Amongst the world's leading antique houses there is one which creates for its clients delightful wonderlands which evoke such Carrollian interpretations of special worlds in the way that treasures from a rich and glorious past are presented. It is a place where expectations are most pleasantly surpassed and memories of the past are evoked in a most beguiling manner. It is a place where the White Rabbit would consult only the finest of timepieces and the Queen of Hearts would surely sit on a giltwood Regency throne fashioned by the greatest of craftsmen. As for Alice; she would truly be captivated, finding comfort and delight in this particular wonderland.

Many a passing shopper has been mesmerised by the exquisite antiques displayed behind the distinctive curved 'looking-glass' windows of 'Mallett & Son', as the elegant gilt-relief lettering above regally proclaims. Beyond the restrained facade on London's fashionable New Bond Street, one is transported to a distant world in which room after room reveals a refreshingly eclectic interpretation of the past. "You don't have to stick rigidly with one period or one type of thing", remarks Paula Hunt, my guide through these deftly arranged rooms and corridors introducing a refreshingly relaxed approach to the business of antique dealing as she escorts clients through the rich array of fine antique furniture and unusual objets Mallett have carefully assembled in their New Bond Street store. In tones as rich and polished as the pieces she surrounds herself with she continues her illuminating logic. "If everything is a piece of good quality it will feel comfortable with other pieces..."

This one comment, more than any other, perhaps underpins the essential philosophy behind Mallett who believes that as well as the individual excellence of antique items, each piece should play its part in being meticulously placed in the creation of a room and that the making of interiors is in itself a true art form. "We're not interior designers", insists Ms. Hunt, "but things here are placed very exactly with a great view to their compatibility with other pieces in the same room. That does not mean that every piece has to be Chippendale or that every piece has to be mahogany".

It is a philosophy inspired in its simplicity yet the art of imaginative presentation had for a long time not been considered by antique dealers whose premises had more in common with musty museums, housing and displaying their collections with the rigidity enforced by stylistic and periodic classification. "Pieces have travelled from here to the great museums of the world", she says proudly, "but this furniture is equally well able to be used in a home as a functional item as well as a rare piece to be admired and that's why we try to put things in a room setting rather than, say, lining up dining chairs like a regiment of soldiers".

It is a bold stance in an oeuvre dominated by aesthetic purity and to illustrate her point, Ms. Hunt leads me into one of the eleven inspired showrooms, dominated by a marvelous George II mahogany library table featuring carved edges, leather lining, inlaid ivory initials and gilt bronze handles. This historically significant piece is complemented by Windsor chairs, Regency and Sheraton side tables and all manner of decorative objects d'art creating a stylishly comfortable reading room evocative of a grand past which is at once familiar yet intangible and a far cry from the accustomed period set-pieces.

Whilst this type of display has become more commonplace in more recent years, Mallett is credited with pioneering this approach and continues to masterfully espouse it. "In this shop", Paula informs, "we are slightly more traditional than at our other premises at Bourdon House which is even more eclectic. Here, we deal primarily in English furniture but within that there's such a wide range from early oak and walnut to the marvellous Chippendale furniture to the neo-classical furniture of the later Eighteenth century".

The other shop happens to be Bourdon House in the heart of Mayfair and was, until 1953, the London residence of the late second Duke of Westminster. Originally built for William Bourdon, Esq. during the reign of George I, this second 'shop' retains the character of a three hundred year old family home. Its three floors of rooms contain a wonderful collection of French and Continental furniture of the 18th and 19th Centuries, objects d'art, rare masterpieces and exotic or unusual items and accessories. A sunny courtyard displays antique garden furniture and statuary whilst an octagonal treasure room tucked away on the third floor houses rare examples of beautiful Indian tribal jewellery.

A visitor to Bourdon House may discover a superbly crafted 19th Century black lacquered cabinet decorated with silver beside an 18th Century northern Italian barber's chair or an early 19th Century Russian mantel clock atop a Swedish mahogany secretaire. "Wonderful objects from all corners of the earth are brought together with exquisite furniture at Bourdon House:, enthuses Ms. Hunt.

