Nigel Rose Gallery

Nov 3rd, 2019

If I'd just bought a house in Brighton or London I'd hire a van, come to this gallery and buy up everything on the premises. I've done over 200 reviews but never before have I taken so many photos. Often it's a stuggle to take more than a few, but at this gallery I kept finding more and more incredible images. They speak for themselves. Mr Rose is really friendly with everyone who comes in and I get the feeling he loves just chatting to people. He puts you at your ease and doesn't pressure you into buying anything. But I must declare an interest; my aunt Tessa Wolfe Murray has pots in the shop (the blue ones in the photos). There are so many great things here that it's really quite boggling as the space is small. All this suggests that Mr Rose is a rather remarkable man. Someone asked if he travels the world as his objects come from Africa and the Himalayas and South East Asia. "Not at all," he says with a smile, "I just go to auctions in Sussex. I pick up the pieces that were collected when we had an empire, things that are perhaps not appreciated by the younger generations." But I've been to auctions and salesrooms and I'm sure you have too. There's a lot of junk there and you need to have an expert eye to find the diamond in the rough. It's clear that this man has superb taste. I know what I'd do if I had just bought a house; I would invite Mr Rose over and ask him to decorate it. Then I'd have the finest house in England.
Oct 15th, 2017