Browsing around my favourite hunting ground, Past Caring in Islington, with a TV film crew today, I stumbled upon this incredible photograph. Although it might not look like much, the rather strange piece of glass the young man is looking at is a postwar Czech masterpiece. Simply titled ‘Object’, it was designed in 1960 by […]
On my many visits to Canada, I’ve always been delighted by the enormous level of interest in West German ceramics of the 1960s & 70s. The country was a major export market for makers such as Bay, Scheurich and ES Keramik, and Fat Lava has become a firm favourite amongst collectors there. My good friends […]
The Mdina Glass ‘Crizzle Stone’ signed by Michael Harris – rightly dubbed the Holy Grail for many Mdina collectors – being offered by Artius Glass on behalf of a collector has sold. And it stormed home, selling for a staggering £3,400! Representing the apex of collecting, less than a dozen are currently known to collectors, […]
Founded by the indomitable Pat Hier in 1991, the National Glass Fair rapidly grew to become a firm favourite fixture on the calendar of any glass collector worth their salt (or sand). When Pat retired last year, the event was unsurprisingly taken over by glass fair supremo Oxbridge Fairs, run by my good friends Paul […]
Having just compiled the pens and writing equipment section of the new edition of the Miller’s Collectables Price Guide (out next Spring), my love for Mordan’s marvellous silver propelling pencils has been rekindled. In 1822, Sampson Mordan patented the propelling pencil with fellow inventor John Hawkins. Mordan bought Hawkins out, and then sold half the […]
…and a whole lot of business being done pretty much sums up the London Book Fair, where I have spent much of this afternoon. Hundreds of publishers and related businesses from across the world attend, from the big boys of Hachette and Random House, to smaller one-man bands, and the remainder businesses that feed off […]
I’ve just spent the past four days at the wonderful Antiques for Everyone Spring fair at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham. This is the largest quality antiques show in the UK, taking out the higher-end Olympia fairs in London. Living up to its name, there truly was something for the thousands who attended (see […]
With nary a week in between, I have just got back from a trip up north to do the Antiques Roadshow in the sunny seaside resort of Blackpool. I arrived on Thursday afternoon to a tranquil town, and took a constitutional walk along the beach to the location – the legendary Blackpool Ballroom underneath the […]
One of my favourite tasks each month is writing my regular column for Collect It! magazine. I’m lucky enough to enjoy free-reign on the target of my articles, which is a luxury indeed. Just before heading north to work on another Antiques Roadshow, I researched the history behind a little known pottery I’m rather fond […]
I’ve just got back from the glorious and spectacular Hopetoun House, outside Edinburgh, which was Wednesday’s location for the Antiques Roadshow. Billed as ‘Scotland’s Finest Stately Home’, it certainly didn’t disappoint, although I’ve always been a sucker for anything with a long gravel drive, Classical columns and a garden with a ha-ha. Arguably even better […]
Last month I was delighted to be asked by BBC Homes & Antiques magazine to write an article on postwar Czech glass design, a hot collecting area also known to collectors as ‘sklo’. The magazine’s photographers have really excelled themselves, and you’ll find a lavishly illustrated seven page article packed with useful information and tips. […]
It’s done! I’m delighted to announce that the second, revised and expanded, edition of my ground-breaking and sell-out bookalogue ‘Fat Lava: West German Ceramics of the 1960s & 70s‘ is now at the printers. Phew. Since the first edition went out of print, demand for copies has been consistently high, leading to the decision to […]