For decades, Roger
Warner's Burford antiques shop satisfied, diverted and delighted collectors and dealers who seldom failed to discover something rare or beautiful in its crowded interiors. Always the perfect English
gentleman, with his tweed suits and cultivated manner, he charmed and fascinated young and old with his recollections of the antiques trade and the many stories related to his sometimes eclectic
stock.
Earlier this year his collection was sold in three auctions. One elderly buyer, viewing the Christie's South Kensington sale of the primary collection remarked, 'It's like re-visiting the shops of my
youth, you no longer see such a variety of early pieces.' This view was obviously shared by the many people who made the catalogue a sell-out days before the sale, and who took so long registering to
bid on the day that the start had to be delayed - an almost unheard-of event. Despite the prevalent economic gloom, the enthusiasm engendered by this auction was palpable; while a few grumbled at
curiously inflated realisations most were delighted to see that traditional antiques can still attract good money and serious interest.
Most of the pieces in the Christie's sale had been photographed in the Burford house, just as Roger Warner had set them out himself, a marketing strategy that added considerably to the allure. He had
been punctilious in keeping records of all his purchases, including any known history, so the catalogue was also informative. From four-poster beds with crewel-work hangings to stained glass panels
or a full bottomed wig, the display reflected Warner's changing tastes and enthusiasms from the 1930s to the last decades of his life. Just why buyers of all ages and backgrounds loved and admired
his collection to such a degree was the question on all lips as clients paid far above pre-sale estimates for almost every lot.
 A cupboard baby house, painted to simulate oak. Owned by the Sidgewick family of Skipton, Yorkshire and
purchased by Warner in 1974. By repute re-decorated by Charlotte Bronte. The furnishings were added. Standing on a later base. sold for £14,375. (Christie's South
Kensington)
Warner's favourite room at Burford was
his 'Museum' where he kept some of the objects he most revered. A George III spinet, once owned by the actress Olga Nethersole and purchased at Trebarfoote Manor, Bude in 1952 held pride of place.
For elegance and rarity, a Queen Anne parcel gilt and ebony mounted siphon barometer by Daniel Quare, circa 1705, and in continual ownership of the Quakers, was coveted with regularity by the
customers who were invited to this special place. It was a curiosity chamber where carved statues of saints stood against 16th century Franco-Flemish tapestries or a Sienese painting hung above a
doll's miniature walnut bureau.
Only the people Roger Warner believed were on his own wavelength and very sympathetic to his own taste were invited to the Museum where, even in old age, he would sit and enjoy his collection. 'You
felt you were entering into a place of mystery and excitement, transmitted in an inimitable way by Roger', said Geoffrey Crofts, now an auctioneer, who had begun his career in antiques working in an
apprentice capacity in the Burford shop. 'I used to sleep in one of the oak beds that is in the sale. Everything was used and enjoyed, with as much delight in an early but damaged mug or small figure
as in a large and expensive piece of furniture. He communicated his knowledge willingly and his enthusiasm was infectious.'
At all three auctions of his collection, at Christie's South Kensington and two at Brightwells in Leominster, many potential buyers commented on the current scarcity of dealers in 'the Warner style',
able to arouse a love of antiques even in those who strayed casually into a shop or fair. Because his career spanned over half a century, from the 1930s to his official retirement in the 1980s,
Warner was most active at a time when the antiques trade was challenging and exciting. With interesting bargains to be picked up during the war, when Londoners in particular were reluctant to leave
good bombed, to the rapid rise of enthusiasm for antiques in the 1970s and '80s, Warner constantly added to his stock and personal collection. His thirst for knowledge was evidenced by the large
number of reference books and period publications on everything from 19th century colour mixing to copies of exhibition catalogues. Many of his books, together with printed ephemera, were sold in the
Herefordshire sections of the dispersal where a series of early 19th century paper doll books with beguiling titles such as The History of Little Fanny in Dress and Undress or Young Albert
the Roscious aroused interest from both toy and book collectors. It was perhaps the dual appeal of so many objects that added to the excitement of the sales.
It is not surprising that, even in his youth, Roger was attracted to the decorative arts. His grandfather was Mitford Warner, proprietor of Jeffrey & Company, the wallpaper manufacturer which
produced hand-coloured papers for William Morris. His mother was descended from the Sowerby glass manufacturers of Gateshead. Born in 1913, Roger was a birthright member of the Society of Friends and
remained a Quaker throughout life, practising the ethics of this Christian group in his antiques dealing.
, As a young man he worked for a while in a Padding-ton antiques shop but spent a lot of time at the V&A. By 1936 he had set up his own shop on the High Street in Burford, it is said with a
capital of £600 - a not unreasonable amount for the period. For over 50 years this was his base of operations, where he planned his long buying trips around Britain, sometimes visiting dealers
and auctions in the regions for weeks at a time.
He was known personally to people in the most remote areas and they all kept back items they felt he would like, for his consideration. He loved antiques with provenance at a time when this was less
important than now and he also had a good eye for artefacts that evoked a particular period.
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