Serhat Ahmet

Serhat Ahmet is a specialist European porcelain dealer on Cecil Court, the pedestrian lane of antiquarian shops between Charing Cross Road and St Martin's Lane in Covent Garden. The gallery deals in fine porcelain and decorative objects from the 18th to the 20th century, and its owner is a London-born antiques expert with more than thirty years in the trade.

Serhat has been in the antiques industry since he was 15 and is known to television audiences from the BBC's Antiques Roadshow and Antiques Road Trip. The business trades with collectors around the world and holds membership of BADA and LAPADA, the professional bodies of the British antiques trade, which gives buyers a measure of reassurance when dealing in high-value porcelain.

The antique porcelain dealer London collectors seek out

The collection centres on Meissen, KPM Berlin, Sevres and English makers, alongside other European factories, glass and contemporary decorative objects. Recent highlights have included a Meissen plate from the Japanese Palace of around 1730 and figure groups after J.J. Kaendler. The emphasis is on quality and provenance over volume, so the stock favours individual collector's pieces, and the gallery stages exhibitions and publishes news of new acquisitions.

What to expect on a visit

The shop is open on weekday afternoons, with morning opening on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and other times by appointment; it is worth calling ahead for a specific piece. It sits among dealers in coins, banknotes, books and prints, directly opposite Mark Sullivan Antiques at No. 9, and makes a refined counterpoint to the gift shops of Covent Garden around the piazza.