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D esigner John Bobbitt g re w u p w i t h a n eccentric, globe-trotting grandmother nicknamed Frog, who inspired his passion for collecting antiques even as a teenager. Bobbitt has been working as an antiquarian and interior designer since the 1980s, with a glamorous, worldly style akin to that of an old Italian villa or French chateau. Recently, Bobbitt set up shop inside Joseph Minton Antiques, a 6,000-square- foot showroom in the Dallas Design District where his rarities are styled together with Minton's fine English antiques. "The shop could be straight out of World of Interiors, and that's how we like it," Bobbitt says. Look for period French furniture, Middle Eastern and Asian pieces, paintings, sculpture, and objects with hangtags ink-stamped Frog & Camel Antiques — a reference to a favorite Clockwise from top left: John Bobbitt's grandmother, Frog, atop a camel in Egypt, circa 1940s. Bobbitt's collection of antique dog collars. Museum plaster cast bust from 19th century. photograph of his grandmother atop a camel in Egypt in the 1940s. Bobbitt's array is broad and unconventional, from an important collection of Spanish Colonial furniture and centuries-old Baccarat and rock crystal chandeliers to an unusual collection of some 70 antique dog collars from England, France, America, The Netherlands, and Germany. An armoire and two tables from the Ottoman Empire (now Turkey and Syria) are inlaid with ebony and glittering mother-of-pearl. He's been buying pieces like these for decades. "It's just dreamy, sparkly stuff that has become rare because Syria has been completely destroyed by war," he says. There are also contemporary pieces from France: a center table by Christian Liaigre and a shagreen table by R&Y Augousti shaped like lily pads. Artworks include classical busts and other sculptures, but one of Bobbitt's most cherished is a surrealist drawing by late Texas artist Valton Tyler, whose works are in the Amon Carter Museum of American Art; it doesn't have a tag yet, but if someone asks, he'll consider selling. Until then, it's there to be admired among the other exquisite baubles. "I shop for the store like I shop for my interiors projects: I buy whatever is most interesting and beautiful," he says. Frog & Camel Antiques at Joseph Minton Antiques, 1411 Slocum St. Rebecca Sherman Auntie Mame Rides Again OBSESSIONS. DECORATION. SALIENT FACTS. HERE AND ABOVE RIGHT, PHOTO BY STEPHEN KARLISCH COURTESY JOHN BOBBITT 56