https://www.1stdibs.com/introspective-magazine/young-antiques-dealers/

Chris de la Croix-Vaubois, 32, hadn’t expected to join the family business. That changed seven years ago, after he graduated from Clemson. “I fell in love with it,” he says of the antiques world — in part, he explains, because of the business side. “I always loved negotiations.”

“We might be the oldest shop in its original spot on our street,” says de la Croix-Vaubois. Occupying a 9,000-square-foot space in the heart of Dallas’s Design District, Country French Interiors was established by his father, Bruno, in 1986. The district has grown mightily in size and reputation since then, he points out.

The father-son team takes regular trips to France to find items that fit the shop’s name. That said, about 10 percent of the stock, de la Croix-Vaubois notes, consists of Spanish and Italian works.

The selection — mostly 19th century and some 18th century — has changed a bit over time. “We sell a lot of smaller accessories and maybe less furniture than when we started,” he says.

Collectors can find a 19th-century French painted faience rooster as well as an 18th-century Louis XV walnut-inlay bombe chest with a marble top. “I love the patina of old wood — especially old walnut, the best wood in the world,” says de la Croix-Vaubois.

Read the full article here: https://www.1stdibs.com/introspective-magazine/young-antiques-dealers/