With the Christmas season well under way, SARAH MAYHEW takes a wander through Oxford to see how galleries and stores are adding sparkle to their festive displays

It’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas… and even those of us that aren’t moved by the religious side of seasonal festivities, and no longer believe in Father Christmas, will find it difficult not to be warmed by the winter wonderlands greeting us in the windows of independent shops around Oxford this festive season.

Whilst the sensory bombardment of seasonal consumerism surrounds us it can be difficult to unearth the Christian festival at the root of Christmas amid the retail bandwagon.

However, there are some shops in Oxford that have set themselves apart from the majority by giving the gift of creativity this Christmas.

Following in the footsteps of London’s largest department stores such as Harvey Nichols, Harrods, Selfridges, Liberty, and Fortnum & Mason, Oxford’s clever, independent retailers have sprinkled some very sparkly creative Christmas dust over their window displays this year.

Employing the skills of local artists and designers, Sanders of Oxford, Bridget Wheatley and Shop at the Old Fire Station are amongst the most impressive displays that have caught my eye as I’ve passed through Oxford over the past week.

Bridget Wheatley is a contemporary jewellery boutique located at The Plain end of the Cowley Road. This bijoux boutique never fails to impress with its beautiful, imaginative, and frequently elaborate window displays used to draw in passers-by and focus the eye on the intricate jewellery sold in the shop.

Bridget Wheatley’s Christmas window is full of sparkling and bejewelled icy looking branches from which jewellery is hung like beautiful, precious baubles – a stunning and unique display that really works to showcase the shop’s wares, indisputably seasonal, without a King or three in sight!

Blowing off any sign of dust, and gathering not a jot of icy moss on its antique maps and prints is the fabulous Sanders of Oxford located on the High Street. A treasure trove of all things old (for the most part) and intriguing, Sanders is another gem that quietly nestles amongst its chain neighbours, asserting its independence, interest, and contemporary approach to the established institution of antiques that it sits within its radical window displays.

Sanders’ display is a poetic one, inviting viewers to peer through a stark forest where a print of a wise old owl perches on a branch looking on as a print of D is for Dandy represents shoppers darting frantically from shop to shop, high on Christmas spirit. Then one’s eye is drawn towards the heavy perspective given to us all by The Towers of Oxford – a sobering view of the city from the Bell Tower of Magdalen College. This thought-provoking installation of objects from Sanders was assembled by Daisy Teage, who graduated in First Art from Oxford Brookes University in 2010, and has been working at Sanders since 2007 combining her creativity whilst developing her knowledge of antique maps and prints.

Across town in Gloucester Green local artists Liz Alexander and Laura Hill-Lines have joined forces to spruce up Gloucester Green and lure people into the recently opened Shop at the Old Fire Station. Liz Alexander studied Photography, and now works as a Picture Researcher in Oxford; one of the shop’s most devoted customers, she offered her skills and eye for detail and colour combinations, commenting: “Our brief was simply to create a Christmas scene that could show off a range of products and objects from the shop. It was really nice to get stuck into something creative like this, and I’d love to help out at the OFS again in the future.”

Laura Hill-Lines has recently joined the team at the Shop at the Old Fire Station from the shop at Modern Art Oxford. With a clear passion for fine art, one-off hand-made items and merchandising, she seems perfectly placed in her new position. She said: “What better to celebrate the season than portraying the shop’s stock as presents being dropped off by Father Christmas soaring above trees and rooftops on his sledge? The concept is reasonably simple, we kept most of the background plain and simple, cutting out and assembling a kind of stage out of white card – with the occasional addition of glitter! What’s Christmas without a bit of sparkle!?”

What I have enjoyed about these window displays is that they are very much art installations in their own right.

True, they are used as a mechanism to showcase their wares, but they can be enjoyed without parting with a single penny.

  • Sanders of Oxford, Salutation House, 104 High Street, Oxford, OX1 4BW. Call 01865 242590
  • Shop at the Old Fire Station, Gloucester Green, Oxford, OX1 2AQ. Call 01865 263990
  • Bridget Wheatley Jewellery, 38 Cowley Road, Oxford OX4 1HZ. Call 01865 722184