Hudson Antiques
Darren Hudson first started his antiques career in 1992 when he went to work for the renowned dealer Patricia Harvey at her Marylebone shop and her Decorative Antiques Fair. After a few years of learning the decorative Antiques market he decided to venture out on his own and set up Hudson Grove Antiques and along with his friend David Groves took a shop neighbouring Patricia’s. Having run the shop successfully for many years, including moving to larger premises, Darren accepted the trend towards internet buying. Running a shop with its associated cost was making it difficult to be competitive. With that in mind he moved to a warehouse in 2015 and now operates through this website and continues to exhibit at the highly popular, thrice yearly, Decorative Antiques Fair. With the extra time not having to man a shop it allows more time for searching for the best things from around Europe and the UK. It also allows for Interior Designers, Trade and private clients to find the most interesting items at very competitive prices with a personal, friendly service. In 2016 he will be joined in the business by his girlfriend, Amber, who having proved herself in the past will be joining full time to help add a feminine eye to the business. They can now offer restoration, transport and are happy to search for specific pieces on their twice monthly trips to Europe.
Often when it comes to furniture a picture is worth a thousand words and some pieces truly speak for themselves - the same can be said for this fabulous piece, it simply oozes character. Various details about this piece give it this character - the tone, for example, is a rich and moving brown; the incorporation of this colour gives the sofa the warm and inviting presence the perfect sofa should present. When one sits on their sofa they expect immediate comfort and relaxation, and when one looks at this one, they come to expect the very same. Additionally, the large, tightly stuffed cushions clearly offer a similar sense of sturdy comfort. The leather upholstering really adds to the personality to the sofa, by showing ruggedness and reliability, after all its having survived in incredible condition following almost a century of life clearly indicates that its of a high quality and is not easily affected by wear and tear.
But what really sets this sofa apart is that it seems to tell a story. It was crafted at a time of widespread British pride, the age of an empire and certain aspects of the sofa really do seem to reflect such sentiments. It’s large in stature and has an air of reliability and ruggedness, the same tough demeanour often characterised by the likes of Winston Churchill and Queen Victoria. The rich, brown tones of the upholstered leather represent the huge wealth acquired by the empire and the wealth the empire itself had come to represent in its vibrant lifetime. The tasteful curvature of the arms and the back represent the various great British minds in literature, the arts, science and numerous other fields. It is a quintessentially British couch and a marvellous example of one at that.
This chest of drawers is an incredibly beautiful piece, for a number of reasons. Firstly, it is crafted from mahogany; a hardwood which is not only renowned for its durability, mahogany consistently provides the items it graces with an absolutely gorgeous tone, here, it presents itself with a deep and nutty brownish colour which really adds a warm and inviting aesthetic appeal to the overall look of the chest. Additionally, mahogany boasts a stunning natural grain, clearly visible in the photos provided. 
