I’m a big believer in synchronicity – if you come across something three times, then it’s worth paying attention to. When our Art Director came over this morning to ask me if I had come across Munny dolls and a shop called Kid Robot, that was strike three. I first came across these cult toys […]
I know it’s not the usual sort of thing I write about here, but I felt I must tell you about Judith Miller’s new book on Costume Jewellery. Judith’s first book on the subject, published in association with DK, rapidly became a landmark bestseller – and I can see this one doing exactly the same. […]
Last night I was the auctioneer at the sale of these rather unusual looking clocks. From 1971 until the ‘Big Bang’ in 1986, they presided over deals worth billions and billions of pounds, as they hung in the trading room of the London Stock Exchange in Threadneedle Street until the mid-1990s. Just think for a […]
Calling ALL Czech Glass and Fat Lava fans – your help is needed. And all it will cost you is a few moments of your time. Last week we heard the shocking news that the King’s Lynn Arts Centre is being threatened with closure by the local government. But, if you don’t live in King’s […]
Hot-footing it back from yesterday’s action packed and exhausting – yet highly enjoyable – Antiques Roadshow at Winchester Cathedral, next up on the agenda was a visit to London’s prestigious LAPADA antiques fair in Berkeley Square. Although no nightingales were singing, there was plenty to entertain, tempt and fascinate. I was joined by Judith Miller […]
I was instantly transported back to my childhood. And it made me smile. Relatively late in the day at today’s packed Antiques Roadshow, a very kind and friendly couple showed me something they had bought for their children back in the early 1970s – a Corgi Magic Roundabout Playground set. I was never lucky enough […]
Although I didn’t film anything at yesterday’s Blair Castle Antiques Roadshow, I was lucky enough to find a great many fascinating and desirable things to look at. Amongst them were these two wooden lidded tankards, owned by a lovely old lady in a wheelchair. She and her husband had been given them as a wedding […]
I absolutely love Mad Men, the American TV show about the life and times of Don Draper and his busy New York advertising executive colleagues during the 1960s. Everything about it, from the opening credits to the suits to the room interiors, screams the mid-century modern and Eames-influenced design of the day. And it’s incredibly […]
It’s lovely to see that the revived antiques department at historic London department store Liberty is still going strong. The atmospheric top floor is an idyllic place to spend an hour browsing, as I did today during my lunch break. Founded in 1875, the company has always maintained a very strong link with the decorative […]
I spent my Summer holiday this year on a very American type of vacation – a road trip. Starting and finishing in Los Angeles, we took in San Francisco, the Napa Valley, Yosemite, Death Valley, Palm Springs, and much, much more. Although it was strictly a holiday, how could a diehard collector like me miss […]
I spent my Summer holiday this year on a very American type of vacation – a road trip. Starting and finishing in Los Angeles, we took in San Francisco, the Napa Valley, Yosemite, Death Valley, Palm Springs, and much, much more. Although it was strictly a holiday, how could a diehard collector like me miss […]
Since picking up this striking poster a few years ago, I’ve been a follower and admirer of the 1980s & 90s work of contemporary French poster designer Gérard Courboulieux, who works under the pseudonym of Razzia. I was delighted to be asked by BBC Homes & Antiques magazine to write a short article on him, […]