Lot Essay
Herman Baer was one of London's most respected antiques dealers of the mid-20th century. Born in Bavaria, Baer moved to Berlin where he worked in an interior design and antiques department of the furniture shop Hess and Rom at 106 Leipziger Strasse, later marrying the owner's daughter. Both were from Jewish families and fearing persecution they fled Germany and arrived in London in 1936, where Baer used the knowledge that he had acquired while working in Germany to establish an antiques shop at 6 Davies Street on 28 September 1938. Baer passed away in 1977 but his shop on Davies street continued to operate, managed by his second wife until 1988.