Last week was a busy one again – just how I like it. Wednesday saw me travel up to York to attend the Antiques Roadshow in the city’s ‘Museum & Gardens’ the next day. As ever, we were packed out, it was great fun, and some super treasures were found and filmed. The picture above […]
One of the great delights of the recent Fat Lava exhibition in Amsterdam (a blog entry is on its way) was putting faces to names of many fellow collectors who I’ve got to know over the years via email. Once such collector is Els van Petersen. Els and I first got in contact when I […]
Well, that might be an over-statement, as it has its moments, and I ought to be celebrating it after last night. This weekend I bought a mid-19thc Copeland Late Spode stoneware bottle vase in a junk shop in Edenbridge. Yes, just the one, not a pair. And, I know, it’s not my usual thing at […]
The clever, or observant, amongst you will have noticed that 2011 is the 60th anniversary of the Festival of Britain. A landmark event that buoyed up the nation after the war, it celebrated our culture, developments in technology, manufacturing and design, and looked forward to ‘the world of tomorrow today’. The main event was held […]
Since Graham Cooley and I launched the first ‘Fat Lava’ exhibition and bookalogue in 2006, West German pottery has gone global. We certainly weren’t the first to appreciate this quirky and often much-maligned pottery from the 1960s & 70s, but the combined event crystalised the market, which has grown and grown like Flopsy since then. […]
Earlier this year, I was delighted to be invited to write for an exciting new magazine called ‘Antiques, Retro & Collectables‘. Especially as the roster of writers included talented specialists I worked with on Collect It! magazine, which had very sadly ceased publication a few months earlier. The opportunity of working with the much-loved and […]
Uruguay. It’s hardly a place where you’d expect to find much modern design, mid-century or otherwise. Or so I thought in my naïvety. My thoughts of a Cuba-like state of elegant disrepair were blown apart pretty much as soon as we landed. A swish and well-designed airport at Punta Del Este, and an even swisher […]
Even though Buenos Aires is well known for its amazing Art Deco antique shops, I was a little surprised to stumble across this teapot nestled amongst ceramics and glass on one stand. French Art Deco is plentiful, but British Art Deco is slightly harder to find there. At first glance, it looked like an Susie […]
Taking advantage of the two long holiday weekends, the banker and I decided to blow some of our carefully amassed air miles and seek out some sun by flying to Buenos Aires and Uruguay for a Spring break. We first visited this amazing city three years ago, after hiking the Inca Trail for four days. […]
Working with antiques, vintage and retro, it’s all too easy to forget the artists, artisans and crafts people of today. Their work will become the antiques of tomorrow, and there’s no better time to learn about their work than now – because one can find out about their journey, inspirations and techniques as they happen, […]
The popular seaside town of Brighton is well known as being both funky and fashionable, with a strong retro and vintage trend. It’s packed with a variety of great shops from Snooper’s Paradise, The North Laine Antiques & Flea Market, and In My Room in the North Laines, to Brighton Flea Market and InRETROspect in […]
With Kate & William’s wedding looming, I’ve been interviewed a fair few times over the past few weeks about what royal wedding memorabilia I like, and which ones I think will be collectable in the future. I don’t collect royal memorabilia, and I knew few people in their 20s or 30s that do, however it […]