John Whitehead Lecture Series: French 18th and 19th century interior decoration

In October 2025, David Roche Gallery welcomes dealer, writer and lecturer, John Whitehead. Across two evenings, John will share his knowledge on French eighteenth and nineteenth century interior decoration and works of art, with an emphasis on Sèvres porcelain. Tickets may be purchased for individual lectures, or a discounted 2-lecture package.

Lecture 1 - The French Eighteenth century Interior Revealed

Wednesday 15 October 2025, 6:00–7:15pm

French interior decoration and decorative arts of the eighteenth century are universally recognised to have reached a peak of quality and refinement which has never been equaled. Showing mostly contemporary paintings and drawings of interiors, we will travel through the eighteenth century discovering how interiors were decorated, furnished and inhabited by the Parisian elite.

Lecture 2 - Louis XVI Sèvres: the neo-classical revival at the Royal Porcelain Factory 1770-1800

Thursday 16 October 2025, 6:00–7:15pm

It couldn’t have been a happier coincidence : the discovery of hard paste and the neo-classical revival together drew Sèvres to new heights in the 1770s and 80s. But this period has not been as appreciated and well-known as the rococo, so that we still need to be reminded about its masterpieces which are possessed of a novel aesthetic matching the other decorative arts of the time. The lecture will focus on some of the royal orders, Marchand Mercier pieces, and, to finish, at the 1790s, the troubled time of the Revolution.

About the speaker

John Whitehead is a dealer, writer and lecturer specialising in French eighteenth and nineteenth century interior decoration and works of art, with an emphasis on Sèvres porcelain.

He is best known for his 1992 book, The French Interior in the Eighteenth Century, which after many years remains the most comprehensive publication on the subject. His two books on Sèvres porcelain of the eighteenth century, commissioned by the Sèvres factory and museum, were published in 2011. In 2010 he was made an officer of the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in recognition of services to the Arts. In 2014 he was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London.

In addition he has written numerous articles for specialist periodicals on various various aspects of French eighteenth and nineteenth century art, including Sèvres porcelain, the marchands-merciers (dealers in works of art) of eighteenth-century Paris, the use of Japanese lacquer in French furniture and decorative arts, the lacquer collections of William Beckford and the decoration, furnishing and use of rooms at this period.

John Whitehead has served as a member of the Council of the Furniture History Society and is currently a member of the committee of the French Porcelain Society, with responsibility as co-editor of the Society's Journal.

He is currently working on several book projects, including one about the exchange of diplomatic gifts between France and the Ottoman Empire in the eighteenth century, and another on eighteenth-century Sèvres porcelain with bird decoration.

Each ticket includes one beverage on arrival.

Limited parking available on-site.

Wheelchair accessible.

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