Eric Knowles

Last updated

Eric Knowles
Born (1953-02-19) 19 February 1953 (age 71)
Nationality British
Occupation(s) Antiquarian
Television personality
Television
Website ericknowles.co.uk scottishantiques.com

Eric Knowles FRSA (born 19 February 1953 in Nelson, Lancashire, England) [1] is a British antiquarian and television personality, whose main interests are in ceramics and glass.

Contents

Early life

Knowles joined the London auction house Bonhams as a porter in the ceramics department in 1976 and became head of the department in 1981. [2] By 1992 he had set up Bonham's offices in Bristol. He returned to London to continue with directing the Decorative Arts Department. [3] He was appointed non-exective director of scottishantiques.com ( The Hoard Limited) a "decorative art and design emporium" in the Corn Exchange in The Pantiles in Royal Tunbridge Wells in July 2021. He retired in November 2023. [4]

Television career

He first earned fame as a ceramics expert on the BBC's Antiques Roadshow . He has also appeared in such programmes as, Going for a Song , Going, Going, Gone , Noel's House Party , [5] Call My Bluff and 20th Century Roadshow . He has presented the 20 episodes of Restoration Roadshow on BBC for several weeks in the summer of 2010 (ending 3 September). [6] He is the challenger setter and adjudicator on BBC Two's Antiques Master assisting host Sandi Toksvig. As of 2012, he is on the UK TV show Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is . [7] After Tim Wonnacott left Bargain Hunt, Knowles became one of a number of 'guest presenters' hosting the show. He also appeared in the series Clash of the Collectables, which he co-hosted with Alan Carter.

Personal life

Knowles is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and an Ambassador for the Prince's Trust. Knowles is associated with several other charities including Headway, FABLE (For a better life with epilepsy), the New Mozart Orchestra and Wycombe Scanappeal. [2] He has lectured at the Victoria & Albert Museum, the British Museum, and important national museums in Australia, Canada, the US, South Africa, France, Germany, and the Czech Republic.

Knowles had the Freedom of the City of London bestowed in 2000.

He is a published author on subjects such as Victoriana, Royal memorabilia, Art Nouveau, Art Deco, and René Lalique.

His son Seb was killed in a road accident in May 2015. [8]

Related Research Articles

<i>Antiques Roadshow</i> British television programme

Antiques Roadshow is a British television programme broadcast by the BBC in which antiques appraisers travel to various regions of the United Kingdom to appraise antiques brought in by local people. It has been running since 1979, based on a 1977 documentary programme.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Pantiles</span> United Kingdom legislation

The Pantiles is a Georgian colonnade in the town of Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England. Formerly known as "The Walks" and the (Royal) "Parade", it leads from the well that gave the town its name. The area, developed following the discovery of a chalybeate spring in 1606, has become a popular tourist-attraction.

<i>Bargain Hunt</i> British television series

Bargain Hunt is a British television programme in which two pairs of contestants are challenged to buy antiques from shops or a fair and then sell them in an auction for a profit. It has aired on BBC One since 13 March 2000 in a daytime version, and from 22 August 2002 to 13 November 2004 in a primetime version.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eric Ravilious</span> English painter

Eric William Ravilious was a British painter, designer, book illustrator and wood-engraver. He grew up in Sussex, and is particularly known for his watercolours of the South Downs, Castle Hedingham and other English landscapes, which examine English landscape and vernacular art with an off-kilter, modernist sensibility and clarity. He served as a war artist, and was the first British war artist to die on active service in World War II when the aircraft he was in was lost off Iceland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bonhams</span> Auction house of fine art and antiques

Bonhams is a privately owned international auction house and one of the world's oldest and largest auctioneers of fine art and antiques. It was formed by the merger in November 2001 of Bonhams & Brooks and Phillips Son & Neale. This brought together two of the four surviving Georgian auction houses in London, Bonhams having been founded in 1793, and Phillips in 1796 by Harry Phillips, formerly a senior clerk to James Christie.

Timothy Wonnacott is an English chartered auctioneer, chartered surveyor, antiques expert, narrator, and a television presenter. He was previously a director of Sotheby's, one of the world's oldest auction houses.

Jonathan Philip "Jonty" Hearnden is an English antiques expert and television presenter. Though born in London Road, Brentwood, he was brought up in Dorchester-on-Thames in Oxfordshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Skinner, Inc.</span> American auction house

Skinner was an American auction house headquartered in Marlborough, Massachusetts. It has been among the world's leading auction houses for antiques and fine art.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry Sandon</span> British antiques expert (1928–2023)

Henry George Sandon was an English antiques expert, television personality, author and lecturer who specialised in ceramics and was a notable authority on Royal Worcester porcelain. He was the curator of the Dyson Perrins Museum for many years.

David Battie FRSA is a British retired expert on ceramics, specialising in Japanese and Chinese artefacts.

Lars Broholm Tharp is a Danish-born British historian, lecturer and broadcaster, and one of the longest running 'experts' on the BBC antiques programme, Antiques Roadshow, first appearing in 1986.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Philip Mould</span> English art dealer and art historian (born 1960)

Philip Jonathan Clifford Mould is an English art dealer, London gallery owner, art historian, writer and broadcaster. He has made a number of major art discoveries, including works of Thomas Gainsborough, Anthony Van Dyck and Thomas Lawrence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Atterbury</span> British antiques expert

Paul Rowley Atterbury, FRSA is a British antiques expert, known for his many appearances since 1979 on the BBC TV programme Antiques Roadshow. He specialises in the art, architecture, design and decorative arts of the 19th and 20th centuries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Sandon</span> British expert on ceramics and glass

John Sandon is a British expert and prolific author on ceramics and glass. He is best known as an expert on the BBC's Antiques Roadshow, which he joined in 1985.

Jon Baddeley is a fine art auctioneer, an authority on scientific instruments and collectables, a broadcaster and an author.

Dendy Peter Nicholas Napper Easton is a fine art consultant for Bonhams, better known as one of the experts on the BBC programme, Antiques Roadshow. The son of Dendy Bryan Easton (1916–2001) and his wife Iris, he began his career in fine art in 1971. He spent 30 years at Sotheby's, finishing as a director who specialised in 19th and 20th-century pictures.

Mark Stacey is a Welsh valuer and auctioneer. He is also a TV personality and has made regular appearances on BBC programmes as an antique expert.

Mark Hill is a British antiques expert, TV presenter, author and publisher.

House of Benney, sometimes known simply as Benney, is a UK-based silversmith and jewellery business, used by various members of the British royal family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Corn Exchange, Tunbridge Wells</span> Commercial building in Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England

The Corn Exchange is a commercial building in The Pantiles, Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England. The structure, which is currently used as an antiques and fine art market, is a Grade II listed building.

References

  1. "Biography" Archived 2008-10-13 at the Wayback Machine Manchester Television Personalities
  2. 1 2 "Eric Knowles: Fine Art & Antiques Auctioneer & Expert". Dfmanagement.tv. Retrieved 22 September 2012.
  3. "Eric Knowles - antiques expert, celebrity and after dinner speaker". Nyt.co.uk. Archived from the original on 5 May 2013. Retrieved 22 September 2012.
  4. "Decorative art and design emporium opening in Corn Exchange in Tunbridge Wells". In Your Area. 3 July 2021. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
  5. Noel's House Party clip on YouTube
  6. Radio Times; August 23–29
  7. "BBC One - Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is". Bbc.co.uk. 1 January 1970. Retrieved 22 September 2012.
  8. Andrew Colley (13 May 2015). "Seb Knowles, son of Eric Knowles, died after a car crash on the motorway". Bucks Free Press.