I’ve just spent the past four days at the wonderful Antiques for Everyone Spring fair at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham. This is the largest quality antiques show in the UK, taking out the higher-end Olympia fairs in London. Living up to its name, there truly was something for the thousands who attended (see […]
I’ve just got back from the glorious and spectacular Hopetoun House, outside Edinburgh, which was Wednesday’s location for the Antiques Roadshow. Billed as ‘Scotland’s Finest Stately Home’, it certainly didn’t disappoint, although I’ve always been a sucker for anything with a long gravel drive, Classical columns and a garden with a ha-ha. Arguably even better […]
I had to read the price twice. Then a third time, just to make sure. Yes, Eileen Gray’s Art Deco ‘Dragons’ chair really had sold for £17.7 million! For me, the most surprising aspect of the recent Yves Saint Laurent auction held at Christie’s in Paris was the level of prices being paid for furniture […]
They say radio is growing in popularity, and it’s certainly been an increasing part of my life recently, with three interviews in the past two weeks! Up today was BBC radio Cambridgeshire, with another phone-in valuation that also helped promote the excellent Cambridge Glass Fair this Sunday, at Chilford Hall. Here I am in the […]
I’ve just got back from an extremely enjoyable one-and-a-half hour long phone-in valuation for BBC Radio London. Hosted by the lovely Lesley Joseph, I was invited along as a guest with my friend Tracy Martin. Lesley is best known for her character Dorian in hit BBC TV sitcom ‘Birds of a Feather’ but, unlike her […]
In mid-January, I heard from a reliable source that the dastardly Dudley Council is proposing to close this museum in Spring next year. For those of you who don’t know it, Broadfield is a national treasure and is, to my knowledge, the only museum dedicated to glass in the country. It’s also one of the […]
…buy vintage! The market for vintage clothing has boomed over the past few years, even entering the ‘mainstream’ with high street stores such as TopShop and TopMan even stocking vintage lines. We’ve certainly become a lot more ‘individual’ in our tastes for interior decoration and the way we dress. One of the best sources I […]
The bottle of champagne I mentioned in my last entry has now finally sold – for £350! Congratulations Steve, I hope that you and your team have a great night out. I wonder if the lucky winner of the auction will be drinking it to toast his success? Good on him, whatever.
I’ve just got back from the BBC where I took part in an interview for BBC Radio 5 Live about the value of the large amount of Woolworths memorabilia that has come onto the market since the sad closure of the chain at the beginning of the year. The spark that set the market alight […]
I’ve just been sent this picture from a dear friend who spotted it in, weirdly, Woman’s Weekly. Seeing it instantly brought back floods of happy memories of working at Bonhams on Lot’s Road in Chelsea – my first proper job after university. It also made me giggle a bit, as my first boss Alexander Crum […]
You can’t have any more. They’re all gone! My very first publication, produced in association with the Graham Cooley Collection, has completely sold out. I’ve even sold the ‘seconds’ due to a rash of desperate requests over the past few weeks. The reason for this? Fat Lava has gone volcanic! It has appeared in all […]
Last week I was called by my friend and colleague on the Antiques Roadshow, Eric Knowles. On a recent trip to France to buy antiques and collectables for hit BBC TV series ‘Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is’, he picked up a little something that he thought had my name written all over it. […]