With its two beautiful showrooms, Mallett has become probably the largest antique shop dealing in important English furniture together with fine decorative items, and unusual items of excellence, yet it is a far different enterprise from that envisaged by its founder in 1865. John Mallett began his business sin the British spa town of Bath as a jeweller and silversmith and the name of Mallett may well have joined the fine jewellery houses of the world were it not for John's son, Walter, who is today considered the true founder of the business.

Walter was possessed of a forceful personality and, upon joining his father's business a short while after its inception, he quickly took control, expanding the stock to include old silver and furniture and relocating to an historic building which had spent the first hundred years of its existence as a most fashionable church for the visiting gentry. The building, known as the Octagon, had been designed in 1767 by a respected architect of the time. Thomas Lightholder, to ensure the most comfortable of spiritual journeys with many of the 'pews' rather like small rooms complete with fireplace and easy chairs. The vaults below housed spirits of an altogether different nature, having been let out to a wine merchant. If it all sounds a touch sacrilegious, the Octagon never was consecrated, it being a leasehold.

By the 1890s the spirits had abandoned the building and Walter decided to move his expanding business into the salubrious old church, transforming it into a modern workshop and showroom incorporating gas-driven polishing lathes and electric light, a lift and even an early form of air-conditioning. Improved communication to and from London town saw the spa at Bath become an increasingly popular destination and Mallett soon became the foremost antique business in the West Country.

In 1908, Mallett took a stand at the prestigious Franco-British exhibition in London and the response was so enthusiastic that Walter decided to establish a permanent showroom in London and so set up the present store at 40 New Bond Street, whilst maintaining the Octagon as the firm's headquarters. The decision to close the Octagon did not eventuate until 1937, by which time the business had been in the hands of a consortium of six of the firm's employees, headed by Francis Mallett as Chairman, following Watler's death in 1930. A noted connoisseur with a keen interest in timepieces and Oriental ivories, Francis ensured the business grew and prospered. But it was to be the succeeding Chairman that led the business into its most distinctive and successful phase.

"I think the Mallett style is attributable to our previous Chairman, Francis Egerton", reflects Hunt. "It was under his particular eye for quality and the decorative and a meticulous attention to detail that the company began to take on its present style". As one time secretary to Egerton, Ms. Hunt would be in a position to know. He took over the Chairmanship in 1955, following the death of Francis Mallett who was the last family member to have direct involvement in the firm, and so Egerton was able to shape it to his exacting requirements. His insistence on the highest quality coupled with the pursuit of a highly individual, decorative taste remain the hallmarks of the company.

Today these hallmarks are enforced by Peter Maitland, who became Managing Director of New Bond street in 1983 when Francis Egerton retired. Maitland and his partner Lanto Synge are together primarily responsible for the buying and the artistic management of the Bond Street shop. "Company policy dictates that buying is always done in partnership", explains Hunt. "Lanto, for example, has a particular interest in and love for early English needlework; in fact, he's written a number of books on it. Of course Peter Maitland also loves and appreciates it but for Lanto it's a particular passion. They complement each other's tastes and I think their experience and grounding gives them the ability to see far beyond the range of brown English furniture".

The Bourdon House enterprise is run to the same exacting standards by the founding management team of David Nickerson and his assistant, John York. Again, the two stores are managed independently of each other, both are part of an enterprise that was converted into a public company in 1987. The venture was successful enough that the following year the company expanded to include the Christopher Wood Gallery.

The Gallery is the perfect complement to the antiques given that Christopher Wood, a former Director of Christies, specialises in fine Victorian, Edwardian and Pre-Raphaelite paintings, watercolours and drawings and, indeed, works from the gallery are used to enhance the room displays at both Bourdon House and New Bond Street.

Back in wonderland, ms. Hunt leads me through the small dining room with its beautiful walnut table illuminated by a grand chandelier and featuring a set of 19th Century glass finger bowls the colour of the oceans. Not quite the scene for a Mad Hatter's tea party but certainly befitting a society soiree for ladies in elegant chapeaux. Passing another room, my guide's eyes light up. "That's the Carlton House desk; the original desk made for the Prince of Wales' own personal use. Carlton House was his London residence. He later became Prince Regent and then became George IV, so we're looking at a piece of furniture supplied to him in the 1780s".

