Born and educated in England, Gerald escaped the wartime ambience of post-war London in the late 40s to savour the vitality of the Orient. The richness of his life's great journey, through Bangkok to Hong Kong, is reflected in his business - a treasure trove of Asian antiques and reproductions which represents one of the world's largest inventories of Asian art.

Convinced that England in the late 40s was shabby and depressed and not about to foreseeable improve young Gerald, an English graduate from Oxford who had served a brief stint in the army, picked himself up and went "to the furtherest place from London he could think of". "Bangkok in 1950 was everything a young man dreamed of", says Gerald, "there were practically no cars only rickshaws, canals like in Venice down every street and unpolluted quiet". Posted by the Shell Oil Company, Gerald soon assumed responsibility for oil exploration and marketing in the Golden Triangle area of Northern Thailand.

After three years Gerald found the serene lifestyle at the edge of the opium trade had become monotonous. Yet his favourite diversion - tracking the country in search of ancient oriental art - had set his eye on a new path. A lasting interest in ancient temples and pagodas, in Thai and Khmer art had developed in the company of his friend Jim Thompson - a name now synonymous with Thai silk.