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FINDERS KEEPERS | MASTERS & MUSES | WORLD OF CABANA
In this series, we ask antique dealers and collectors to share the stories of two special objects that have passed through their hands: their greatest 'find' and the piece they'll keep forever. This week, it's the turn of London-based designer, Rachel Aisling Walker.
INTERVIEW BY CAMILLA FRANCES | MASTERS & MUSES | 31 JULY 2026
Rachel's 'Greatest Find': Vienna Secession Vertikos. Pictured example: a tall cherrywood cabinet made around 1905 by Anton Pospischil. Photo © Genevieve Lutkin.
My Greatest Find: Vienna Secession Vertikos
"As an interior designer, I approach objects slightly differently to a traditional antiques collector. What first draws me to something is usually instinctive: proportions, materials, silhouettes, or simply a sense of how a piece will live within a room.
"The vertiko is one such discovery. Part chest of drawers, part cabinet, it is a piece of furniture defined by a verticality that feels elegant rather than imposing. Over the past year I've acquired several, but the one that stands out is a tall cherrywood cabinet made around 1905 by Anton Pospischil, one of the pioneers associated with Vienna Secession and closely aligned with Josef Hoffmann's design philosophy. Pospischil manufactured furniture for the Wiener Werkstätte during a period of extraordinary creativity in Vienna, and this piece reflects an exceptional level of material quality and refinement.
"Like so much of what I collect, what drew me to it was the craftsmanship. The solid cherrywood has a richness and movement to the grain that only becomes more beautiful with age. The brass fittings are restrained but precise, and every decision feels considered and balanced. An earlier Art Nouveau example by Carl Bamberger (pictured above, last image) has beautiful hammered brass detailing and floral panels that contrast with highly varnished birch. It’s more decorative, and I love seeing it next to the Pospischil piece as you can clearly trace how the decorative embellishments of Art Nouveau gave way to the more restrained and architectural Secession movement.
"After years of designing interiors, you develop an eye for pieces that will sit in a space in a particular way. The strong vertical presence of these vertikos is offset by warm timber tones that have a softness that I look for in antique furniture. They sit comfortably alongside objects from completely different periods and places too: in the showroom, I have paired one with contemporary ceramics and an 18th-century George III mirror, and it all works as a composition. That ability to create a conversation between objects is often what I am looking for when sourcing pieces.
A Jizhou Painted Vase © Genevieve Lutkin.
The Piece I'll Keep Forever: A Jizhou Painted Vase
"The object I'll never part with is modest. It's a small painted vase, probably from the Jizhou tradition of southern China and dating from the 12th or 13th century. Standing just 18 centimetres tall, it is easy to overlook but, despite – or perhaps because of – that, it is one of the objects I value most.
"I collect vessels of all kinds and have always been fascinated by their elemental nature. The basic form of a vase has changed remarkably little over millennia and there is something beautiful in that continuity. These are objects designed for everyday life, yet they often become the things that endure longest.
"I bought this one at auction with very little information attached to it. What captivated me was its simplicity and the character time imbues. The softly worn stoneware has developed an earthy off-white patina that could only come from centuries of use. Across its surface is a hand-painted spiralling decoration that still feels remarkably fresh. When I look at it, I'm struck by the fact that someone painted those marks more than 800 years ago, and that this small, fragile object has survived intact ever since.
It has also influenced my own work. My recent ceramics collection grew from a similar appreciation for simple forms, subtle surfaces and the beauty that emerges through age, use and imperfection. Whenever I look at this vase, I'm reminded that the most enduring objects are often the most restrained."
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