Avengers’ Style

My sharp-eyed friends Marc & Maiken at the excellent Utopia2000 in Germany are currently selling an opaque white large Holmegaard or Kastrup ‘Gulvvase’ designed by Otto Brauer in 1962. In another instance of seeing great vintage design on the small screen, they spotted an identical piece in Emma Peel’s fashionable 1960s house in the first […]

Bargaining in Beijing

Our first stop was the capital city of Beijing, known as Peking until the Revolution in 1949. After a recouperative night’s sleep following the 9 hour flight from London, I set off mid-morning to enormous Panjiayuan antiques market in the south east of the city. Although many flea markets are overrun with tourists, particularly in […]

Bye Bye Atlantique City

Billed as ‘the world’s largest indoor antiques show’, the wonderfully named Atlantique City, held twice a year in Atlantic City, New Jersey has been cancelled by owner F+W Media. I’m sure I’m amongst many thousands of dealers, collectors and auctioneers who are extremely sad to hear this. In compiling the DK Judith Miller Collectables Price […]

Read Experts’ Secret Bargain Sources!

This month’s BBC Homes & Antiques magazine is even more than packed than ever with inspirational and practical information about collecting and living with antiques and collectables. In this month’s issue, insiders reveal their ‘trade secret’ favourite hunting grounds, be they antiques centres, specialists, auctions or junk shops. I was delighted to be asked to […]

Prehistoric Designs on Modern Ceramics & Glass

Having seen so many prehistoric, neolithic and paleolithic designs on modern ceramics and glass, I’ve often wondered how much these were inspired and driven by the discovery of some caves. In Summer 1940, four French teenagers out walking their dog in the Dordogne discovered a cave, the walls of which were covered with prehistoric cave […]

Antiques & Retro in Berlin

Last weekend was spent in Berlin, visiting friends, but also indulging in more than a little hunting around the flea markets and vintage shops of this trendy city. First stop was Deco Arts in Motzstrasse, in the Schoneberg district. I had passed this shop many a time, and each time it was closed. Thankfully, this […]