Nearly 50 years ago, armed with a motley assortment of antiques and a few pennies in his pockets, Nelson and his partner opened a small shop on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles. Today, John J. Nelson Antiques, now on Melrose Place, has three full showrooms and a warehouse and has seen three generations of clients pass through its doors. “I love this business and I am very blessed to be able to do what I do,” Nelson says.
Nelson manages to be both utterly earnest and entirely matter-of-fact when he talks about his business and his career. After a trip to Europe as a college student ignited his interest in art and antiquities, he went to work for a dealer. Just a few years later, he started out on his own.
As for what you’ll find in the showrooms, “the sky’s the limit,” Nelson says: 18th-century Chinese decorative arts, French garden ornaments, furniture from Italy and Portugal. Only two things unify the items in the collection: Nelson loves them, and they are the best quality available. “After all,” Nelson says, “our reputation stands on what we sell.”
John J. Nelson Antiques
8472, 8478 and 8461 Melrose Place
Los Angeles, CA 90069
310.652.2103