The asking price is a handsome £365,000 and it is certainly an impressive piece. "Not only is it a piece of national importance", she adds, "but even without that great history it is an outstanding piece of the great age of satinwood furniture". As to how Mallett came to be in possession of this desk, Hunt continues, "We are quite fortunate in that it came out of the Royal Family many years ago. You see, many of these pieces remain in Royal collections and are never seen. In this case, George IV had a trusted personal secretary named Admiral Payne, who was known as Honest Jack. He was dispatched to Brunswick to fetch Princess Caroline to be the Prince's bride. He obviously performed his task quite satisfactorily and as a reward the Prince of Wales later gave him this desk and then it passed down through all the generations of his family to the last owner, who sold it. Because it remained in the one family it is still in such a marvellous original state".

It is a rather lovely thought that today one can sit at such a historic desk and ponder its fascinating past, the Royal decrees penned on it, the philosophical thought engaged at it, the romances kindled by poignant letter-writing on its surface; antiques seem to tangibly exude the richness of their past. "Of course the trouble is we don't always know their history", admits Hunt. "I spend hours of my time searching through dusty ledgers to track down pieces we've acquired. We're very lucky in that a lot of people approach us because of our established name. People sell us pieces we've sold maybe ten, twenty, thirty, forty years earlier. In a sphere where the sources of great pieces are becoming increasingly more scarce it's necessary to ensure there is a degree of recirculation".

In what is essentially the original recycling business auctions are an important source of new acquisitions. Pieces are also bought through what seems to be a very closely linked trade. 'A number of the London trade are very good suppliers to us", she says, adding that, "there's healthy competition and friendly rivalry, of course, but we're delighted when people are directed to us with the assurance that Mallett may be able to assist them with, say, a table - and we do the same".

The idea of recycling resources is given another unique twist at Mallett with the creative adaption of existing pieces for other uses. "In the 18th Century they didn't loll back on nice comfortable sofas and look at the telly, they sat rather more bolt upright and rather more formally so there was no need for the coffee table. The coffee table is a 20th Century creation", reveals Hunt, indicating a marvellous antique coffee table, adorned with champagne glasses, birthday cake and a cigar nestling in an ashtray. "Isn't that fun? The top is antique and probably was a table top of some kind but nothing was made sixteen inches high in the 18th Century; the base is modern. It has been made to our own design and each one is a one-off original Mallett creation. We have our own craftsmen, our own cabinetmakers, our own polishers restoring pieces out of our workshops at Bourdon House. All our staff are trained at Mallett and they also create our designs, like this coffee table base". In another variation on this theme, lamps are created, using existing antique vases and columns as a base.

A dynamic company that is not content to simply rest with its impressive achievements and innovations, Mallett continues to expand its operations, having recently opened an entirely new department specialising in glass. "In the past", says Paula, "we've often had pieces of decorative table glass such as coloured bottles and the like. We now not only have that but also very highly specialist collectors' items because we've brought in an expert in that field, a man by the name of John Smith. We are primarily dealing with English glass from the late 17th Century to Regency through the 18th Century. We do like to deal with what are termed accessories. In every room there are objects of great merit and there are also objects of less merit but of great decorative value".

As to expanding its borders, Mallett in fact did have, for a time, stores in both New York and Geneva but found that people enjoyed travelling to London for their purchases. "Besides", adds Ms. Hunt, "If you're offering the finest pieces in the world it really is awfully difficult to fill too many places with them. "The firms' clients don't seem to mind the trip as two thirds of Mallett's business is with international clients and incorporates, the usual array of industrialists, movie moguls, celebrities and artists; an eclectic mix that is as varied and priceless as the treasures that they travel to London to buy. "But we get people from all walks of life", insists Hunt. "You can't prejudge people these days. Just because they work in wearing sneakers, doesn't mean they aren't extremely serious collectors".

Just as Paula Hunt feels privileged to work with, to handle and to enthuse about the rich and beautiful treasures of the past in a world where day-to-day living becomes a comforting and inviting dream so too, she believes clients make their special pilgrimages to London to indulge themselves in this antique wonderland which is at once precious, whimsical, rare and beautiful. "You need a touch of fantasy now and again", she concludes. "Don't you think?"