Antwerp Antiques Buying Tours
BELGIUM ANTIQUES and FLEA MARKET TOURS
Axel Vervoordt’s Kitchen at Kanaal, photo by José Manuel Alorda
It’s no secret that when I’m not at home in Berlin or traveling on Diva business, I can frequently be found in Belgium. Serious shoppers in-the-know go to Belgium to buy antiques, vintage and decorator pieces at positively brilliant prices. On a Diva Buying Tour, our local Belgium Antiques Tours Guides take you to our favorite sources including European antique warehouses and by-appointment-only secret antique shops off the beaten path, all the while translating and negotiating on your behalf. From classic French furniture to tabletop items and smalls, Belgium offers a variety of French flea market pieces for the antiques lover.
Antwerp and the surrounding area is one of the best areas for sourcing antiques. On our Antwerp tour, our Guide picks you up at your hotel and takes you to a plethora of antiques, vintage and home décor stores both in town and the surrounding countryside. Here you’ll find that classic Belgian style of bleached oak furniture and painted pieces as well as gorgeous linens, crystal, paintings and decorative pieces. Plus Mid-Century Modern and fabulous Retro pieces are incredibly hot in Belgium at the moment and the vintage art scene is definitely cool. Belgium sets the trends for design so be prepared to find pieces that may grace the cover of next season’s shelter magazines. On tour our Guide translates and negotiates on your behalf and we also liaise you with a shipper to get your purchases home.
Antwerp may be Europe’s best-kept secret when it comes to antique sourcing. On our Antwerp tour our Guide picks you up at your hotel and takes you to a plethora of antiques, vintage and home décor stores both in town and the surrounding countryside. Here you’ll find that classic Belgian style of bleached oak furniture and painted pieces as well as gorgeous linens, crystal, paintings and decorative pieces. Belgium sets the trends for design so be prepared to find pieces that may grace the cover of next season’s shelter magazines. On tour, our Guide translates and negotiates on your behalf and we also liaise you with a shipper to get your purchases home.
Shopping in private residences in Antwerp, photo credit Susanne Ollmann.
Antique Warehouses, By-Appointment-Only Antique Stores, Private Residences
Our Guide picks you up at your hotel and takes you to our secret sources including European antique warehouses, by-appointment-only antique stores – including private residences where virtually everything in the vendors home is for sale. Everything from decorative antique accessories to fine French or country furniture can be found on this tour. Tell us what you’re looking for and we custom plan a route to take you to the perfect places to find what you want. As always, our Antiques Guide translates and negotiates on your behalf, bringing the buying power of all our clients to the table when we walk in the door.
Use our AD&CO LOGISTICS antique storing and shipping service to get your treasures home, or we will also liaise you with your preferred shipper.
Shopping with Randal Weeks of Aidan Gray at Monique Relander’s private home.
Meet Our Antwerp Antiques Guides
Philip, Toma and Frederik, photo credit José Manuel Alorda
Antiques Diva Guide Philip Ver Hoeye
Philip Ver Hoeye is a native Belgian and is our Divo Guide in Belgium and the north of France. Born in Antwerp, his interest in antiques began in his teenage years when he started collecting small antique objects and furniture. His lifelong passion for antiques and fine living has culminated in opening a boutique hotel called JVR 108 in Antwerp. His favorite part of being an Antiques Diva Guide is taking clients to hidden secret sources and helping them choose antiques whether they are looking for fine 17th century pieces or mid-century modern. Aside from collecting antiques, Philip also enjoys cars, particularly British ones and interior decoration which is evident in his perfectly appointed guesthouse in Antwerp!
Antiques Diva Guide Frederik Aers
Frederik Aers is a native Belgian hailing from Brussels. He’s also lived in the Flemish part of Brabant and now resides in Antwerp. He is one of our Divo Guides in Belgium, North of France, and The Netherlands. He’s always had a passion for antiques and design. In fact, when he was just a small boy he would constantly be drawing houses, building villas with blocks and collecting articles on interior design, antiques, and gardens. Today, along with our other Divo Guide Phillip, he operates a boutique hotel in Antwerp called JVR108. Frederik enjoys taking clients to see beautiful places where they can find special antiques and objects d’art. When not on tour with The Antiques Diva & Co, he loves to travel and experience different cultures which gives him inspiration. Touring interiors which reflect the personality and tell the story of the people who inhabit them is a favorite activity for him. Frederik believes that a well-combined collection of objects and furniture tells a story and this is part of why he loves taking people on Antiques Buying Tours!
