Jonathan Burden has been a pioneer in the antique and decorative art business in New York since 1999.

Growing up in the countryside of Yorkshire, England, Jonathan Burden was surrounded by antique furniture whether at the local church or a stately country house. A visit as boy to a local restorers workshop, with its distinct smell of wood shavings and drying varnishes, sparked a passion that eventually lead to formal training at the venerable West Dean College in Sussex. Upon graduating from West Dean, Jonathan worked in London for the renowned dealer Ronald Philips. Arriving in New York City in the mid 1980s, Jonathan worked for Sotheby’s auction house. Jonathan opened his own shop in the West Village in the mid 1990s and then was the first dealer to open a gallery on Duane Park in Tribeca with his business partner Benjamin Izett. The latest move, occurring in 2016, has brought the gallery and restoration workshop to Long Island City.

Gallery

The gallery, located in Long Island City, houses an eclectic and striking collection of both antique and and contemporary decorative arts. With an emphasis on scale, quality of materials, surface and construction we hand pick our inventory from many sources, local and far, whether it be a textbook piece of English furniture with excellent provenance or an innovative artisan responding to contemporary needs. Our contemporary line, BURDEN Contemporary, sources local talent and skills from artists, blacksmiths, ceramicists, glass blowers and cabinet-makers to bring unique contemporary furniture and decorative arts to our clients ensuring a close relationship open to collaboration between artist, gallery, and client.

Beyond purely providing basic functional utility, we firmly believe that the decorative arts interact with us in forming our environments whether responding to a strong aesthetic sense, personal whimsy, or sense of history and tradition.

“It’s like taking a trip to London -minus the never ending flight- and I can always count on the store to have pieces with great scale.”

-Victoria Hagan

Restoration

BURDEN is home to an international full service restoration workshop on our premises. Our restorers have over 75 years combined experience working with fine furniture of all periods. We strive to revive the original beauty of a piece or furniture without discrediting its past.

Each piece of furniture that comes into our gallery is examined closely on an individual basis and carefully evaluated. Our restorers use traditional techniques to ensure the quality and authenticity of their work. Our goal is to allow a piece of furniture to be used, enjoyed,  and admired for generations to come.