Ahead of the March Fine Sale, we worked with Francesca Gentilli, who specialises in beautiful vintage and bespoke rugs and textiles, all of which are handmade by artisans from Morocco, India, Turkey, Uzbekistan and Peru.
Here, Francesca gives us her top picks from the Sale and explains how to mix and match antique furniture with textiles.
Francesca says:
My business importing rugs started around eight years ago. I was on a trip to India and discovered this beautiful little shop full of dhurrie rugs and I realised that there was a real gap in the market for these beautiful bright rugs imported directly from the makers. After several cups of chai with the owner, I found out that I could in fact design my own rugs, so now I offer a service for people either sourcing antique rugs or having their own made by our specialist artisans in India and Morocco. I then expanded into selling vintage and antique suzanis, cushion covers, kilims and even ceramics.
When styling antique or modern furniture, a patterned rug or suzani can really bring a piece to life, so it was a pleasure to head to Cheffins and work with the team there on designing up items in the sale with some of my products. Brightly coloured suzanis, kilims and cushions are a great way to liven up a darker piece of furniture and can quickly take a look from being too ‘trad’ to more ‘today.’
Here are my top picks from this fantastic auction.
Lot 408 - A modern Howe sofa - Estimate: £1,500 – 2,500
I love any products from Howe. With their elegant lines and traditional styles, they can be at home in any setting. This one in particular has been immaculately upholstered in a bronze and cream pattern and combined with some of my more reddish coloured suzanis looked absolutely stunning.
Lot 409 - A pair of satinwood and painted two door side cabinets circa 1900. Estimate: £1,500 – 2,000
These side cabinets have a wonderful tone to them and have been decorated meticulously with bouquets of flowers. I quite fancied taking these home and could imagine them looking just right in our green sitting room – we have a beautiful antique suzani on the wall in there (one I just couldn’t part with!) and think the perfect finish of these cabinets would contrast beautifully.
Lot 405 - A Chesterfield sofa, late 19th/ early 20th century. Estimate: £700 – 1000
Who doesn’t need a good old leather sofa to cosy up any corner of the house!? I can imagine this one in my kitchen as a great place to flop with the dogs after a long day with a gin and tonic. Leather sofas, particularly older ones, can have a brilliant patina that get better with age. This one is in a lovely chestnut brown which really brought out the reds and pinks of my suzanis and rugs. It’s had just enough of a bashing over the years to mean you wouldn’t be worried about dog paws or spills, but with its traditional Chesterfield shape, is a timeless piece which would never go out of fashion.
Lot 482 - A George III mahogany what-not. Estimate: £300 – 500
I had great fun dressing this what-not with piles of suzanis and cushions. This is just the type of thing which would be super useful in my shop for displaying materials, but I could also see it in a bathroom, crammed with beautiful bottles, lotion and potions.
Lot 462 - After Bertel Thorvaldsen, a carved marble figure of Venus with an apple, late 19th century. Estimate: £600 – 1000
I thought this statue was so elegant and the creamy marble served as a great contrast to the highly pigmented colours of two of my suzanis. By draping one of the suzanis over her arm we thought she looked like she was about to head off to a Roman bath! I would have loved to have taken her home and given her a key spot somewhere in our house or even in the garden. These types of statues and anything with a ‘Grand Tour’ type focus is really coming back into fashion and contrasts beautifully with the more fluid and natural designs often found in eastern rugs and textiles.
To view the catalogue for the Fine Sale, please click here
For more information on Francesca Gentilli and to view her products, visit - https://www.francescagentilli.com/