Philip and Frederik are also the AD&CO international shipping and storage concierges, and are experts in exporting antiques to other countries.
JVR 108 in Antwerp
When I visit Antwerp, I stay at Philip and Frederik’s luxury guest house, JVR108: The hotel is actually a historic mansion that happens to be right near the heart of Antwerp. The location is convenient to the historic city center where you can find shops, restaurants and museums, not to mention the city’s famed cathedral. Public transportation is close by and there are also bicycles available to guests free of charge. Learn more about JVR108 here.
We’d love to see you in Antwerp, where we’ll open our little black book full of restaurants, hotels, fashion, home decor and bien sur, antiques!
Antwerp Antiques Tour Available Thursday – Sunday
Book a Tour Today
Until next time,
Toma Clark Haines, The Antiques Diva
JVR108 Inventory
Dear Diva Readers,
At my home in Berlin, I have a stack of coffee table books in my living room which I love to peruse when I have down time. At the top of the stack is a favorite, “Houses of Veranda”, which always gives me drool-worthy inspiration. Imagine my excitement when one of our Antiques Diva sources, owners of JVR108, contacted me and told me they were opening an antiques showroom adjacent to their boutique hotel in Antwerp, and that the inaugural inventory includes the very console table which graces the front cover of “Houses of Veranda!” I felt like I had died and gone to… Diva Heaven!
Philip and Frederick have purchased several pieces from the renowned Chateau Rozenhout which was decorated by Axel Vervoordt and Brigitte Garner. The inventory is so top secret that it hasn’t even been announced yet! In fact, the guys are in the process of designing their showroom so the furniture is in a storage unit at the moment. But that doesn’t stop The Antiques Diva! While recently touring with trade clients, we had the opportunity to shop the storage unit, filled with exquisite pieces in this private warehouse. It’s so thrilling when we’re able to find pieces with perfect pedigree like this and make them accessible at amazing trade prices to our clients.
Of course, after shopping the storage unit, we went back to the hotel and the boys of JVR108 had a private chef prepare a 5 course dinner for us—A Diva’s work is never done! If you’d like information on these pieces, contact us at info@antiquesdiva.com. And don’t forget, when you’re in the Antwerp area, stay at JVR108 for an top-notch experience. And tell them The Antiques Diva sent you to make sure you get SPECIAL BEHIND THE SCENES ACCESS not available otherwise!!
Bonne Shopping!
The Antiques Diva®
Wabi-sabi
Chipped and worn, my 18th Century Spanish Secretaire with original black paint is the definition of “wabi-sabi” a Japanese aesthetic made fashionable by the Belgian designer Axel Vervoordt that promotes the beauty of imperfection.
Vervoordt at BRAFA
Dear Diva Readers,
When an invitation comes in the mail from Mr & Mrs Vervoordt for a private viewing at BRAFA – your heart makes a little pitter patter.
Axel Vervoordt is one of the world’s most respected antiques dealers, collectors and interior designers, and he works and lives in Belgium in an amazing 50 room castle near Antwerp. Last year I had the opportunity to shop with clients literally buying off his castle walls – so having tasted his décor in person I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to see what he brought out for BRAFA – Brussels Fine Arts & Antiques Fair as I knew that at this chic event he’d be bringing the best of the best!
Needless to say, I was not disappointed. While it was nearly impossible to choose, perhaps my 3 favorite items he had for sale at BRAFA were a gorgeous oil on canvas of “a ruined Roman Basilica” dating to 1650, another painting by Raimund Girke from the 1960’s and another piece from the swinging 60’s – an amazing statue called the “The Shadow Figure”.
The Roman Basilica Ruin painting – though created in 1650 – feels somehow more modern in its composition. If the painting looks familiar, perhaps you’ve seen something similar in the Roman Pantheon for Vervoordt’s team believes the artist might have found his inspiration there.
Meanwhile Raimund Girke’s Kinetische Weiss is entirely modern and the perfect anecdote to an antique-filled room. I love nothing more than mixing contemporary art with pieces from the past.
Lastly “The Shadow Figure” cast in plaster by Marguerite Arp was actually a gift to Andre Mounier in 1968 – a gorgeous romantic composition, it peacefully punctuated Vervoordt’s display at BRAFA.
Bonne Shopping,
The Antiques Diva
Photo Credits – Laila McCubbin
The Antiques Diva & Co is a LAPADA Approved Service Provider
The Antiques Diva & Co is the Official Tour Guide of Paul Bert Serpette at The Paris Flea Market
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