If you follow me on Twitter, you’ll no doubt know that my partner and I are renovating a late Georgian house right now. it was quite a wreck when we bought it, and required considerable rebuilding. I won’t bore you with the details, but will simply say that a month or so ago we were […]
I’ve been a Freeman of the Guild of Arts Scholars, Dealers & Collectors for a couple of years now. A charitable organisation formed as part of the City of London’s ancient network of professional guilds and livery companies, its aim is to promote the study, curation, collection and trade in antiques, antiquities, decorative arts and […]
On Thursday I attended what must have been one of the busiest Antiques Roadshows I’ve experienced since Hopetoun House. Our location was the beautiful country house Hartland Abbey (above), near Bideford in North Devon. The abbey was built in 1157, and was the last monastery to be dissolved by Henry VIII, in 1539. Its royal […]
Anyone who follows me on Twitter (@antiquemark) will know that we’re in the process of moving house right now. Exhausting and stressful at the best of times, everything is so much better if you have a good removals company. We do, and I can recommend them wholeheartedly – and that’s not something I say often. […]
Last Thursday my fellow Roadshow specialists and I converged on the sunny seaside town of Aberystwyth in Wales for another day of filming for the Antiques Roadshow. Perched on a hill, the renowned Arts Centre was our host, and what a delightful day we had. Sunny skies (yes!), incredibly warm and welcoming visitors, and a […]
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 […]
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 […]
If you follow me on Twitter, you’ll no doubt have seen that I’m involved in the renovation of a late Georgian house in London right now. Although we’re not at the stage where we’re putting it back together yet, if I was I know where I’d be going for architectural features such as cornices, fireplaces, […]
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 […]
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, […]