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FINDERS KEEPERS | MASTERS & MUSES | WORLD OF CABANA
Trained as a conservator, Adam Calvert Bentley spent 15 years examining objects at close quarters, learning how they were made, used and repaired. Now an antique dealer based in London's Holland Park, he brings the same patient research to buying and selling. Adam shares with Emma Becque the stories of two objects that have passed through his hands: his greatest find and the piece he'll keep forever.
INTERVIEW BY EMMA BECQUE | MASTERS & MUSES | 16 MARCH 2026
Antique dealer Adam Calvert Bentley, photographed by Araminta de Clermont.
My Greatest Find: Riesener commode
"I work quite closely with another antique dealer who was formerly the Head of Continental Furniture at Sotheby's. We never have any space in the showroom because we are addicted buyers, so we are always limited for space.
"But one day, my friend sent me a message saying, "I suppose we haven't got room for this; it looks like it's by Riesener." For reference, Riesener was the most prominent furniture maker for the French Royal Court in the 18th-century. For antique dealers, Riesener is a legend: one day, they might discover a Riesener commode worth millions.
"So, I responded, saying, "This is quite a plain-looking thing, but if it looks like it could be a Riesener, then it is worth a shot, and we can worry about space in the showroom later". For most, this particular piece would have gone under the radar. Thankfully, it was also located in a provincial sales room.
"It is a secretaire with a full-front desk, and the front panel folds down to create a writing surface. So we bought it, and since it was at a provincial sale, it wasn’t too expensive, and they hadn’t even catalogued it as 18th-century.
"During the 18th-century, furniture makers had to sign their work. Stamping their pieces with their name, often on the back or on an obscure area that you don't necessarily see. It's never on the front. As soon as it arrived, I looked at the back, and I found the Riesener stamp. Ultimately, I sold it to a good client within seconds."
The Piece I’ll Keep Forever: Rare 16th-Century Oak Panels
"The piece I'll keep forever is a pair of 16th-century oak panels. One is carved with a Tudor rose, and the other with a pomegranate for Catherine of Aragon. It was probably carved in about 1509 to celebrate their marriage.
"I purchased the piece at [fine art fair] LAPADA in Berkeley Square after having too much to drink. It is quite an important piece because most of the carving and architectural woodwork that was crafted to celebrate their union was destroyed when he divorced Catherine of Aragon. So, it's quite rare for that to survive.
"In some cases, in royal palaces where their initials were carved into the ceiling, and it was too high to remove, they still remain. But these two panels are probably part of wall panelling, an overmantel, or even a bed, because there's no marriage bed.
"The only comparable piece is in the V&A; it is a panel of the same dimensions, carved with the coat of arms of Jane Seymour, his third wife. When the museum accepted this piece as a gift in the 1930s, the director wrote to the donor, saying it was the finest example of Tudor carving in the museum's collection. And I believe my panels were made by the same carver.
"So, maybe when I die, I'll leave them to the museum, knowing I don't need to cash them in. But I don't intend to sell them anyway. And they're such a rare treasure, I wouldn’t even investigate their worth."
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Cabana Magazine N24
Covers by Morris & Co.
This issue will transport you across countries and continents where craft and culture converge. Evocative travel portfolios reveal Japan's elegant restraint, Peru's sacred churches ablaze with color, and striking architecture in a fading Addis Ababa. Inspiring minds from the late Giorgio Armani to Nikolai von Bismarck spark curiosity, while exclusive homes—from the dazzling Burghley House in England and an Anglo-Italian dream in Milan, to a Dionysian retreat in Patmos and a historic Pennsylvania farmhouse—become portals that recall, evoke and transport.
