This Christmas and New Year (December 2018 & January 2019), the banker and I decided to continue the holidays we’ve taken in South America over the years and cashed in our air miles to make a trip to Colombia. Despite what you may think, and the large numbers of policemen and soldiers on many streets, […]
I didn’t want to die at 36, but to a young art history student living away from home for the first time, Amedeo Modigliani’s life (1884-1920) seemed dramatic, charismatic, exciting and bohemian. I loved (and still love) his art and set myself a challenge of one day owning something directly connected to it and him […]
I love finding a piece with its original label or sticker still attached, as it can yield a lot of useful information, especially if the piece is otherwise unmarked. Most labels were washed off, or otherwise removed, by the original owner when they got home, so survivors are scarce. Obviously, the first indication a label […]
Anyone who has seen glass being made will know mesmerising the process is, from the silent dance of the skilled glassmaking team to the transformation of a blob of hot, orange glass into a three dimensional artwork. My good friend and colleague Graham Cooley recently told me about a fascinating film produced in 1980 by […]
When I was pulling together my ‘Design At Home‘ 20th century design auction for Dawson’s Auctioneers earlier this year, a vendor contacted me wishing to sell a group of British postwar furniture owned by his uncle, who had sadly recently died. His uncle had bought all the pieces brand new in 1961, and had looked […]
The third Bruton Decorative Antiques Fair will be held from the 19th to 21st October 2018, near the beautiful and deeply trendy Somerset town of Bruton. I’ve been attending since it began in 2016, having been a fan of its big sister, the Bath Decorative Antiques Fair, which was first held in 1989! At the […]
When I attend the Antiques For Everyone fairs in Birmingham, or the Art, Antiques & Interiors Fair in London’s ExCel, I generally tend to give a short afternoon talk. In these, I always say that these fairs are great places to buy – which they are. I believe in practising what I preach, so I […]
Ingvar Kamprad, IKEA & Antiques. An unholy trinity? Last weekend a man died whose name is known to few, but whose influence can be seen in hundreds of millions of homes across the world. Ingvar Kamprad (1926-2018) was perhaps the single most influential force over the way we decorate our homes, and ought to be […]
I’m a great believer in supporting contemporary glassmakers and artists where I can. After all, they’re creating the treasures that future generations will treasure. Visiting Belfast to film for the Antiques Roadshow at the Stormont Parliament Buildings late last year, I managed to find some time to visit the city’s historic St George’s Market early […]
Saturday 2nd December 2017 saw my first ‘Design At Home’ midcentury modern and contemporary design auction with Dawson’s Auctions, and my return to the auction world (other than as a buyer!) after 16 years. And I loved it – every single bit of it! It was great to connect with new clients, and reconnect to […]
It’s all about the first look, and then about identifying and questioning what first made you think “Oh, that looks like a good thing”. It’s instinctive, even if you don’t quite know what or why. But there’s usually a feature or two that mark something out from the rest. We were visiting Saugatuck in rural […]
I’m a great believer in writing verbal history down when possible. I always advise it when I hear family stories relating to a treasured object on the Antiques Roadshow – go home and write the story down. People forget, or stories get warped, and then it just becomes an ‘object’ that is devoid of context. […]