IN 1979, two things happened that would change Simon Phillips’s life. The first was that he joined the antique-furniture business that his father, Ronald, had launched in 1952, just as Britain was emerging from the grimmest post-war years. The second was that a tiny mahogany drum table dating from the late 18th century appeared on display at Somerset House’s ‘Art Treasures’ exhibition. The paths of dealer and table would cross a few times before merging.
‘He jumped at the opportunity to buy it back: “I enjoy it every day”’
Held during November and December 1979 and intended almost as a replacement to the annual Grosvenor House Fair (a predecessor of Treasure House), which had been cancelled in June because of an industrial dispute, the Somerset House show broke with
