Walk past Valerie Wade on London's Fulham Road at any time and you will find somebody with their nose pressed up against the window. That's because the store, as small as it is, is always filled with an intriguing mix of antique, vintage and new furniture, lighting and accessories you can't help but linger over.
There are mirrored furniture items, some with mother-of-pearl inlays, Venetian lotus-flower chandeliers, Perspex pieces, Art Deco chaises longues, jewellery boxes, glassware and dressing table knick-knacks, all displayed apparently randomly, yet in a way that creates an enticing Aladdin's cave.
Wade herself is hard-pressed to put a label to her style, saying that she just "gets what she likes". If there's a common thread it's in an exotic quirkiness that defies categorisation; how do you group a carpet from Radio City Music Hall in New York with a Swedish leather and wood sofa? Or standard lamps from the Savoy Hotel sale with a new custom-made Perspex and mirror console table?
"I just buy and design what takes my fancy - I suppose I pick my style out of the ether, without any rules," says Wade.
"Some of the stock changes with fashion but certain ranges, such as the mother of pearl furniture, have been part of my repertoire for a long time."
The mother of pearl pieces, some of which are delicate and others imposing, have been a signature feature of the shop for nearly two decades, since Wade first travelled to Damascus and fell in love with the style. "That look is not about fashion," she says. "It has a certain appeal that is perennial - provided you like that sort of thing, of course." Today, the work is mostly new, whether stock items or bespoke, with the occasional antique among them.
And nor are the mirrored side tables, chests of drawers and dressing tables about fleeting fashion, for, although they are currently enjoying a fashion surge, they are also long-standing favourites among her customers. Almost all of the mirrored furniture is new, with the occasional 20th-century piece to be found.
Valerie Wade shop has been in the same location for "at least 25 years" now, in a part of South Kensington that has become known as a design and décor destination. At least half of her customers are repeat visitors - individuals with a taste for something special, style mavens such as Joseph Ettedgui, the renowned fashion retailer, or decorators looking for that extra edge for their clients. She ships purchases all over the world.
One of Wade's catch phrases is "nothing is predictable". She left a full-time journalism career and launched her business after the papier mâché trays she was making just for fun really caught on.
Today she's running a place where lights from Buffalo's landmark Central Terminal railway station, circa 1929, vie for space with a 1970s Perspex and walnut table and a Syrian chest of drawers. Truly, nothing is predictable.
@email:www.valeriewade.com
+44 (0) 20 7225 1414
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
The Bio
Name: Lynn Davison
Profession: History teacher at Al Yasmina Academy, Abu Dhabi
Children: She has one son, Casey, 28
Hometown: Pontefract, West Yorkshire in the UK
Favourite book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Favourite Author: CJ Sansom
Favourite holiday destination: Bali
Favourite food: A Sunday roast
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
The%20specs
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Profile
Name: Carzaty
Founders: Marwan Chaar and Hassan Jaffar
Launched: 2017
Employees: 22
Based: Dubai and Muscat
Sector: Automobile retail
Funding to date: $5.5 million
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4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
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NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
The specs: 2018 Jeep Compass
Price, base: Dh100,000 (estimate)
Engine: 2.4L four-cylinder
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Power: 184bhp at 6,400rpm
Torque: 237Nm at 3,900rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 9.4L / 100km
