At Dickinson we love a collaboration! Sometimes that means inviting guest curators, or fellow dealers, to borrow or share our gallery spaces. At other times it means joining forces with a similarly-minded company to offer clients a more comprehensive service than either of us could alone.
Brand Ambassador Victoria Christian and founder Clive Christian OBE
Dickinson’s most recent collaboration sees us working in partnership with interior designer Clive Christian OBE, whose new company, The Officer, brings together artisans and other design professionals under a single umbrella in order to make home design a more straightforward and transparent process. Clive Christian is already known as a go-to designer for buyers of luxury homes, and for his signature ‘chandelier interiors’ envisioned with bespoke lighting as a focal point.
Carved crystal oak leaves
The Officer is built on the notion that everything can be done in a bespoke manner, to each client’s specific needs and wishes. To this end, the company has already assembled a range of specialists in panelling, drapery, cabinetry, and chandelier making. But a home – no matter how luxurious a home – will feel empty without something on the walls, and that’s where Dickinson comes in. Art is a different concept. In the Renaissance, artists would have been categorised alongside cabinet-makers and drapery specialists as artisans, hired by aristocratic patrons to paint specific images as part of a decorative program. Tiepolo fresco, anyone? In the modern era, of course, most art is produced for the open market rather than on a commission basis, and collectors are therefore faced with the challenge of choosing something suitable – in the right style, the right size, and of course the right budget – from a seemingly infinite range of options. Where to begin?
The world’s most expensive chandeliers
For Clive Christian’s clients, the answer is at Dickinson. Thanks to our partnership with The Officer, we can work closely with their designers and interior specialists to select a range of options for clients to consider. We already have a history of working closely alongside interior designers with our van visit service, which allows us to bring a selection of artworks to a client’s house to try out on the wall. Choosing from photographs isn’t the same and sometimes you don’t know what suits until you see it in situ. If nothing is quite right, we will source exactly what is needed from our extensive network of private collections. The idea that everything is bespoke doesn’t have to end with art, if you strike up the right partnership.
Jewellery for the home