John Stephens & Company

Born from a chance meeting in the English countryside, John Stephens and Company very nearly never happened – but thirty-six years later, the business is a local institution with an increasingly international clientele. Presented alongside the distinctive antiques are a complement of exclusive European brands and a growing stable of original designs that bring to life JS&Co.’s vision of decorative and refined interior spaces. This vision, distinctive in New Zealand, deftly incorporates time-honoured styles with contemporary aesthetic flourishes.

Originally hailing from Te Aroha, a young John Stephens moved to the United Kingdom in 1989 to pursue a career in engineering:

‘I was working for the MoD at some secret location, but I was distracted by the classical styles of the UK & France and spent more time in National Trust houses and with the art dealers of Lincolnshire and Yorkshire than anywhere else.’

‘Trips with Greenie soon began: a Friday event buying considerable amounts of furniture and moving it back to Sheffield, and Saturday the London trade would buy – it was gone by lunchtime.

It was the height of the antique industry – so exciting – and I gradually acquired an encyclopedic knowledge of English and French period furniture.

Several containers were loaded and shipped to my father, who had nearly retired, and the business was born.’

Initially established in 1988 as an importer of fine English antique furniture from Yorkshire, JS&Co. read the writing on the wall and began to diversify during the early 1990s – while the antiques industry reached its nadir. The Weatherby George Bookcase, Library and Wine Cellar Company was the first endeavour and in the thirty years since, they have supplied hundreds of bookcases, libraries, and wine cellars to client specifications. Weatherby still comes out to measure up on site, and most recently sent a library to Brisbane, Australia. 

‘Weatherby, as a young man, trained as a cabinet-maker at the Devonport Naval Base, so by rights he could make furniture fit for a ship. A meeting with us was a lucky break and the “Weatherby George” team was born. Weatherby has literally made miles of bookcases and wine cellars for every type of New Zealand home.’

Each library or bookcase is custom-made to specifications and finished with a range of wood colours or paint finishes. All bookcases are made of French oak – quarter-sawn slabs of which have been imported by JS&Co. since the 1990s – and feature solid brass fittings. The fine details are executed by the same French polisher and decorative paint finish artist who attentively and sympathetically restore the antique offering. Finally, they are assembled in the client’s home after they are painted or polished. 

Having established its reputation with a well-honed eye for antiques and the custom-built libraries perfectly suited to Aotearoa’s heritage homes, JS&Co. began to add European furniture and lighting brands to its offering. 

‘I went to see my friend Chris Cox and I said, “I really like this Collier Webb stuff.” Chris said, “Well, they’re friends of ours!“ We went over to the showroom. He went off and was talking to somebody else, while I got chatting with who I assumed was the showroom assistant:

“God, these castings are bloody good, aren’t they?”

It turned out that she was Danielle Collier, the daughter of the owner!’

The Collier Webb collection from Pimlico was established in 1977 by Cedric Collier, initially a hobbyist who became fascinated with the methodology of sand casting and has since grown into a multi-generational family business, internationally renowned for their designs. Collier Webb designs are executed mainly in brass and bronze, many incorporating Art Deco and Early Modern influences. Others have a modern approach, playing with scale, colour and recognisable motifs - all of which sit naturally alongside the antiques.

Alongside Collier Webb, Vaughan Designs of Chelsea offers an incredible range of lighting, and JS&Co. are the exclusive distributors in New Zealand. The collection is vast, reinterpreting a variety of historical styles with a strong contemporary sensibility, and suited to everything from residential to commercial projects. JS&Co. recently supplied – via a Christchurch-based designer and close collaborator – all the lights for the stunning Observatory Hotel at the Arts Centre.

Following the first French chair collection by Collinet came the inception of JS Editions – the in-house design studio led by creative director Katrina Kerr. JS Editions now represents most of JS&Co.’s turnover. Katrina has introduced the Wabi-Sabi collection, eponymously embracing a Japanese influence which honours the beauty of the imperfect and realises this in custom-made furniture.

‘We were really desperate one day for anybody to come in, and the only person that would come and work here was the lovely Katrina. What we didn’t realise is that she was in possession of the last five thousand editions of The World of Interiors magazine and had committed every page to memory. The interview process was over a bottle of wine, and the rest is history.’

Inspired in no small part by the influential French decorator Jacques Grange to whom the piece owes its name, this design is Katrina’s first foray into fully upholstered pieces. Combining the best elements of an English rolled arm sofa with a camel-back, it features modern lines – clean, simplified, and long – low upon bun feet, rather than more traditional turned legs. Although any upholstery can be used, the JS&Co. team favour a carefully considered palette, as shown. 

The harmonious design of an 18th-century six-legged table has been evolved into the JS Editions Orangery Table, which is now their most popular original. A simple trestle table has been elevated into the very popular raise-and-lower desk, and in the past few years, Katrina has added curated selections of carpets, as well as a limited selection of choice mid-century pieces – carefully selected to fit into the JS&Co vision. These include pieces by Macintosh from Scotland, as well as period G-Plan from High Wycombe in England. 

Coming full circle to their original supplier in Yorkshire, the next generation has produced one Julien, with six years’ experience at fine arts’ college and a highly developed eye, who actively sources Impressionist and Post-Impressionist oil paintings, rarely seen in New Zealand, paired with coveted Montparnasse frames. With an Étagère and a Contemporary Bookcase design coming in 2025, the JS Editions range continues to expand in the same classical vein which has won the affection of architects and interior designers across the country – “J.S.&Co. will do a proper job!”

Contact John Stephens and Co here