Tipped off by a good friend who knows how I like to spot things I’m interested in on TV, I watched a couple of episodes of the very amusing new BBC Two comedy ‘Miranda’ last night. And sure enough, the Fat Lava vases I was promised were there. The series details the haphazard and hilarious […]
Going to and from work in the dark over and over again at this time of year can prove to be a little joyless and depressing. Then I found this. I used to love them as a child, and now I love them all over again…
Back in January, I was delighted to come across my friend and old Sotheby’s colleague Sara Covelli and her new business Covelli Tennant. This week another one of my old friends and erstwhile colleagues at Sotheby’s, James Bridges of Martel Maides in Guernsey, hit the news. Undertaking a house contents valuation for a Channel Islands […]
Every now and again, I get sent an amusing image. Two arrived in the same week, so here they are for your delectation. The first is thanks to my friends Marc & Maiken at the marvellous Utopia2000 in Germany. It shows their dog on top of his new friend – a sheep designed by Hanns-Peter […]
In today’s Evening Standard, City Spy revealed that global coffee chain Starbucks was excited about the imminent redecoration of all its UK stores. Rather than the bland, blond wood, laminate floored, Ikea look we’re all used to, a “retro” style will be ushered in. Apparently the “antiques” to be used were sourced in Turkish bazaars, […]
I haven’t found too many books that discuss antiques from social, historical, economic or, indeed other, perspectives. So I was delighted to stumble across this book in Waterstone’s last Sunday. Professor Rosenstein is a philosopher who also has also dealt in antiques for the past 25 years, so offers us a unique view of the […]
I’ve just returned from a visit to the wonderful Bushwood Antiques, and am truly excited. Based in the beautiful countryside near Hemel Hempstead, the drive there is fantastic enough, but not as fantastic as the place itself. Over 7,500 pieces of antique furniture await you, ranging in date from the 16th to early 20th centuries, […]
I don’t ask for much, but I do ask that you support a new website and growing movement promoting the fact that antiques are green. Furnishing your home with antiques and 20thC design not only allows you to express yourself and build a truly individual look, but it also helps save our environment. Consider the […]
I know it’s not everyone’s taste, but taxidermy seems to be seeing a firm return to fashion. Although I’ve been a long-time fan, I first covered this area professionally in the DK Collectables Price Guide 2007, published in 2006. Since then, the small seed of a trend has turned into something much more. Even to […]
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 […]
Looking at the pictures here, I’m giving you no guesses about where I spent my Summer holidays this year! Carefully saved air miles were cashed in, and at the end of August the banker and I went on a two week trip across China, a place neither of us had been to before. Although I […]
A few months ago, I wrote a quick blog entry on a particular passion of mine – Mordan propelling pencils. You can read it here. You can imagine my delight when BBC Homes & Antiques magazine commissioned me to write an article on the subject. As well as a history of the company and its […]