Our Story
A Life Among Beautiful Things
The Antique Textile was founded on a simple conviction: that the finest interiors are not decorated but composed — slowly, deliberately, with objects and textiles that carry history within them.
The Beginning
Founded in the Belief That Provenance Matters
The Antique Textile began as a personal obsession — years spent haunting the dealers of the Marais, the auction rooms of Mayfair, and the linen cupboards of crumbling country houses. What started as a private collection became, in time, a practice.
We work with a small number of private clients each year, sourcing antique furniture, period textiles, and decorative objects of genuine quality. Every piece we handle has been chosen for its provenance, its condition, and the particular quality of attention it rewards.
We do not believe in the merely fashionable. We believe in the enduring — in rooms that will look as right in thirty years as they do today, furnished with things that were made to last and have proved it.
Our Philosophy
“We compose rooms the way an editor composes a sentence — with restraint, precision, and an ear for what does not need to be said.”
Good taste is not a matter of spending more. It is a matter of choosing better — fewer things, of higher quality, placed with greater care. We guide our clients away from the merely expensive and toward the genuinely rare.
What We Do
Three Disciplines, One Sensibility
Interior Design
Full-service interior design for private residences, from initial concept through to installation. We work in period and contemporary settings with equal confidence.
Textile Sourcing
Access to heritage mills, specialist weavers, and private fabric collections across Europe. We source antique and reproduction textiles for upholstery, curtains, and soft furnishings.
Antique Acquisition
Bespoke sourcing of antique furniture and decorative objects from dealers, auction houses, and private collections in London, Paris, and beyond.
The Studio
A Small Practice, Deliberately So
We are a studio of three. We keep the practice small because quality of attention is not scalable. Every client works directly with the principal — there are no account managers, no junior designers, no handoffs.
Eleanor Ashworth
Founder & Principal Designer
Eleanor trained at the Inchbald School of Design in London before spending a decade working with dealers and auction houses across Europe. She founded The Antique Textile in 2011.
Margot Vidal
Textile Specialist
Margot studied textile history at the École du Louvre and has spent fifteen years building relationships with heritage mills and specialist weavers from Bruges to Genoa.
James Hartley
Antiques Consultant
James spent twelve years as a specialist at a leading London auction house before joining the studio. He leads all antique sourcing and acquisition work.
Begin a Conversation
We Take On a Small Number of New Clients Each Year
If you are considering a project — whether a single room or an entire house — we would be glad to hear from you. Initial consultations are complimentary.