Private Collections

The Eccentric Trading Company : Unlock the Secrets

2 September 2025

For nearly forty years, London’s Eccentric Trading Company has been the industry’s best-kept secret - a “warehouse of wonders” supplying films, television, and theatre with everything from grand dining tables to vintage Louis Vuitton luggage.

Now, that secret world opens to the public. Lyon & Turnbull presents The Secret Life of Props: The Eccentric Trading Collection, a two-day single-owner auction offering a once-in-a-lifetime chance to acquire pieces that have shaped British film and television for a generation.

The Secret Life of Props

Explore the Eccentric Trading Company Collection auction - forthcoming on 24 & 25 September - online now.

When it comes to film and television, much of the magic happens behind the scenes. Actors bring scripts to life, directors orchestrate the vision, and special effects dazzle audiences - but none of it feels real without the world around the characters. Enter the Eccentric Trading Company, a London-based theatrical property house, or prop house, founded by the Jordan family in 1986.

Eccentric Trading is not just a company that hires out props; it is a curator of style, story, and atmosphere. Its reputation rests on a simple but profound philosophy expressed by founder Spencer Jordan: "A good prop is something you don’t notice — if you do, it’s wrong."

The moment you pick one up, you realise every scratch was directed.

The founder of Eccentric Trading, Spencer Jordan

A Family Legacy

The story of Eccentric Trading is, in many ways, a story of the Jordan family itself. Long before Spencer began building his collection, his relatives had already been supplying the entertainment industry in practical but vital ways. His grandfather hired kitchen units for live soap opera broadcasts, back in the days when sets had to be assembled and dismantled daily. His uncle, father, and brother each found their own niches - supplying police uniforms, specialist equipment, and vintage technology to studios.

This deep family connection to the world of production shaped Spencer’s own career. While others were fascinated by the on-screen glamour, the Jordans saw the craft and graft behind it. Spencer’s eye for furniture and objects led him to begin acquiring unusual, historic, and eccentric pieces that gradually formed the backbone of the Eccentric Trading Company. By the mid-1980s, what began as a passion project had grown into one of the most distinctive prop houses in the UK.

The Warehouse of Wonders

Step inside Eccentric Trading’s London “warehouse of wonders”, and it feels less like a store house and more like a museum where history has been curated with both care and humour. Every aisle hides a secret, every shelf holds a story. A late 18th-century English armchair with “honourable scars” from centuries of use sits beside a replica of the famous Resolute Desk. There are 16^th century tapestries, Art Deco screens, carousel horses, mirrors, ladders, copper baths, swings, and bronzes- each object waiting patiently for its next performance.

Spencer himself describes the thrill of acquisition with the zeal of a collector. One of his first purchases was a Welsh settle from around 1700, discovered in a state of disrepair after being relegated to a barn. With makeshift legs bolted on in the early 1900s, it had clearly been pressed into service by farmhands who used it to rest, smoke, and drink tea. Today, it has enjoyed a second life in front of the camera, appearing in productions that demand both authenticity and atmosphere.

Another prized acquisition was a rosewood colonial centre table, its vast single-piece top cut from a tree that must have been seeded in the year 830. For Spencer, such pieces embody the addictive pleasure of collecting.

When people say it’s better to spend money on experiences rather than objects,” he reflects, “I’ve always found that objects bought with passion give you pleasure every time you look at them.

Spencer Jordan on his collecting addiction

The Art of the Perfect Prop

What sets Eccentric Trading apart is not just the scale of its collection but the philosophy behind it. A great prop, in Spencer’s view, is one that disappears into its role. It must fit the period, the character, and the setting so seamlessly that the audience never questions it. The wrong chair, table, or lamp can ruin a scene; the right one makes the world believable.

This explains why filmmakers, designers, and producers have turned to Eccentric Trading again and again. The prop house holds hundreds works of art, late Georgian and Victorian furniture, obscure oddities, and bespoke curiosities that cannot be sourced anywhere else. Their props have travelled the globe, appearing in thousands - perhaps tens of thousands - of productions. Although confidentiality prevents Spencer from naming specific titles, any regular viewer of film and television is likely to have seen his collection on screen.

Why the Physical Still Matters

In today’s entertainment industry, where CGI and digital backdrops are increasingly common, Eccentric Trading stands for something irreplaceable: the importance of the tangible. Spencer argues that real props and furniture offer something digital recreations cannot.

“It’s always going to be easier to act and direct within a physical boundary,” he explains. “You can’t replace the way people interact with real things.”

Actors instinctively know how to handle a book, sit in a chair, or lean on a table. The creak of wood, the cold touch of metal, the imperfections of age - these details anchor performances in reality, even in the most fantastical of settings. For directors and set designers, props like those at Eccentric Trading are not just decorative; they are tools for immersion.

Craftsmanship & Character

Spencer’s personal passion has always been English furniture, particularly from the late 18th century. He admires the period for its craftsmanship, quality materials, and subtle elegance. Many pieces carry what antique dealers call “honourable scars” - evidence of early repairs, wear, and adaptation that mark the passage of time. These marks, like wrinkles in a human face, are part of what makes each item unique and alive.

In a sense, every prop in Eccentric Trading’s collection has lived multiple lives: one in its original home, another in its repurposed state, and yet another on stage or screen. The layering of these stories is what gives them such resonance.

When you’re dealing with quality pieces, they’re never actually gone... They just move elsewhere - and they’ll outlive us all.

THE END OF AN ERA

After nearly four decades of operation, The Eccentric Trading Company is preparing to close a remarkable chapter in its history. The team at Lyon & Turnbull are now proud to present A Secret Life of Props : The Eccentric Trading Collection – a two-day single owner- auction, a rare event in the world of prop hire. For collectors, filmmakers, and lovers of craftsmanship, the auction represents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to acquire pieces from a collection that has shaped British film and television for a generation.

Yet, as Spencer himself notes, the end of Eccentric Trading is not the end of the props themselves. “When you’re dealing with quality pieces, they’re never actually gone,” he reflects. “They just move elsewhere - and they’ll outlive us all.”

Eccentric Trading Ltd has always been more than a prop house. It has been a storyteller in objects, a place where history meets imagination, and where even the most unusual oddity can find its moment in the spotlight. From its roots in the Jordan family’s long association with television and film, to its present role as a beloved supplier of authenticity and eccentricity, the company has left an indelible mark on the industry.

As its doors close and its treasures scatter to new homes, one thing is certain: the spirit of Eccentric Trading will endure. In every production where a battered chair, a grand table, or a whimsical toy appears, audiences will continue to feel the unseen work of a company that turned props into poetry.

Eccentric Trading was never just about objects. It was about giving stories a place to live, unlock the secrets this collection today.

FORTHCOMING AUCTION

The Secret Life of Props : The Eccentric Trading Company Collection

THE SECRET LIFE OF PROPS

Go Behind the Scenes

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