If wunderkind antiques dealer Jamie Sharpe had a mantra, it might be: “The more you look at something, the more it reveals. You always have to look a little further.” At 25 years old, the London-based dealer applies that belief to everything he does to his client base, which is far-flung and global, particularly drawn to the US. Sharpe sees clear parallels between his market today and one that flourished more than a century ago.
During America’s Gilded Age, the industrial titans of the era—steel, oil, and rail magnates—turned to Europe for inspiration for their home decor and architecture. The Fifth Avenue mansions and palaces of Pacific Heights were quickly filled with the treasures of the Parisian salons and the Italian Piani Nobili. In today’s technology-driven golden age, Sharpe recognizes this same continuity. One client, an AI entrepreneur, delved into his DMs on Instagram to pick up something for his Northern California home. A “really wonderful pair” of 17th-century Italian console tables, Sharp recalls. “It wasn’t his wife or his decorator, but the guy, who clicked to pay.” Then there is the financier-turned-politician who is building a new house in the same area. He leaned on a sharp eye to anchor his interiors, eventually acquiring a northern Italian fruitwood commode from the 1600s.
Dealer Sharp is surrounded by antiques – of course – at his home in London.
Thanks to Jamie Sharpe
Sharp flavors facilitated modern-day transatlantic exchanges, and he built his young business around facilitation. Take shipping: While most dealers consider this a negotiated extra, Sharp bundles these costs into the sticker price. “It’s not a luxury experience, emailing back and forth about customs duties and fees, and frankly, it should be when you’re spending thousands.” He applies the same logic to pricing. The price of each piece is publicly listed, not available on request only. “I find it a bit funny and not accessible,” he says. People are nervous about buying antiques, so dealers tend to size you up to give you value.”
That philosophy made Sharp a natural partner for this month’s Vault offering. He acquires a pair of mirrors that he believes are destined for the same transatlantic journey as many other antiques before them, a century ago and in the present day, the price of which, as always, is all-inclusive. Made during the Regency era in the early 1800s, they come from an era that Sharpe is particularly fond of. “It uses a lot of black and silver curved lines and it’s quite sexy,” says Sharp. For anyone checking out antiques in a modern interior for the first time, he suggests starting there. “It’s a style that always looks great and works well with it.”
Importantly, he added, the mirrors were made in Ireland. Unlike on the mainland, where design bowed to strict classical ideals, Irish makers were freer and more unconventional. “English Regency is more elegant and restrained, while Irish is more exciting and whimsical. That’s why I like the idea a bit more.”
When Sharp acquired the mirror, they had not yet revealed their secret: the rare silver leaf finishing.
Thanks to Jamie Sharpe
These mirrors embody Sharp’s more visible style in other ways as well. After acquiring the pair, he noticed a glass stud missing and sent them to a trusted restorer who fashioned a replacement from a broken mirror of the same period. During the work, the restorer noticed an interesting detail: such mirrors were produced in both gilt and silver, although the latter is rare. “They also look more modern, because the gold stuff is so loaded,” says Sharp. “And when it came to me, they were gold.”
The gilding, however, did not seem original. The restorer suspected a later 19th-century addition and carefully scraped a corner to see what lay beneath. He was right – there was silver under the gold. Sharp was excited to see the pair transform into these ebony and silver leaf pieces, much rarer and faster than anyone expected. “They were more beautiful than we could have imagined.” $8,000
The authors
Mark Ellwood
