Roger Warner Antique Dealer's Collection

The collection includes the stock books in which Warner kept records of the purchase and sale prices of the antiques in which the business dealt. There are records of the financial transactions of the business including accounts, cash books and receipt books.

Of particular note are the detailed day books which record purchases from Warner by individuals and companies from 1936-1984. The collection contains notebooks detailing buying trips, some correspondence, auction catalogues and photographs.

The collection also contains records of Warner's stamp dealing.

Roger Harold Metford Warner (1913-2008) was an antiques dealer in Burford, Oxfordshire. He founded Roger Warner Antique Dealers in 1936. Warner began by specialising in items which were of little interest to other dealers such as beds, the furnishings of servants' quarters and obsolete agricultural implements. Particularly fascinated by the decorative, Warner bought pieces from the categories between 'high style' and 'vernacular'. Warner became a leading figure in the antiques world. He dealt with many important museums and private buyers. Temple Newsam House and the Victoria and Albert are just two of the collections he contributed to. His taste influenced that of his customers and in turn the development of interior decoration in the United Kingdom and the United States of America. Warner was a Quaker and closed his shop during the Second World War. During this time he helped to organise hostels for evacuees, resuming business in 1947. Warner married Ruth Hurcombe in 1949 who became an active participant in the business. In 2003 Warner published his reminiscences 'Memoirs of a Twentieth-century Antique Dealer'.

This collection is subject to various access conditions. Please see individual catalogue descriptions for further details on access.

The archive was passed by Roger Warner to his children Sue Ashton, Simon Warner and Deborah Warner. They donated it to Leeds Special Collections through the agency of the Centre for the Study of the Art and Antiques Market at the University of Leeds in 2016.

Material in this collection is in copyright. Photocopies or digital images can only be supplied by the Library for research or private study within the terms of copyright legislation. It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain the copyright holder's permission to reproduce for any other purpose. Guidance is available on tracing copyright status and ownership.

The archive was created by Roger Warner Antique Dealers in the course of its business activities.