It’s not often that you get to meet the people behind the designs you collect, even though there’s more of a chance with postwar pieces. While I was in Novy Bor, I was lucky to meet Karel Wünsch, one of the best and most innovative postwar Czech glass designers who is globally renowned for his […]
If you’re wondering what I’m looking so fondly at, you’ll need to buy a copy of this month’s BBC Homes & Antiques to find out. And I can guarantee that it’s not a question mark! The feature I’m in could be titled ‘An antique is for life, not just for Christmas’, as it reveals the […]
My main reason for visiting the Czech Republic last week was to attend the opening of a major retrospective exhibition of the work of eminent Czech glass designer and maker Frantisek Vizner. I was kindly invited as the guest of the Ajeto Glassworks, whose smart and spacious museum in Novy Bor was the location of […]
Could you become Britain’s next Antiques Master? The BBC are searching for passionate amateur antiques aficionados to take part in the second series of their quiz hosted by my good friend Eric Knowles and much-loved comedienne and broadcaster Sandi Toksvig. Contestants battle it out over a series of exciting challenges using amazing antiques to prove […]
It started with a question, and I never expected the answer to turn out like it did. Last week’s amazing visit to the Ajeto Glassworks in Novy Bor, Czech Republic, brought me into contact with a vibrant, charming and talented young Australian glassmaker called Jasper Dowding (above). Even though it seemed to pass in minutes, […]
Any of you Fat Lava fans who haven’t come across Kevin Graham yet are missing a major trick. Kevin has been collecting and researching West German studio and factory ceramics for well over a decade now, and runs the highly popular and successful ‘Pottery & Glass Forum‘, which is free to join. I’d encourage you […]
I’ve just got back from visiting our stand at the wonderful Winter Olympia Fine Art & Antiques Fair in London, where I’ve been supporting this year’s National Antiques Week. As you can see, the campaign has enjoyed a terribly smart stand, courtesy of the venerable LAPADA antique dealers’ association. If you don’t know Olympia’s legendary […]
This Sunday was spent at the last glass fair of this year – the National Glass Fair at the Motorcycle Museum just outside Birmingham. This fair is perhaps the most prestigious and best known of the superb fairs run by Paul Bishop & Christina Glover of Specialist Glass Fairs. But there are plenty more planned […]
In June this year, I wrote about the KlokHeta after a couple told me about their example of this weird and wonderful space-saving Deco device. For those of you who don’t know what it is, you can read the post by clicking here. One of the marvellous things about the internet is the amount of […]
National Antiques Week aims to promote antiques, vintage and collecting. Over the past year, a growing number of young people have seen the value and individuality of antiques, and the thrill of the hunt, and begun to buy antiques and vintage pieces for their homes. Furthermore, a report commissioned by the antiques trade from industry […]
Although the weather was nowhere near as good when I went in June with my Cracking Antiques co-presenter Kathryn Rayward, I still had a cracking day out at Ardingly antiques and collectables fair in Sussex this Tuesday. This time around, I accompanied my sister and my new brother-in-law, as they were de-Ikea-ising their flat to […]
Research into ‘new’ areas of collecting is always an immensely valuable activity for so many reasons. When I first went out to Canada six or so years ago, my eye was caught by a number of extravagant and elegant glass bowls and vases in a rainbow of vibrant colours. You can see an example here. […]