About Michael & Vanessa
I grew up in an antiques shop. My father, Bruce Allen, in partnership with Jim Millar ran one of Brisbane’s most well known antique shops. Starting out in 1972, they imported more than one hundred container loads of Georgian and Victorian furniture, glassware, jewellery and antique decorative items from England.
I started buying and selling, under the watchful eye of my parents, aged 11 and then I moved on to full time antiques dealing in 1985. Initially I dealt from Graham See’s antique centre at Clayfield, then moved south to antique centres and a warehouse in Sydney. Soon after I was joined by Vanessa and we settled together at our present location in East Brisbane in 1991. Our daughter, Lucinda, happily plays in the shop and shows an early interest in antiques.
We are a proud member of the Queensland Antique Dealers Association.
About Our Shop
Our business operates from traditional wooden shops that have stood since the late 1800’s. Originally, they were in very poor condition but restoring and maintaining them has become a never-ending labour of love.
We don’t specialise in any particular kind of item but have a personal love of early furniture as well as Georgian and Victorian novelties so you will always find these in our shop. We believe antiques are for using so we try to keep a range of relaxed tables, interesting storage options, bookcases etc. in stock. If looking for a unique gift we have jewellery, silver, small furniture, top shelf kitchenalia and other lovely one-off items in stock.
We prefer to sell antiques that show their age but can, if required carry out sympathetic repairs, using mainly hand tools and traditional methods in our workshop.