Ed Morris, right, who runs 1923 Antiques with his father Roy.
1. How did you get your start?
Dad always got us going to car boot sales on weekends as kids and I loved it, always finding treasure that somebody wanted to get rid of. Then, when Nan (dad’s mum) passed away, we cleared a lot of her mid-century stuff out and thought that it would actually be nice to make a business out of re-purposing and re-homing people’s furniture. The history, stories and enjoyment that goes with each item is very satisfying.
2. What is your area of focus?
Dad particularly enjoys Art Deco and industrial pieces while I’m mainly focused on Georgian or Victorian with a particular soft spot for the aesthetic movement. We argue a lot over what we like and what we should buy and the only thing we both tend to agree on is Howard & Sons furniture [example shown below] and Land Rovers.
An example Howard & Sons furniture from 1923 Antiques.
3. What projects have you worked on lately?
We’ve just had two lovely Howard chairs restored from the ground up. I just moved to London so have been exploring new connections there too. Dad lives in Ross-on-Wye, we sell online and in the shop in Stroud. With me in London, together we cover a big area for antique hunting.
4. What is one discovery that you have made?
That you don’t need to be privately educated, be the sons of antiques dealers or have lots of money to be into antiques. We’re a very much a working-class family from Cardiff who just love good design and history and sell items that cater to anyone who’s interested in the same.
5. Do you have a collection in your home?
Dad’s got his collection of Biggles books in an old Globe Wernicke bookcase that I bought him for Christmas a few years ago. I don’t really collect anything, but I do have one bamboo hallstand Dad bought for me that I wouldn’t sell for any amount of money. Other than that, we keep stuff for a bit then swap it around when our mood changes.
