Those of you who have bought Alla Moda, my new book on mid-century Italian ceramics, will have seen a double page spread of quirky ceramics by an as yet unknown company and designer who ‘signs’ each piece with a stylised four petalled flower. I’ve pretty much fallen in love with them! At the Midcentury Fair […]
At the recent Battersea Decorative & Antiques Fair, The Decorative Collective, a group of like-minded and talented dealers launched ‘Interiors Inspired By…’, an exciting new book. As you’d expect, the book is lavishly illustrated with eye-wateringly beautiful shots of interiors containing and inspired by antiques supplied by member of the collective. But it’s a little […]
As the nights grow chilly and draw in on us, there’s nothing more enjoyable than the cliché of curling up on a comfortable antique chair with a good book. Books about antiques and collecting that don’t focus on a particular subject area are rare, probably due to the potentially limited readership. Those that do get […]
2006 saw the 40th anniversary of Dartington Glass, one of the UK’s only surviving independent glass companies. To commemorate this event, Graham Cooley exhibited hundreds of pieces of Dartington Glass dating from 1967 into the 1990s from his private collection. In conjunction with that, I wrote and published a book with Eve Thrower, the daughter […]
It’s out and it’s on! Last Saturday I joined Graham Cooley at the King’s Lynn Arts Centre in King’s Lynn, Norfolk, to launch Alla Moda, the exhibition behind my latest book. With over 750 ceramics on display, Graham’s private collection is almost certainly the largest private collection of Italian ceramics in Europe, if not the […]
My new book on mid-century modern Italian ceramics, Alla Moda, has just arrived, and the exhibition is about to be launched. Sitting last night looking through the book made me remember the long journey I’ve made putting it together. I also thought about all the elements that went into making it, here are some statistics: […]
Wow! An amazing discovery by the marvellous Mel Giedroyc and I…a unique Phartlehorn! If you’re a child (even a big one!) who hasn’t read about Bruno Pockley’s adventures in The Fabulous Phartlehorn Affair by M L Peel and Hannah Shaw yet, you’re missing out. Click here to find out more and buy a copy.
Published by the internationally known Miller’s Publications, Miller’s Collectables Price Guide is the best full colour fully illustrated collectables price guide in the world. Let expert authors Mark Hill and Judith Miller guide you through the world of collectables today, helping you to learn more with handy ‘Collectors’ Notes’, practical ‘Expert Eye’ features and enlightening footnotes. […]
Textiles, which are often ignored in favour of furniture, ceramics or glass, have been enjoying a real renaissance recently. I think this is partly down to the current vogue for vintage clothing, particularly from the 1950s & 60s, and partly as people are beginning to wake up from the cold, clean Minimalist look that’s been […]
Mid-century modern and studio glass lovers out there will love the new (March 2012) edition of Homes & Antiques magazine, as I’ve written new article on the beauty of Mdina Glass for it. Already as popular with collectors as it is with those with an eye for retro, vintage, and modern interiors, you can learn […]
So, as you can see from my last blog post, our mid-century modern shopping excursions were both successful and enjoyable. Fair’s fair and, in return, the banker wanted to go ‘proper’ shopping. So we drove to the famed Aventura Mall, south of Fort Lauderdale. Billed as one of the biggest and best malls in the […]
I’ve been a fan of ‘The Chap‘ magazine for quite some time now, having found issue 7 in a vintage clothes shop a fair few years ago. Who couldn’t resist a magazine with a strap-line reading ‘Divinity lies in the insouciance of a moleskin waistcoat‘? Especially as I was wearing one at the time. For […]