John Galliher in his London Days

We started off the week with a very stylish figure, Tom Parr, so it seems appropriate to end the week with yet another: John Galliher.

I was a johnny-come-lately when it came to John Galliher. I remember seeing his photos in W back in the 1980s (back in the good old days when W was a broadsheet), but I knew very little about him. It wasn't until the advent of New York Social Diary that I learned what a figure he cut in New York society. But what really captured my attention was a 2001 William Norwich article on Galliher that appeared in the New York Times. The article profiled Galliher and his style of entertaining. He was noted for serving a dish called Chicken Mica as well as clearing dishes straight from the table to a plastic lined basket resting next to him. That way, the conversation could continue uninterrupted.

Though the American born Galliher spent his later years solely in New York, as a young man he also had flats in both Paris and London. Here, you can see Galliher's Belgravia flat as it appeared in the late 1960s. To learn more about him, click here to visit New York Social Diary.



One end of Galliher's living room with a grouping of framed glass pieces by artist Michael Haynes.




The other end of the living room. Galliher was responsible for the decoration of his home.




The book from which the photos came clearly states that this bedroom was from a previous Belgravia home of Galliher's.




Though the book doesn't provide much information about the photo above and the one below, I can only assume that they also show his previous home.




A vignette in Galliher's London home that featured a painting by Aiki and an early 19th century chimneypiece.



The photo at top appeared on New York Social Diary, courtesy of James A. Douglas. All other photos from House & Garden Guide to Interior Decoration by Robert Harling.