In celebration of the Curator & Maker Christmas Collection pop up event we chat with one of its founders, Georgie Rowse.

1. Tell us a little bit about yourself and your background prior to setting up Curator & Maker.

My first job was at The Royal Opera House before entering the world of interior design which I was in for over twenty years. I was then asked to set up a shop for Garsington Opera. I’d had a long connection with it as it was originally started by my cousin Leonard Ingrams. It seemed a great opportunity to combine my two great loves of opera and design. They wanted to create an experience that would be unique and I decided to commission a range of products which were exclusively made for Garsington by local designers and makers. Their only guidance was ‘don’t make it Aga Saga…!’

I worked with the makers to create products that connected with the world of country house opera and picnics, and which saluted the four operas we were doing each year. I was so inspired by the process of working with designers that I then also started running pop-up curated events at Myriad Antiques in Holland Park, showcasing the best of British makers and introducing them to a London audience.

Georgie Rowse (left) Tara Juno Rowse (right)

2. You launched the pop-up with your daughter Tara in 2022 What inspired you to set up the event?

When I stopped working for Garsington I decided to expand on the pop-up idea and develop it into a twice-yearly collection which was built around a specific theme - often a book, story or ballet I loved, and which had a strong visual style and ethos with which I could inspire the makers to create unique pieces reflecting the theme. I have carried on presenting these collections at Myriad Antiques, which is a rare gem started by the wonderful Sara Fenwick in the 1970s.

This was the beginning of Curator&Maker and I involved Tara who has really helped give C&M a strong and distinctive look and branding through her amazing eye for photography, video and marketing.

"I involved Tara who has really helped give Curator & Maker a strong and distinctive look"

3. Why is it so important to you to support independent makers and small businesses?

I have been increasingly struck by the fact that retail has been changing and that it more and more seems like everything is mass-produced and, through online, is available everywhere, all the time, and that every retail experience is becoming more and more similar. I was so taken with the world of makers where the opposite is true - runs are short, everything is handmade and often unique, production is limited, the makers themselves are often working on their own in out-of-the-way locations with no easy access to marketing or sales channels, often selling just to a close circle of existing friends and supporters. I saw the opportunity to facilitate bringing groups of makers to new markets, to help them design and craft wonderful things with their amazing skills which I felt would appeal to those new customers, who would then have the ability to treasure and savour each unique purchase: so I wanted to champion the handmade and support and transform the small businesses that these wonderfully talented people have created.

A core part of this is that the C&M collections are not available online. ‘When it’s gone, it’s gone’, and you definitely can’t ‘add to cart’! That’s a big part of the appeal for me - people are buying something that they know won’t be repeated again, they are the only people who will be able to have it.

We are now on our sixth C&M collection and have presented the work of around 60 different makers - for many of them their C&M collaboration represents a substantial part of their annual sales and has really helped transform what they do. It’s a very personal thing - we host a dinner at my home for all the makers on the opening night of each collection, and it’s always a very emotional affair, with people who often haven’t met before finding they have so much in common through sharing experiences of their practice or the challenges of running their businesses.

"Finding new makers is hard, I trawl the country continuously, meeting each one personally"

4. What are you looking for in the makers you feature and how do you find them?

What I’m looking for is their passion, their ability to tell a story through something they have made, their flair, an unusual or eccentric way of looking at the world; to connect with me, as a representative of their potential buyer, at a deep level; to blend the craft of making and an eye for design into a seamless whole.

5. Have you always collected hand made/artisan items for your home or to wear? My childhood home was full of one-off pieces that I loved. Each one had a story, My own home is the same, I collect and treasure so deeply. I can take you round a room and fill you with the joy I get from each object, each piece is an old friend, a constant companion. I get so much pleasure from meeting and connecting with the people who have made the pieces, hearing their stories - the thought that went into making it, the years they spent perfecting their craft, the hours they spent making a particular piece. To me it’s all part of a powerful story that resonates in my home.

6. Knowing your love of a hand-knit, I’ve created the ‘Juno’ vest for this Winter’s event. Designed as an homage to one of your father’s jumpers and worn by your mother on the cover of your wonderful book, can you tell us why the original knit holds such a special place for you?

Georgie's mother, Juno Liddell

My mother died when I was eight and three years ago, delving into the many boxes of letters left to me by my father, I decided to write a memoir about my mother, Juno. Choosing the front-cover photograph from so many was hard. The final choice was a black and white photograph of my mother, lying in the sun, in the mountains, wearing my father’s polo-neck jumper with a Fair Isle pattern of blues, yellows and oatmeal that was then handed down to all my children who loved it in the same way. It’s one of the few things I have that connects me directly to her and to discover this photo of her wearing it was a powerful moment. To have the jumper recreated afresh in its new tank top form is a very emotional thing for me, and it’s so wonderful that you have given an heirloom of mine new life.

"The collection draws you in and invites you to indulge"

7. Along with the Juno vest, I am thrilled to be bringing a selection of hand knits to this November’s Curator & Maker pop up. What other delights can customers expect to see at this year’s event?

Inspired by the wonderful book A Time of Gifts by Paddy Leigh Fermor, his memoir of walking across Central Europe in the 1930s, this collection celebrates nostalgia for a lost world of Central Europe between the wars, with its glittering candlelit dinners, plush velvets and furs, snow-clad castles, mounted horsemen and gilded carriages – a rich and beguiling world soon to be swept away by war, modernisation and profound social change.

The collection draws you in and invites you to indulge in ‘a time of gifts’ for your friends and family – or indeed yourself — with jewel-like reverse glass paintings and Holy Kitsch Christmas shrines, magical paintings evoking lost worlds and everlasting plants hand-made from cut paper; to slip into the comfort of hand-knitted traditional jumpers or a range of ladies’ clothing fashioned from Asian fabrics; to hear the stories of hand-made rugs; to relish fantastical cast ceramic creations and the everyday comfort of one-off hand-made ceramic plates, jugs and bowls and hand-blown glasses; or to rummage through delightful recycled cashmere treasures.

"I can’t wait to welcome everybody to share it with me on 20th November!"

Photography by Tara Juno Rowse

The 'Juno' vest The special edition 'Juno' vest is hand knitted in West Sussex in 100% Alpaca yarn. It is available to order at the Curator & Maker pop up this week. Curator & Maker Myriad Antiques 131 Portland Road London, W11 4LW Wednesday 20th November — Saturday 30th November. 11am-6pm every day except Sunday. VIEW THE JUNO VEST ⇨