natural and convincing?

The most appealing antiques often possess something slightly unexpected: an exaggerated leg, an unusual scale, a repair that has become part of the design or a familiar form interpreted in a less familiar way.

French furniture can offer a particularly compelling balance between elegance and practicality. Refined construction may sit alongside rustic materials, while formal shapes are softened by years of use.

We are not attempting to assemble a collection that belongs to one period or region. Each piece is considered for how it might live alongside the antiques, British-made furniture, fabrics and contemporary art already forming the TallBoy world.

The rhythm of a buying trip

Five days may sound generous, but buying trips move quickly.

There are early starts, long distances and periods of careful searching punctuated by moments that demand an immediate decision. A promising piece needs to be measured, examined and understood before considering the practicalities of transport and restoration.

Condition is assessed as closely as circumstances allow. We look at joints, surfaces, missing elements and earlier repairs. Some issues are straightforward; others can transform an appealing discovery into an impractical purchase.

Knowing when to walk away is as important as knowing when to buy.

Space is also finite. Every piece must justify the room it occupies and the cost of bringing it back to Yorkshire. The result is a constant process of editing: choosing the objects that add something genuinely distinctive rather than buying simply because they are available.

The unexpected discoveries

The most rewarding find may not be the grandest or most valuable object encountered during the trip.

It might be a small table with an unusually sculptural base, a rush-seated chair worn smooth through generations of use or an anonymous piece whose maker is unknown but whose proportions feel completely resolved.

These objects are difficult to search for directly because their appeal cannot always be described through a category or period. They rely on instinct—the feeling that a piece has presence and could contribute something meaningful to an interior.

Buying in person makes this response possible. Surfaces can be touched, drawers opened and the weight and construction properly understood.

Returning to Yorkshire

The buying process does not end when the trip is over.

Once the pieces return to the TallBoy studio, each one is examined more carefully. They are cleaned, condition checked and any necessary restoration considered. Some require specialist attention before they can be offered for sale, while others are best left largely untouched.

The pieces are then photographed and placed within the collection, where objects sourced from different places and periods begin to create new relationships.

A French buying trip is demanding, unpredictable and always slightly uncertain. That uncertainty is precisely what makes it worthwhile.

We may leave Yorkshire with a list, but we return with the pieces we could never have planned to find.