With a bit of Polish blood flowing through my veins, I’ve always been fond of decorative arts produced in the former Eastern Block. Amongst my favourite areas are postwar avant garde Czechoslovakian and Polish film and event posters. Over the past two decades, those from the former country have become widely popular and highly desirable […]
Regular readers of my blog will know I’m rather fond of spotting retro and antique pieces in TV series and films. After watching Tom Ford’s beautiful, visually stunning and relaxing ‘A Single Man‘, I had felt spoilt already this weekend. Poirot (lovely as it is) is too easy, so it’s the less obvious ones that […]
Last Friday Judith Miller and I were invited out to the heart of ‘Metroland’ to visit the charming town of Chorleywood. The owners of the independent Chorleywood Bookshop, Sheryl and Morag, asked us to speak at an evening event in the local hall, followed by a book-signing and an ‘Antiques Roadshow’ style valuation. After perusing […]
Combined with my busy role at Miller’s, the build-up to Cracking Antiques has meant that there’s precious little time for a break right now. A short holiday was cancelled and replaced with a relaxing overnight break at the wonderful ‘Ashdown Park‘ country house hotel in Sussex this weekend. The drive there revealed Standen was nearby. […]
Yesterday saw a nerve-shredding drive up the M11 to the 14th Cambridge Glass Fair at Chilford Hall. As ever, it was well worth it. I was one of many hundreds who braved the torrential rain and flocked to the event to buy the best in glass from 18thC drinking glasses to 21stC contemporary studio glass. […]
Yesterday I was honoured to be asked onto BBC Radio 4’s ‘Woman’s Hour’, to speak about Jessie Tait and her 1950s-70s designs for Midwinter. I was accompanying Professor Cheryl Buckley, who had been lucky enough to meet Tait herself during her research into the role of woman designers in the ceramics industry. If you want […]
The all-new 2010-11 edition of Miller’s Collectables Price Guide by Judith Miller and I is OUT NOW in all good bookshops. Priced at £19.99, there are even more full colour images and information than ever before. With thousands of collectables shown from advertising to ceramics, to glass and toys, there’s truly something for everyone. Here’re […]
I am delighted to attend the following BBC Antiques Roadshows as a specialist on either the Miscellaneous or Collectables tables – please do dig out your treasures, come along, and say hello! Doors open at 9.30am (although queues start earlier!), and Roadshows run until 4.30pm – providing you’re in the queue by 4pm, you’ll be […]
Cracking Antiques is on a myth-busting mission to prove that people can add style and glamour to any type of home by investing in second-hand, vintage and antique furnishings – without breaking the bank. The prime-time series, coming to BBC Two from April 7th at 8.30pm is presented by interior designer Kathryn Rayward and antiques […]
It’s easy to think that you can trust what you find online. However, always bear in mind that the information you read there may well be misleading, or just plain wrong. Never has the familiar auction term ‘caveat emptor’, or ‘buyer beware’, been more applicable. The internet is open to everyone to post information – […]
The excellent and highly enjoyable Priceless Antiques Roadshow continues its second series on BBC2 at 6.30pm. If you’ve missed any, catch up online on iPlayer. If you missed the episode I was in and mentioned below, here’s what I bought for the ceramics challenge. I was delighted with my find, and feel pretty comfortable in […]
Just imagine walking home on a wet and windswept evening balancing an umbrella and your bag precariously as you try to shelter from the elements. You just want to get home, shove the umbrella in its stand, make a warm cup of tea and dry out. Just imagine if that neglected ‘umbrella stand’ turned out […]