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Amyas Phillips

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Amyas Phillips
Born1891
Hitchin, Hertfordshire
DiedFeb 1962 (aged 70)
Clophill, Bedfordshire
Years active1910 - 1962 (antique dealer)
Notable workBailiffscourt (architect)
SpouseMary Olwen Wade-Evan (married 1931)
ChildrenFrancis Jerome Phillips
FatherFrederick William Phillips
RelativesHugh Phillips (brother)

Amyas Phillips (1891-1962) was an English antique dealer and architect based in Hitchin, Hertfordshire.[1][2] Amyas operated Phillips of Hitchin antique dealers (previously known as F. W. Phillips, and later H. & A. Phillips) for much of his life.[3]

Early life

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The Manor Galleries in Hitchin

Amyas was born in 1891 in Hitchin, Hertfordshire to Frederick W. Phillips (1856-1910) and Margaret Sturrock Cable (who died in 1937).[1][2][4] His father, Frederick W. Phillips, founded the antique dealership F. W. Phillips in 1884 which operated out of The Manor House in Hitchin, a Grade II* listed Georgian house.[2][5] Amyas read at Oxford University, and soon took over F. W. Phillips with his elder brother Hugh Phillips (1886-1972) following the death of their father in 1910.[6][7]

Career

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Soon after Amyas and his elder brother took over the dealership they changed the name from F. W. Phillips to H. & A. Phillips.[3] Amyas went on a business trip to New York early on in his antiques career in 1920, and met many notable interior decorators and antique dealers of the period, like Arthur Stannard Vernay.[7] He also visited the Paul Revere House in Boston, a 17th century colonial home belonging to American Patriot Paul Revere, and later reproduced the wallpaper in his own home in Bedfordshire. H. & A. Phillips were well known for reproducing interior decorations, as well as being hired to furnish properties.[3]

An early major project undertaken by Hugh and Amyas was the dismantling of 35 St Martin's Street in Westminster (currently the site of Westminster Reference Library), which was the residence of Isaac Newton from 1710 to 1725.[8][9] The original intention was to re-build Newton's house elsewhere but this never occurred.[10] A room from Newton's house was eventually reconstructed in the 1930s in The Manor House in Hitchin, with the panelling and mantelpiece later being sold to Babson College.[11][12] H. & A. Phillips would regularly display their antique furniture and interior decorations 'in situ' in The Manor House, creating period settings that customers could recreate if they purchased their antiques.[13]

After his brother retired from the antique dealership in 1935, Amyas and his wife Mary took over the business.[6] They renamed the business Phillips of Hitchin, the name which it continued to operate under until its closure in 2014, when Amyas' son Jerome retired.[14] Phillips of Hitchin has sold antiques to many well-known collectors, including Irwin Untermyer and Henry Ford II, and many museums like The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Victoria & Albert Museum, The National Gallery of Victoria and Temple Newsam House.[3][6][15][16]

Architecture

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Due to the interest in 'period style' furnishings in the early 20th century, some antique dealerships, including Phillips of Hitchin, started to focus more on older English furniture like that of the Tudor period.[17] At Phillips of Hitchin, this focus also extended to furnishing and architecture, with customers requesting them to furnish their houses in period styles or build them new 'ancient' houses with recycled historic building materials.[6]

In the 1920s, Amyas showed Allethaire Ludlow Crummer, who was married to Samuel P. Rotan (then the District Attorney of Philadelphia), around different English country houses.[2][18] Crummer was looking to replicate a country house in the United States as her own place of residence and she chose Sutton Place, a Tudor manor house in Guildford built by Sir Richard Weston, to be reproduced. Robert Rodes McGoodwin was the architect for this house, entitled "Lane's End" (now the Guildford Estate) in Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania.[19][20] Amyas was originally chosen to build "Lane's End", however he likely sent historical building material (from demolished English houses) to be used in the construction.

Phillips of Hitchin also undertook restoration work, including the restoration of Prior Castell's Clock at Durham Cathedral in the 1930s, which was funded by the Friends of Durham Cathedral.[7][21]

Image shows the exterior of Bailiffscourt, in its current use as a Hotel and Spa
Bailiffscourt in 2008

Bailiffscourt

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Bailiffscourt is a Grade II* listed 'ancient' manor house in Climping, West Sussex which currently operates as a hotel and spa.[22][23] Lord Moyne had purchased the Bailiffscourt estate in 1927 and commissioned Amyas to build a new house.[24] Bailiffscourt was Amyas' only full architectural commission, and was completed in 1935.[25] Bailiffscourt was built in a Medieval style, while also taking inspiration from Cotswold houses, and used primarily material salvaged from demolished historical stone houses.[2] The only remaining property on the estate prior to Lord Moyne's purchase was Bailiffscourt Chapel (and a moat), so he was inspired to continue the historic 'atmosphere' of the property.[26]

