A prominent figure in the early furniture trade, Peter Bontoft of William H Stokes Antiques, died suddenly of a heart attack, on July 29. He was 73.
Peter went into partnership with William Stokes in 1974. Initially they traded from Cold Overton Hall in Rutland, selling early furniture and ‘kindred items’, mainly to upper echelons of the trade, such as Stair and Company of Mount Street and the pre-eminent dealer Mary Bellis.