Personal life

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In 1931, Amyas married Mary Olwen Wade-Evans in Wandsworth, London.[27][28] Their son, Francis Jerome Phillips, was born in 1939 in Cambridge and took over the family business following Amyas' death in February 1962 in Clophill, Bedfordshire.[2][29][30]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Amyas Phillips (1891-1962), antique dealer | University of Leeds Library Special Collection". explore.library.leeds.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 14 March 2021. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Phillips, Jerome (2019). "Phillips of Hitchin". In Westgarth, Mark (ed.). SOLD! The Great British Antiques Story (PDF). County Durham: The Bowes Museum. pp. 122–123. ISBN 978-1-5272-4391-0. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d "Phillips of Hitchin » Antique Dealers". antiquetrade.leeds.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 18 March 2021. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
  4. ^ "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
  5. ^ "MANOR HOUSE GALLERIES, North Hertfordshire - 1347575 | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Archived from the original on 18 March 2021. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
  6. ^ a b c d "Phillips of Hitchin Collection | University of Leeds Library Special Collections". explore.library.leeds.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 18 March 2021. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
  7. ^ a b c "New Phillips of Hitchin archive material – recording a trip to New York in c.1920 by Amyas Phillips". antiquedealersblog. 2 July 2017. Archived from the original on 18 March 2021. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
  8. ^ "Isaac Newton's house to be reconstructed | Century Ireland". www.rte.ie. 1913. Archived from the original on 25 March 2021. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
  9. ^ "Thornton-Smith Antiques – 'The Georgian House'". antiquedealersblog. 6 February 2017. Archived from the original on 25 March 2021. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
  10. ^ "The house of Sir Isaac Newton exhibited by Messrs. Phillips, The Manor House, Hitchin, Herts | University of Leeds Library Special Collection". explore.library.leeds.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 25 March 2021. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
  11. ^ "Papers relating to the panelling in Sir Isaac Newton's house | University of Leeds Library Special Collection". explore.library.leeds.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 25 March 2021. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
  12. ^ Katulak, Hilary (18 April 2013). "BABSON COLLEGE CELEBRATES EARTH MONTH WITH GROVE PLANTING OF SIR ISAAC NEWTON APPLE TREES". www.babson.edu. Archived from the original on 25 March 2021. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
  13. ^ "Phillips of Hitchin – more images of dealer shops". antiquedealersblog. 23 March 2014. Archived from the original on 25 March 2021. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
  14. ^ "Time to close the book as Hitchin's Jerome Phillips retires at the end of the year". The Comet. 14 December 2014. Archived from the original on 25 March 2021. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
  15. ^ "Antique Dealers Archives Grant Success!". antiquedealersblog. 26 June 2017. Archived from the original on 25 March 2021. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
  16. ^ "'Here it is Now!' – Phillips of Hitchin in the UK, USA and Australia". antiquedealersblog. 6 April 2017. Archived from the original on 25 March 2021. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
  17. ^ Westgarth, Mark (2019). "200 Years of Antique Dealing". In Westgarth, Mark (ed.). SOLD! The Great British Antiques Story (PDF). County Durham: The Bowes Museum. pp. 20–21. ISBN 978-1-5272-4391-0. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
  18. ^ "Springfield Township Historical Society Wharton Sinkler Estate collection, 1926-2002". dla.library.upenn.edu. Archived from the original on 25 March 2021. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
  19. ^ "Rotan Residence, "Lane's End" / "Guildford" -- project/building chronology". www.philadelphiabuildings.org. Archived from the original on 25 March 2021. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
  20. ^ "Guildford Estate". Guildford Estate. Archived from the original on 25 March 2021. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
  21. ^ "Durham Cathedral Clock Restoration | University of Leeds Library Special Collection". explore.library.leeds.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 25 March 2021. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
  22. ^ "Bailiffscourt Hotel & Spa, Climping". KCW London. 31 December 2018. Archived from the original on 18 March 2021. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
  23. ^ "BAILIFFSCOURT HOTEL AND COUNTRY CLUB, Climping - 1027676 | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Archived from the original on 4 March 2017. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
  24. ^ Hudson, T. P., ed. (1997). "A History of the County of Sussex: Volume 5 Part 1, Arundel Rape: South-Western Part, Including Arundel". www.british-history.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 25 March 2021. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
  25. ^ "Bailiffscourt, Climping". www.jcaarchitects.co.uk. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
  26. ^ Plans and correspondence concerning Bailiffscourt, Climping (1911-1982) | The National Archives. Archived from the original on 25 March 2021. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
  27. ^ "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
  28. ^ "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
  29. ^ "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
  30. ^ "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
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